Kyrgyzstan 2002 - 2006

Five years ago a team from GTA traveled to the country of Kyrgyzstan for the first time. We prepared as bet we could, but really were not sure where we were going or what we would find when we arrived.

When we got there we found a humble young pastor who, with his wife and two small children, was pastoring a church of about thirty people. They were meeting in the drive shed in the pastor's backyard. In the community, not only did they lack a church building, they lacked respect in the eyes of other churches. Still, a dedicated group met with the pastor, in the drive shed, every morning at 6:00 to pray that this would change!

During the next four years GTA helped this group of believers purchase a church building on the main street. Teams helped them put on a new roof and re-wire the building so they could have light in every room and outlets for electric heaters. We also purchased new windows and a new kitchen so they could better minister to the hurting and needy of Balikchy.

Over the years we held children's Day Camps with anywhere between one-thousand and two-thousand children attending daily! We held a series of adult Motivational Seminars and several hundred people showed up at four different auditoriums to hear our team speak on a variety of topics. We also held Youth Rallies and Christian concerts ministering to hundreds of young people in Balikchy. We even ministered directly to the church through Leadership and Alpha Training seminars. The church has continued to use Alpha as an outreach tool in their community. We finished three of our trips with a giant Family Fun Festival where thousands of people turned up for games, fireworks, food, testimonies and a Gospel presentation

The result of all of this is that the church there has grown in stature in the eyes of the community. They are seen as a group that is trying to help their community. Not only does the town know where the church is, but they know who they are and what they are about! The church has also grown spiritually and numerically through various outreaches and continuing Alpha Training. They are now better prepared to continue the work that was begun by that young pastor several years earlier.

Five years ago we didn't know where we were going . . . but God knew. He was sending us to answer the prayers of His people, half-way around the world.