Short Term Teams Kyrgyzstan

Our last short term team visited Kyrgyzstan in June 2008.  Due to staff changes we were unable to send a team in 2009, however we are planning to send a team in 2010.

Highlights of the last visit

Lasting for two incredible weeks, the team partnered with five international Ministry Partners to serve the people and believers of Kyrgyzstan.  Our partners included AO Children’s Rehabilitation Centre (Sister V); KB Family Shelter (Brother V); KK Children’s Centre; Yssykkul Community Development Centre (YCDC); and the School of Biblical Studies (SBS).  (We were able to work with SBS before the Restrictive Law was put in place in January 2009).

Children’s Ministry

The children’s team did a great job as they spent time in the three children’s homes at AO, KB and KK. The children enjoyed games, storytelling and songs which encouraged team work and built their self-esteem. In KB the team stayed with the children overnight. All the children were excited to see a foreign team again, giving them a sense of God’s abundant care for them.

Community Development

A week was spent in the rural areas of Kyrgyzstan visiting four different villages to perform medical and dental work as well as counselling training for the YCDC team. The team worked with three local Kyrgyz doctors and one local nurse. We are strategically mobilising local doctors and dentists to head up a medical mission group which will focus on implementing medical projects. The testimonies from the villagers were very positive, many expressing thanks and praise for the work of YCDC and the medical team who treated 413 patients.

Dental work was again a big attraction with 231 patients attended to. At three out of the four clinics, medical and dental lectures were held for the village people, who listened intently. All the villages we visited were opened by YCDC because of their previous work in the Healthy for Life program. Each clinic has self-help group volunteers assisting with triage and patient management.

Linking Australian Churches with International Ministry Partners

Three mission committee members including the mission’s pastor, Ken Teo, from Evangelical Community Church in Melbourne, visited their partner in Kyrgyzstan, the School of Biblical Studies. It was a wonderful coming together of like minds and two ministries whose heart is for the teaching of the Word and reaching out for the lost. The two groups met in the training centre, talking about possible ways to further develop the SBS ministry. Consequently, Ps Ken Teo has been invited back to teach the book of Revelation and SBS will be partially supported for another year.

Contact our Short Term Team Coordinator

For further information about Short Term Teams in Kyrgyzstan, contact Phil Arnold at phila@cnecpi.com.au or phone 03 9899 2044.