{"id":250,"date":"2021-06-02T15:12:42","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T15:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/?p=250"},"modified":"2021-10-25T15:59:58","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T15:59:58","slug":"central-asia-secret-worship-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/central-asia-secret-worship-cars\/","title":{"rendered":"Central Asia Secret Worship Meetings in Cars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At a prearranged location, Rob waits, watching for a familiar vehicle among the heavy traffic passing by on the street in front of him. When he sees his friend\u2019s car maneuver to the curb, he hops in and they drive around for a few hours. In this Central Asian country, where meeting in public could draw the attention of Islamic extremists, using cars is one of the safest ways for Christians to fellowship and worship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secret believers in restricted nations use a number of discreet meeting places in order to practice their faith undetected. VOM workers have heard of church meetings in the forest, in a rented vacation home in the country and even in a chicken coop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rob and his friend cruise the neighborhood and talk freely about their faith, sticking to side streets to avoid police checkpoints and meeting only during the day for safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\r\n\t

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Request your free magazine<\/p>\r\n\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\n\n\n

Rob pulls out his mobile phone and the two men begin to sing along exuberantly with recorded worship music. Those idly watching them drive by might assume they\u2019re singing the latest pop song, but the two men are in fact joining in heartfelt songs of praise to God in their local language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After worshiping in song, Rob and his friend listen to Scripture from an audio Bible and then discuss what they\u2019ve heard. They then pull into a restaurant parking lot for a few minutes to pray \u2014 with their eyes open \u2014 and read more from God\u2019s Word. Finally, after about an hour, Rob\u2019s friend drops him off again at a street corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rob is used to meeting other Christians in creative and covert ways like this because Christians in his country are generally the lone believers in their homes and communities. Apostasy from Islam is punishable by death, so if their faith is discovered, they will almost certainly be killed by authorities if not their own family members. An hour of fellowship in a car serves as a great encouragement as they practice their faith in secret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Car<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A few hours after his first meeting, Rob is out on the street corner again, waiting for a different Christian friend. This time, it\u2019s one of the local church leaders he meets several times a week. As the church leader navigates through heavy traffic, Rob asks how his ministry is going and how he can pray for him. And then they pray, staring straight ahead watching people pass by them. They pour out their praise and needs before the throne of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Rob and the other believers drive around their city of committed, conservative Muslims, they know that small groups of Christians are doing the same thing in other cities around their country. They are worshiping and praying together in the only safe place they have \u2014 their vehicle. \u201cJesus said wherever two or three gather and wherever two or three call my name, I am with them,\u201d Rob said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After being dropped at a street corner for the second time, Rob leans into the church leader\u2019s open car window. \u201cSee you on Tuesday, friend.\u201d Then he walks away from his \u201cchurch,\u201d something the auto makers couldn\u2019t have imagined would become so meaningful to Christians in Central Asia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a prearranged location, Rob waits, watching for a familiar vehicle among the heavy traffic passing by on the street in front of him. When he sees his friend\u2019s car maneuver to the curb, he hops in and they drive around for a few hours. In this Central Asian country, where meeting in public could draw the attention of Islamic extremists, using cars is one of the safest ways for Christians to fellowship and worship. Secret believers in restricted nations use a number of discreet meeting places in order to practice their faith undetected. VOM workers have heard of church meetings in the forest, in a rented vacation home in the country and even in a chicken coop. Rob and his friend cruise the neighborhood and talk freely about their faith, sticking to side streets to avoid police checkpoints and meeting only during the day for safety. Rob pulls out his mobile phone and the two men begin to sing along exuberantly with recorded worship music. Those idly watching them drive by might assume they\u2019re singing the latest pop song, but the two men are in fact joining in heartfelt songs of praise to God in their local language. After<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":252,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[80],"class_list":["post-250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-field-stories","tag-central-asia","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nCentral Asia Secret Worship Meetings in Cars - Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Secret believers in restricted nations use a number of discrete meeting places in order to practice their faith undetected.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/central-asia-secret-worship-cars\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Central Asia Secret Worship Meetings in Cars - 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