Journey to Kyrgyzstan: A Transformative Experience in Culture and Community

Lauren Baccari was a member of our 2024 short-term missions team in Kyrgyzstan. Read about her experience with Central Asian culture, serving half-way around the world and team dynamics.

Our next two trips depart in July 2025. Register for our upcoming interest meeting on January 12th.
Or, if you're ready, apply for the 2025 team.

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Last January, I heard about the Kyrgyzstan trip during a church service and felt so convicted by the Holy Spirit I was convinced I was going. But I had many reservations about signing up:

1. I had never been out of the country before
2. I had just started a new job in January and was unsure if it would be possible with my work schedule
3. I didn’t think I would be able to support raise the funds needed
4. My parents are not big travelers and have no paradigm for global missions. I knew it would be hard to explain why I wanted to travel across the globe for a missions trip and lead a kid’s summer camp when I could do the same in the US.

There were so many obstacles that could have kept me from going, but the Lord provided a way through every roadblock and made it abundantly clear He was in control, not me. My only option was to walk in obedience and trust He would either keep the doors open or close the doors. Either way, the awareness of global missions began to grow deeply within me.

Having never been out of the country, I did not know what to expect, but I was surprised to learn the Kyrgyz life and people were similar to the life and people back home. Bishkek is a city with amazing coffee shops, restaurants, and bars, novel stores, huge malls, blocks and blocks of apartment buildings, massive parks—there's a green belt that snakes its way through most of the city—, and insanely cool architecture.

The brothers and sisters in Christ we got to know there have the same longings, desires, hopes, and despairs that I do. Even though they live 7,000 miles away, they have their own lives like I do and want to be known and loved like I do. And even though Russian is the primary language, we worship the same God and have the same Holy Spirit within us. What a beautiful glimpse of heaven!

I also learned a lot about Kyrgyzstan's proud history. Despite ancient Mongolian traditions, Kyrgyzstan is also a former Soviet state, and there are remnants of that brutal past littered throughout the city. Once the Soviet Union collapsed and Kyrgyzstan gained independence, the outside influence of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE could be keenly felt. Where once Kyrgyzstan had been predominantly Easter Orthodox, today 91% of the country is Muslim and less than 1% are Christians.

There is a need to continue growing the relationship we have with our key partner, Word of Life Church, encourage our fellow believers, and share the gospel with the unreached. Today, there is so much hope for a burgeoning evangelical movement in the country.

Our days were busy and purposeful, yet there was also a slowness of pace that invited interruptions and conversations along the way. We had easy-going mornings which gave us the flexibility to walk to a coffee shop nearby, go on a run, journal and read scripture, or sleep in. We had a team bible study and breakfast each morning before heading to the church for the camps.

The days were spent at the church leading kid’s camp through different games, activities, biblical crafts, and English lessons (with SO many little hugs and smiles mixed in between). We had free time in the afternoon where we could have conversations with church staff/members to get to know them, take naps, or play kombio (a popular Kyrgyz card game). Each evening we went out to dinner with different ministry organizations. I think this was my favorite part of the day—getting to eat INCREDIBLE food while listening to stories/testimonies from our Kyrgyz brothers and sisters.

Kyrgyzstan is clearly not as developed  as the US, but I came to realize that this is not a disadvantage for the Kyrgyz people. The Kyrgyz lifestyle helped me realize the importance of simplicity: Simplicity of fixing my gaze on Jesus and allowing that focus to shape how I live each day and where I direct my life. Throw in good community, food, water, a home, and a job where I can use the gifts the Lord has given me—there is not much more you need to live a satisfying life. This kind of simplicity keeps the hope of eternity in the front of my mind, which can be so easily forgotten when challenged by consumerism, social media, wealth accumulation, etc. You don’t see Amazon trucks on every corner in Kyrgyzstan. All of this provided a beautiful perspective shift when I came back to the US.

I hope you'll join us in 2025.

-Lauren Baccari