“Our church is crumbling, and we need to build a new one fast” says Rev. Alexander Burtsev of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Almaty. During a recent visit, he showed missionaries the deteriorating condition of their current building—plaster falling from the walls and visible structural decline—underscoring the urgency of the situation.
Despite limited resources, the congregation has demonstrated remarkable commitment. Over the past three years, they raised $5,000 locally and received an additional $15,000 from LCMS Eurasia. Pastor Burtsev and his members are determined to complete as much of the construction as possible themselves. They have already begun the first phase by excavating the foundation, with able member of the congregation—including children—participating in the work. While they plan to pour the foundation soon, their funds will be exhausted at that stage, leaving the project named ‘топор’ for axe, at a critical standstill.
Life for Christians in Kazakhstan presents ongoing challenges. Most pastors must maintain secondary employment to support themselves. The country’s population is approximately 70% Muslim (12.6 million), 23% Orthodox Christian, and 7% comprising Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Baptists, Jewish communities, and the non-religious.
The Lutheran Church in Kazakhstan was started by ethnic Germans who trace back to forced deportations to Kazakhstan beginning in late summer 1941, with some earlier smaller movements from the late 18th–early 20th centuries and later internal resettlement toward Almaty in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. Over one million people were relocated from regions such as Western Ukraine, the Caucasus, and the Volga. During this time, Christian worship was strictly prohibited. Believers nonetheless gathered secretly in private homes—“houses of prayer”—preserving their faith under significant hardship. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Germany’s “right of return” policy led more than 900,000 ethnic Germans from the former USSR, especially Kazakhstan, to emigrate to Germany in the early 1990s. It was not until 2000 that the Kazakh government formally recognized the Lutheran Church as a traditional religion.
Today, this project supports the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Almaty, which the LCMS formally recognized in altar and pulpit fellowship at its July 2016 convention. Under the leadership of Rev. Burtsev, who also serves as president of the church body, the Lutheran mission in Kazakhstan continues to grow. In addition to overseeing pastoral formation and theological education, the church has developed a range of community ministries, including camps and a well-attended Vacation Bible School program.
Their outreach has also fostered three orphanages and three boarding schools.
“The Kazak Lutheran Church must work within the confines of their aging properties, ” says LCMS missionary Rev. Jordon Andreasen. “There are many hurdles, but they jump through them to stay above reproach and seek even under a difficult situation to keep Christ and promises before their people and all who are gathered to the house of the Lord. Please continue to pray for them!”
Да Благословит вас Господь – God bless you!
Kazakhstan Lutheran Church – Project ID: KZ0001-63410
