Kazakhstan is a young country that gained independence in 1991. After decades of Soviet rule where the existence of God was denied, many elderly individuals are returning to their Islamic traditions. On the other hand, the youth^ are searching for truth and hearing the gospel.
The youth make up 28%^ of the population of Kazakhstan, the largest country in Central Asia and ninth-largest in the world.
From live talk shows that engage the audience about daily issues to more overtly Christian material, FEBC’s Kazakhstan team is reaching hundreds of thousands through social media. With more mobile phone subscriptions than the total population (130%)#, social media serves as an efficient means of reaching Kazakhs dispersed across this vast country (world’s ninth-largest and the largest in Central Asia).
There are more mobile phone subscriptions than there are people in Kazakhstan.
Reaching Young Lives
D*, a young man and second-year university student in Astana, Kazakhstan's capital, saw one of FEBC’s videos on Christ and strongly desired to learn more. To find out if there were gatherings of Christians similar to what he saw in our videos, he wrote to the station. Today D* is reading the Bible and has become friends with young Christians in Astana. (Cover image of youth fellowship D* is in.)
Stories of transformation like these encourage our FEBC family in Kazakhstan, who are passionate about reaching the next generation of Kazakhs. The team sometimes faces threats because of their work.
Another listener named A* shared a touching testimony with the team. “I am a student at the university here in Almaty. My parents got divorced when I was very little. I also have a brother and a sister who are older than me.
“Our mother did her best in raising us, while our father was totally out of the picture. We did not have good gifts for birthdays and holidays like other kids around us. I am not complaining about it, since we learned a lot through those challenging times.
“Now I am taking care of myself. In some ways, I seem to be better equipped than my friends who did not go through such a challenging childhood.
“In a way, I feel blessed by God and now look out to people in need. I love to give birthday gifts to disadvantaged kids. Somehow, I feel God's presence when I do things like that. Keep on talking about such matters on your broadcast.”
Please pray for the team in Kazakhstan as they reach the youth in spite of threats.
^ In 2023, 28% of Kazakhstan’s population are between 14-35 years old (Kazakhstan’s Bureau of National Statistics).
# Data from GSMA Intelligence.
* Names changed for security reasons.
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