Central Asia Secret Worship Meetings in Cars

At a prearranged location, Rob waits, watching for a familiar vehicle among the heavy traffic passing by on the street in front of him. When he sees his friend’s car maneuver to the curb, he hops in and they drive around for a few hours. In this Central Asian country, where meeting in public could draw the attention of Islamic extremists, using cars is one of the safest ways for Christians to fellowship and worship.

Secret believers in restricted nations use a number of discreet meeting places in order to practice their faith undetected. VOM workers have heard of church meetings in the forest, in a rented vacation home in the country and even in a chicken coop.

Rob and his friend cruise the neighborhood and talk freely about their faith, sticking to side streets to avoid police checkpoints and meeting only during the day for safety.

Rob pulls out his mobile phone and the two men begin to sing along exuberantly with recorded worship music. Those idly watching them drive by might assume they’re singing the latest pop song, but the two men are in fact joining in heartfelt songs of praise to God in their local language.

After worshiping in song, Rob and his friend listen to Scripture from an audio Bible and then discuss what they’ve heard. They then pull into a restaurant parking lot for a few minutes to pray — with their eyes open — and read more from God’s Word. Finally, after about an hour, Rob’s friend drops him off again at a street corner.

Rob is used to meeting other Christians in creative and covert ways like this because Christians in his country are generally the lone believers in their homes and communities. Apostasy from Islam is punishable by death, so if their faith is discovered, they will almost certainly be killed by authorities if not their own family members. An hour of fellowship in a car serves as a great encouragement as they practice their faith in secret.

A few hours after his first meeting, Rob is out on the street corner again, waiting for a different Christian friend. This time, it’s one of the local church leaders he meets several times a week. As the church leader navigates through heavy traffic, Rob asks how his ministry is going and how he can pray for him. And then they pray, staring straight ahead watching people pass by them. They pour out their praise and needs before the throne of God.

As Rob and the other believers drive around their city of committed, conservative Muslims, they know that small groups of Christians are doing the same thing in other cities around their country. They are worshiping and praying together in the only safe place they have — their vehicle. “Jesus said wherever two or three gather and wherever two or three call my name, I am with them,” Rob said.

After being dropped at a street corner for the second time, Rob leans into the church leader’s open car window. “See you on Tuesday, friend.” Then he walks away from his “church,” something the auto makers couldn’t have imagined would become so meaningful to Christians in Central Asia.