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Reflections on Church Growth in the Turkic World

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — From 1982-89 our family lived and worked in the Turkic world. We taught English and served as witnesses for Jesus in Turkey and in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus.

During this time the church grew slowly as individuals here and there discovered the beauty of Jesus. Small house fellowships began in most of the major cities of Turkey.

That’s when we also gained a vague awareness of the “Turkic Belt” that stretched from Anatolia to western China. The Silk Road ran through our city, but the political realities of the U.S.S.R. made travel to Central Asia impossible.

One day a Turkish newspaper carried the story of a reporter who visited western China and conversed — in Turkish — with the Uighur people. We knew there was an ethno-linguistic affinity between the people we lived among and other Turkic “tribes” in Central Asia.

Then came 1991. Suddenly within the vast stretches of the former Soviet Union geographically challenged Americans learned of the emergence of new countries they couldn’t pronounce -- Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan. To most North American Christians they were all “Obscure-astan.”

I’d always wanted to visit Central Asia and meet the Turkish “cousins,” but did not have the opportunity until the September 17-20, 2006, meeting of the Global Mission Fellowship there.

What I saw overwhelmed me. Tears sprang to my eyes as the traditional Kazakh-Uighur musicians played the hauntingly familiar Turkic music. But this time in the worship of Jesus.

“We go along the Silk Road telling all the people that Jesus is more than a prophet. He is the living God,” the Kazakh worship leader said as she introduced the choir and dancers at the GMF meetings. “The Central Asian nations don’t know God as their Father, but we will tell them. Our Lord is teaching us to sing and dance to him.”

Then with fervent hands stretched heavenward and faces shining, the 50-member youth choir sang their original compositions: “Thank you, God, for loving us. Like a crystal fountain you give us life, and fill us with joy and laughter. Jesus, you’re our Savior, our healer. You’re our Lord and master, the light in our darkness. Come, dear Jesus, fill us with your Spirit…”

And the dances. I’d often joined circle dances at Turkish engagement and wedding parties. Our daughter had taken Turkish folk dancing at her school in Istanbul.

But I’d never seen a congregation of Turkish people dancing their own dances to the glory of God — until now. We were all drawn in — from the oldest African bishop to the youngest Latin delegate. The radiant women with their colorful scarves and gold-toothed smiles were irresistible.

In the back of a mosque-like room furnished with carpets and cushions, the woman beside me suddenly grasped my hand and slipped a fine silver ring onto my finger. I’d never worn a ring before. Did she think I looked too plain? What was going on? She melted into the dance before I learned who she was or whether or not I was to keep the ring.

Here was a church of 400. We knew of other churches of 3,000 or 5,000, and numerous house churches. Missiologists spoke of a “church planting movement.” A Kazakh historian reminded his people their ancestors had walked with Jesus before Arab conquerors brought Islam. “These ancient roots are giving birth to new trees,” he said. We saw the new “trees” and marveled.

And the ring fit perfectly. I never saw the woman again, but I wear her ring with pride and a deep sense that I’ve been engaged — or maybe even married — to the Turkic peoples of Central Asia. Together we await the wedding supper of the Lamb.

— Jewel Showalter, EMM Staff Writer for Global Mission Fellowship