HISTORY:

Donald and Esther served the Lord for 8 years in the country of Ukraine.  In the spring of 2005, Don went with a Ukrainian brother to Kazakhstan for a week as part of ministry that was established to prepare and send Ukrainians as missionaries.  Little did he expect that God wanted him not just to facilitate missionaries to Kazakhstan, but to go himself.  Kazakhstan is a diverse country with over 130 nationalities.  The largest evangelical church in Kazakhstan is the Baptist Union, which survived through the years of communism.  This church is mostly made up of ethnic Russians and Germans, even though the majority of Kazakhstan is ethnically Kazakh.  Kazakhs are nominal Muslims.  SEND was looking for someone to come and help the national church in cross-cultural ministry and church planting.  Seeing the need and experiencing an openness to the gospel on this short trip, God clearly laid a new call on Don’s heart and the hearts of Esther and their children (now 4 of them).

VISION:

Following is the vision of SEND International Central Asia:   To make disciples and facilitate development of fellowship groups and church networks among the peoples of Kazakhstan with a special emphasis on Turkic people by partnering with and mobilizing like minded believers.

For three years, the Parsons’ small team has been working to carry out this vision.  They know that they have come into an area of great spiritual warfare.  Their team and the nationals that they are working with have dealt with extreme illness, some persecution, family difficulties (with others on the team), and even death.  They are confident in God’s call and know that He is going to do great things here.  They have seen lives changed and Kazakh ministry expanded.  The national church continues to move forward, slowly but surely, to reach out to the Kazakh majority.

TODAY:

Today, they are working to establish a number of small Kazakh fellowships in our region and bring them together as a network through monthly celebrations and common training.  The model is much like a cell church.  As team leader, it is Don’s job to cast the vision for the work, prepare and lead our team of expatriates, network and mentor nationals both locally and nationally, and serve as a pastor within the national church.