Paul has made several trips to Tajikistan to provide training to Christian brothers and sisters on how to bring others to faith in Jesus and start new churches since 1997. This page provides some background information, and at the bottom, a link to download a copy of Paul’s travel journals in eBook format.
Paul is planning to return to Tajikistan in late September/early October 2023 to visit with friends, see how the food distribution is going, and encourage some of the new Afghan believers. If you would like a copy of Paul’s prayer letter and updates from the trip, please email him at hypkip@gmx.com with Tajikistan in the heading.
How to Give
I was asked if people can still give to help the Afghan refugees. To give a tax deductible gift, please go to Mercy Hill Church’s Give tab by clicking here.
This window will pop up. Change the dropdown that says “Bay View” to “Missions Support: Tajikistan” and fill out the rest of the form to complete your gift.
You can also give to Feed the Hungry and designate your gift to Afghan Refugees.
Mountain Ministry
Ruslan and his partners venture up into the mountains to contact those who live there and have minimal contact with those in the cities. He shared that a pastor had come along to see what Ruslan was doing firsthand and asked how he could help. The pastor was handed a load of food packages and showed the steep path up into the village above. To his credit, this pastor lugged the food all the way to the village, which was not an easy task!
Ruslan asked for a Camelbak water backpack and a portable projector to help with the work. Carrying drinking water will allow his people to venture further into the mountains. The tiny projector will let them show the Jesus Film to small groups of people in homes in these mountaintop villages in their own language.
The projector is less than 3 inches square by 4 ½ inches high plus a small tripod, weighs only 14 ounces, has a built-in speaker and battery, and can show videos stored on a USB thumb drive. I am excited about the possibilities this little piece of equipment opens up in the villages. The Jesus Film in the Dari language is available and will be used.
We also brought a couple of solar-capable battery packs to keep the projector, phones, and other equipment charged where no AC power is available.
Even without this new equipment, Ruslan has been busy. A friend has been active in finding people to read the Scriptures in the different dialects used in the area. These recordings are then loaded onto MP3 players that are distributed, sometimes with written Scripture portions, to those whom they contact.
The MP3 players have also found their way into Afghanistan. Where the river separating the two countries is narrow, it is not difficult to get the MP3 players to the other side.
When Ruslan realized that Afghan refugees were finding their way into Tajikistan, he focused more energy on reaching the Afghan people who had escaped the influence of the Taliban. Ruslan has used the Manna Packs that Feed the Hungry shipped into the country to reach Afghans who are in great need. Through the care shown by Ruslan and those working with him, many Afghans have been fed and comforted, and many have given their lives to the Lord Jesus. Since September of 2022, about seventy-five Afghan refugees have been baptized. (Now, you should know that many mission organizations have given up on Afghans, saying they simply cannot be reached!) Ruslan has helped dozens (perhaps hundreds) of Afghans find their way into Tajikistan and obtain visas once they arrive. Several Afghans have already found permanent residency in welcoming countries, most often Canada. While I was there, we celebrated and commissioned one brother who has done much work in the local church since arriving as he prepared to leave for Canada.
Time With the Refugees
We met with the refugees each day from Thursday through Tuesday, except Sunday. Ruslan asked Phil and Brian to begin before I arrived since the refugees were already on site. Our discussions with the refugees were mainly about Old Testament concepts, and we were delighted with the many good questions that were asked throughout the week.
We had a lot of good one-on-one conversations during our breaks and lunches. On Friday, I sat with Amina*, and she shared some of her story with me. I was impressed that Amina took the bus every day so she could be with us – an hour there in the morning and an hour and a half home in the evening. She explained that she and her family lived in Kabul when the US pulled out of Afghanistan two years ago. Her husband had a good job working at the airport but realized he needed to flee the country for his own safety. This left Amina alone in Kabul with their four children. Amina was a high school chemistry teacher, but with the Taliban taking charge, she was no longer allowed to teach. She had been struggling to make ends meet, forced to largely stay at home until she was able to flee to Tajikistan just two months ago with Ruslan’s help. Amina is delighted to be reunited with her husband, even though they are still struggling to make ends meet. Amina is just one of the people that Ruslan has helped find their way into the country.
Shortly after my chat with Amina, Zahra told me her story. She was living in Afghanistan and enjoying life when the Taliban started changing all the rules. Zahra explained that she believes women should be able to hold jobs, attend school, and walk where they want, when they want, just like the men could. As the Taliban said these things were no longer allowed for women, Zahra complained, which labeled her as an “Activist.” Then Zahra became a follower of Jesus. A week later, Zahra was arrested. The police examined her phone and questioned why she had a Bible app installed. She explained that she was reading various different religious books in her studies, but the police didn’t accept that excuse. Zahra was thrown into a cell, which I think she said had standing water on the floor. She spent the next three days in that cell, except when the police took her out to question her and beat her with a rubber Billy Club. The police eventually released Zahra, but she was now being watched carefully. Zahra told me that she had made her escape to Tajikistan just seven days earlier.
Quite a few children joined us at the breaks, and we enjoyed playing with them. We even brought in two birthday cakes for the boy who turned six our last day there – what a blast! But the idea that these children have been torn from their homes and then faced hunger and malnutrition because of the Taliban is heartbreaking. Mojdeh’s little boy had a dream one of the nights we were there that his father had returned; he was inconsolable after waking and realizing it was not true.
* – All the refugees’ names have been changed for their protection.
Photos!
Click on the picture below to scroll through several pictures taken during this trip.
From Then to Now
This story was written after Paul’s friend Jim returned from a trip to Tajikistan in spring 2023.
Mojdeh’s Story
Here is Mojdeh’s story, written in the summer of 2023.
Bibi’s Story
A version of this story is also in the Feed the Hungry newsletter, Volume 27, Issue 4.
Paul’s Journals
Paul kept journals on each of his previous trips and has compiled them into an eBook titled Diaries of a Serial Missionary. If you would like to read the book, you can download a copy of it by clicking on the link below. The book is in epub format, which can be read with Kindle, Nook and other standard e-reader applications and devices.
Diaries of a Short-Term Missionary
A Good Ruslan Story
Ruslan has served as our translator in the past, but he has done so much to grow the Church in Tajikistan. It is an honor to know a man with such a great heart to serve God and to serve his people. This is just one of many stories that could be told about Ruslan’s exploits.
Hypki's Good Quotes 