Uzbek pastor jailed and deserted but still faithful
A Christian pastor in Uzbekistan has been describing how he was arrested and jailed for eight years just for conducting Bible studies and having Christian books in his home – freedoms most people take for granted.
The police have come for him three times, his congregation has deserted him, his youngest daughter almost starved to death, yet still Pastor Salavat Serikbayev remains faithful to the Lord, reports Christian persecution watchdog Release International.
Pastor Serikbayev leads an unregistered Pentecostal church in the autonomous region of Karakalpakstan. He tells his story on video in the latest edition of World Update on the Persecuted Church, the award-winning webcast from Release International.
Under Karakalpakstan’s repressive religious policy only Muslim communities and a single Russian Orthodox parish are allowed to operate. All other religious activity is illegal.
Pastor Serikbayev, a former Muslim, was jailed in 1999 for conducting Bible studies, performing baptisms and having dozens of Bibles and Christian books in his home. But jail and several other brushes with the law have not stopped him from serving Jesus.
"I had a family including two children at that time," he says. "Still I was happy to suffer for Christ; this was something I could do for Jesus."
Undeterred he continued to lead a church. Then in February 2006, he was arrested again for his religious activities in Karakalpakstan. He was sentenced to two years of correctional labour, reduced to one year, and was made to cultivate plants in the desert.
He was in trouble again the following year when the police raided his church. Says Pastor Serikbayev: "I was at a monthly pastor’s meeting at this apartment. After half an hour, 15 of 16 policemen raided the meeting and said, why are you here? Many had no passports, so everyone was arrested and taken to the police station.
"I was charged with illegally teaching in an illegal meeting," he told Release International’s partners, The Voice of the Martyrs, Canada.
Pastor Serikbayev' wife Aitgul was confined to her home by authorities after her husband’s arrest.
Out of fear, Christians refused to help the family and relatives rejected them because of their faith in Jesus. Their oldest daughter Rachel, just two at the time, almost starved to death.
"I was not mad at God," says Aitgul. "I found in the Bible that man does not live only by bread, but the Word of God. Of course it was a hard time, but it was also a time of blessing."
1 comment:
BLESSED IS HE WHO HAD THE JOY IN SUFFERING.
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