Our church is officially registered!  Thanks to all of you who have prayed so faithfully for this.  Our registration entitles us to assemble for religious services and to conduct evangelistic meetings for adults.  It will also allow me to start the process of becoming a “missionary” again.  I know it sounds backwards but in order to be a missionary a church has to invite you and you can only do missionary work in the area where that church is registered.  We had this permission for three years in the Petropavlovsk area through the church there.  It is something that needs to be renewed every year, so we will add it to the list of yearly hurdles.  Once I have this “missionary certification” I can get our visas through the church.  We hope to start doing this next year.  Please keep this in your prayers going forward.

 

We have been enjoying our time with our oldest daughter Lucy who is here this summer working in the international school across the street.  She works a full school day but we see her on weekends and in the evenings.  We are looking forward to her two week vacation in July.  Amanda and Noah are close to finishing up home school for this year and continuing to hone their ping-pong skills every Sunday in the church basement.

 

Pray for employment for Bakutdjan.  He was laid off last spring due to lack of orders for the prosthetic limbs they made.  The company had hoped to reopen but finally decided to close permanently around 2 months ago.  Our other young person Mels is still working at the pilmeni (Russian ravioli) factory.  He isn’t a citizen of Kazakhstan but hopes to be in 5 years.  Byeram and he have the same father but not the same mother.  We love his openness and cheerfulness.  He is bunking at the church temporarily with Kooderbye.  After a year of working in temporary positions at the US Consulate Misha was hired for a permanent position.  He is back to a relatively normal schedule and hoping to do some long overdue home remodeling including indoor plumbing and an indoor bathroom this summer.

 

After three years of training and ministry Byeram and I have decided that he isn’t gifted in teaching.  This sets us back but it is good to finally have the matter decided and it is a load off of Byeram’s shoulders.  He will continue to be a big help to us but will not be in a staff position.  Please pray for Byeram to continue to recover from the loss of his older brother in Nov of 2006.  We are praying for another man to train and ultimately take over the pastorate in the years to come.

 

Kooderbye continues to have an enormous appetite for God's word.  He reads his Bible and books in Russian from our Church library.  He asks me 4 or 5 questions about what he has been reading every time I see him.  He claims that his mind is shot from drinking and that he can’t memorize verses, but he constantly quotes scripture to me.  He continues to evangelize when he visits his extended family 2 or 3 times a week.  His older brother Baltabye has moved here from Uzbekistan with his wife and is temporarily living with his son and his son’s wife and 4 children.  (By the way all but one of our church members is from Uzbekistan.) Baltabye has bought some land and is going to build a tiny house there this summer.  Kooderbye has 8-10 close family members (aunts, nephews, nieces, cousins) that he sees all the time and even more relatives he only sees for the numerous Kazakh "death parties" (3 day, 7 day, 40day, 100 day, 1 year), and weddings.  His good reputation is spreading.  So much so that he has a steady ministry counseling other alcoholics at the request of their families.  He has also found employment doing lawn and garden work for two American families in our area. 

 

This past winter from Oct-Feb Goolnara was not able to find a job that would work for her. She helped her family with painting, cleaning, babysitting, floor washing, remodeling, and cooking. She also made a second trip to visit her son, daughter and granddaughter in Pavlodar, eastern Kazakhstan.  Each time their relationship gets a little better.  She made a good decision to go back to work at the rehab center in February.  She is badly needed there because she is the only Kazakh speaking staff person in the women's program.  She had the biggest smile on her face when her counselor told her they could take her back as a staff person. It is a weight off my shoulders that she will be back under fairly good teaching and great accountability.  She has really blossomed as she has taken on more responsibility at the center.  She is teaching a couple of times a week, is in charge of security, and runs the whole center on the Director’s day off.  She sees us once a week and comes to our Sunday service once a month.  The other Sundays she is involved in a church that was started by the staff at the center.  Her sisters Gowhar and Djanar  aren’t doing as well.  Despite our best efforts they aren’t interested in returning to church at this time.  Keep them in your prayers.

 

The last update is on the unbelievable price of land here.  Prices in the city are $3,500 per square meter on average and climbing.  I am told that the average price for New York City apartment space is about $5,500 per square meter but I don’t know for sure.  Even 50 miles outside the city the price of land is still $40,000 an acre and up.  Some people are expecting prices to fall next year when Kazakhstan reduces restrictions for citizens investing outside the country.  Land costs $600,000 an acre now in Kalkaman where we live.  Unfortunately, nothing has changed except the price.  For that you get unmaintained dirt roads, electricity 4 days a week, and water every night from midnight until 6am.  I do have to admit that taxes are a bargain at only $150/year!

 

That’s all from us for now.  Thank you for all your prayers and support.  We would love to see you if you would like to travel to Central Asia.

 

Yours In Christ,

Kevin for the Heinz Family