This country is truly interesting and challenging. It is three times larger than Texas but with a population of only about 16 million. The people are either Kazak (Asian) or Russian heritage and each group has their own language. We spoke to people either in English or through translators. We found them to be warm and open people eager to talk with us.
Most of our time was spent in or around the city of Chimkent with our last couple of days in Almaty. We made connections with people primarily through daytime concerts at various colleges such as a music college, a business school, a language school and even fashion and art and cooking schools.
Our venues looked more like back alleys between buildings rather than traditional concert halls but in each place we had good conversations with students.
The first couple days when rain was a problem for the big stage set up, Kim, Todd and I pulled out the music we have been doing in our outreach in Jacksonville, added percussion, and were able to carry on in spite of the rain and keep people engaged.
Because of government regulations, we were extremely limited as to what we could share from the stage, but because drug and alcohol addiction are such a deep concern throughout the country we had freedom to address that issue. That gave an opportunity for one of our members to tell the story of his journey out of addiction and the part that his faith played in his recovery. Our final concert was in a faith-based facility that helps recovering addicts learn tools to re-enter society.
Please continue to pray for your brothers and sisters in this country who are valiantly standing up for the gospel.
Thanks for the photos Terri Smalley
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