Source: Forum 18, July 29, 2020
City authorities in Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana) have ordered the confiscation of the buildings of Grace Presbyterian Church and Agape Pentecostal Church which is building a place of worship on the same site. City authorities claim the land is needed for a new kindergarten. But officials refuse to explain why they cannot find another site for this, despite two possibly suitable buildings in the same district. Officials have also refused to explain why Grace Church is being offered [far less] compensation than its church building is worth.
Dmitry Kan, Grace Church’s pastor, told Forum 18 that “we simply want to continue to use our property for worship.”
“From 2002 we have dreamed of having our own building, and we just started building it,” Igor Tsay, Pastor of Agape Church, told Forum 18. “And then this. It was unexpected—a shock.” The church stopped construction of its new place of worship and offices as soon as it learned of the decision to confiscate the site.
» Full story has much more detail about the history of conflict between the nation’s local governments and its religious communities. Forum 18 documents religious liberty issues throughout the region.
» Interested in the Turkic world? Looks like many foreigners have been forced out of Turkey in recent months (World Watch Monitor). Please pray.