Christians are a tiny minority in Central Asia and churches face many restrictions. But with interest in Christianity growing, particularly among young people, Alpha is seen as a powerful tool by a Christian movement with an ambitious vision for the region.
There’s an excitement and energy about Sasha and Maxim*as they describe the opportunities they see opening up for Christian ministry in the five former Soviet Union countries that make up Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
“In the 1990s there was a big Christian revival – stadiums and everything – and now it’s happening again,” says Maxim, 36, a former Muslim who now oversees eight churches in the region, including four in his own country, Kazakhstan. God is really moving, he says, and points to the incredible growth of the annual Sozo Christian youth conference that was started four years ago.
“It got so big that two years ago we started hiring a sports arena – you can’t easily get an arena in Central Asia, where 90% of people are Muslims!” Maxim smiles. “But we got the arena and 3,000 young people came. Around 300 churches were involved. It was huge – we’d never seen anything like it before!”
The Sozo youth conference is one of the fruits of a homegrown Christian movement called 2CA (short for 2% Central Asia). Sasha, 51, who pastors a church in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and helps lead 2CA, explains its ambitious vision.
“Right now, fewer than 1% of Central Asians are Christians, which makes us an unreached people group by definition,” he notes. “By mobilising resources, promoting partnerships and starting new initiatives, 2CA’s goal is to reach at least 2% of people – 700,000 people – with the Gospel, because that’s the level at which a group of people can start to influence society.
“One of the resources that we see as a huge blessing for the Church in Central Asia is Alpha. We know some churches are already running the Alpha course, but we want to promote it to the whole region so that many more churches can take this tool and use it to advance the kingdom.”
With 25 being the median age in the region, 2CA is particularly focusing on young people for its 2% goal. And they believe that the new Alpha Youth Series in Russian, which will be launched during the Sozo youth conference in August 2025, will be a powerful tool to reach them with the Gospel in a relevant way.
“Many churches are using old methods of preaching the Gospel and the current generation just don’t get it,” says Sasha. “They need something different, and we believe these new materials will be something that they’ll be able to understand and relate to. That’s why we’re really excited to have this partnership with Alpha.”
One of the resources that we see as a huge blessing for the Church in Central Asia is Alpha. We want to promote it to the whole region so that many more churches can use it to advance the kingdom.
Pastor Sasha
There are around 258 million Russian speakers in the world. Please pray for the ongoing work to translate the Alpha Youth Series into Russian, for its successful launch in 2025 and its long-term impact on people’s lives.
*Name changed to protect identity.
