Craig and Debbie Rayner

Debbie — 50th Anniversary Jubilee
Last week we held a conference here with some very special guests; the founders of YWAM came to Almaty and talked for three days. I was greatly encouraged by their coming, as was the entire community of faith. They shared some of the amazing new ways organisations are working together to bring about the spreading of the Good News. We also had country reports from the region, times to celebrate together as well as mourn together over unrest and lost lives in the area.

Craig was busy with IT support. We had two systems running: one on a Russian computer, with English material; and his computer running the Russian translations. We had tremendous moments of great grace with the Russian IT student working with us. To make sure the cues where followed I also helped a bit. I found a role of supporting the English speakers at the conference with local knowledge and problem solving.

The electricity flickered on and off 4 times, thank you to everyone who was lifting up the conference having electricity is not a certainty in this part of the world. But for the three days we had no problems.

The event was registered and run as a religious event. We had no formal visits during the event. Although, a friend of a guest did get detained in the airport, and there where official investigations of him. He is staying with us and he will be travelling south into a dangerous area in the next two days and would appreciate some covering KW.

The highlight for me was definitely seeing opportunities for us to serve through out the region. Works that need a computer system put in, or some training for the staff. We are looking at some plans to be able to meet those needs during school holidays.

Craig — Remembering The church which I attended as a child and young teenager was from a liturgical tradition. Not as liturgical as some, but still a service based on centuries of tradition that had been recorded in a pr*yer book. As an adult, I had grown to hate this type of service. I found the truth in a service that had no pr*yer book, and allowed an expression of thanks with modern instruments. It took only one visit for me to make up my mind about following the MD. Twenty six years later I find myself in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhs have been influenced by Turkish and Mongol thinking. They are a people in transition from wandering grazier to city dwelling. This pattern has been repeated over and over again throughout history. Moses was such a man. Brought up in a palace, he escaped from his shame to become a herder of sheep, and then was called to lead his people into salvation, the continuation of a journey from Abram as grazier to David as a city dweller. One of the lessons that Moses continually was teaching the people was to remember. He instituted a number of celebrations, including the Passover and the festival of booths, both used as a reminder of the salvation work done in their midst. He asked people to place a copy of the law on their doorposts, and asked them to wear certain clothing. All of these things were done with the object of remembrance. What does this have to do with Kazakhs?

The Kazakhs lack this history! The story of the Exodus is not their story. The story of salvation is a only a single generation deep. They need to gain their own stories of the MD, stories on which to remember the greatness of the MD. Should you be looking for a cause to take up for this people, our beloved Kazakh family, then asking that they have a library of history about the MD that they can call their own is a great reason for knee work. Perhaps a touch of liturgy is not a bad thing!

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Almaty, 050036,
Republic of Kazakhstan
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Contact details were last updated on the 9^th August 2011.