Pray for Uzbekistan

Pray for believers in Uzbekistan.

Today's Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin shared that there have been many answers to prayer for the Church in Central Asia:

• Unity among Protestant churches is growing.
• There are many testimonies of a growing interest in the Good News among Muslims.
• Many churches have a missionary vision for reaching out to the neighbouring Muslim countries.

However, much prayer is still needed.

Today, please consider praying for Uzbekistan and the following items.

• In 2010, Uzbek churches were raided by police, numerous Christians were detained and fined, while some were sentenced to short-term imprisonment.
• Pentecostal pastor Dmitry Shestakov served his fourth year in prison and is due to be released this month.
• A Baptist believer, Tohar Haydarov, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in a labour camp on fabricated drug charges in March 2010.
• The most restrictive situation remains in the Karakalpakastan region where none of the churches has been able to register. The authorities insist that individual believers must get permission even to have a Bible.
• A decision on new religious laws is possible in 2011, bringing even more restrictions on religious freedom in Uzbekistan.

 Stay tuned for prayer requests for other countries in Central Asia.