On May 11, the same day that officials raided a service in Turkmenbashi (see https://www.vomcanada.com/tm-2003-05-21.htm) a service of a Baptist church in Balkanabad was also raided. According to a May 23 report from Forum 18 News Service, about a dozen officers burst into the apartment in the western Turkmenistan town. According to eyewitnesses, the police used physical force on everyone, including children, taking them to the police headquarters where they faced insults and threats.
During their detention, the Baptists claim they heard senior police lieutenant, Govkher Kurbanova, saying, "What's the point in talking to them, they should be put in a bus and shot!" When one woman refused to be photographed, they threatened to deport her ten-year-old daughter to Russia, where she was born.
The church in Balkanabad has faced repeated raids on its services in recent months and children of church members have been interrogated in school about their faith (see https://www.vomcanada.com/tm-2003-04-16.htm). Despite the recent raids, Yagshimurat Atamuradov, the chairman of the government's Committee for Religious Affairs, claims, "We are not conducting any special campaign against Baptists."
Pray that believers in Turkmenistan will know Christ's peace in the midst of this "storm" which they face. Pray that they will be an encouragement to each other, as they continue to meet together.
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