Uzbekistan

Government control of the Uzbek church through the SNB (former KGB) is very strong. All religious communities have to be registered, but it is a long, tiresome and almost impossible process for the Protestant church. Often registration is refused or even withdrawn after it has been granted. There is no Uzbek indigenous church with registration.

Local community leaders put pressure on Christians by cutting off water supplies and/or electricity to force them out of the village or to make them renounce their faith. Almost in every town Mahalla (district) committees ask families to come in for “a conversation’. They threaten Christian families, who then move from one Mahalla to another.

Local and national television stations regularly broadcast programmes about Protestant congregations, shedding a very negative light on Christianity. As a result several individuals suffer severe physical and psychological pressure and many people who are interested in Christianity feel intimidated.

Examples of Persecution:

• In January 2010, Tohar Haydarov was arrested, allegedly for producing and storing drugs. He was sentenced to ten years in prison
• In May 2010, eight members of the registered Full Gospel Church of Christ were arrested during a raid at the Sunday morning worship service

Open Doors is: supporting the church in Uzbekistan, and praying for the believers

Please Pray:

• Pray for the small church their to grow in this hostile environment and for Christians to remain steadfast in faith.