For Josh Russell, training church planters is a lot like roasting coffee. Inside a narrow storefront in Central Asia, the Southern Baptist worker details the art of transforming green coffee beans into steaming cups of java. Yet he grins as he remembers the first time he roasted — and nearly burned — an 8-pound batch of Mexican coffee beans.
“It was so dark — it was too done,” he said. “The problem we had was how to know when to pull it out. … The same thing happens as we’re training and equipping leaders. When do you turn them loose?”
It’s a dilemma Russell wrestles with in his role as strategy coordinator for Turkmenistan’s Turkmen people. He’s charged with sharing Christ and planting churches across a nation cut off from the gospel by more than 65 years of communist rule.
“What I do is help cast vision,” Russell said of his role. “We have to help Turkmen understand they need to love their own people; they need to take the gospel to their own people.”
To make that vision a reality, Russell focuses his ministry on cultivating and maturing leaders within the Turkmen church. The goal has evolved into a number of unique projects, ranging from wholesale coffee distribution to a new leadership training facility. The projects, though quite different, are designed around a common purpose — meeting Turkmenistan’s overwhelming need for Christ.
Less than 2 percent of the 5 million Turkmen profess faith in Jesus. Here, Muslims represent the majority, though many claim Islamic faith in name only.
“The Soviets destroyed Islam within Turkmenistan,” Russell said. “I consider most of the people to be atheists or secularists.”
Instead of Islam, Russell points to poverty as a key factor in lostness among his people group.
“Most Turkmen live in such difficult situations that they’re not even thinking about their spiritual need,” he said. “They’re so consumed day to day just getting enough food to eat, meeting the needs of life. … They’re blind to the fact they are alienated from God.”
But poverty isn’t the gospel’s only enemy. Across Turkmenistan, churches are under attack. Believers are placed under surveillance or house arrest. Others are beaten or tortured. Persecution has caused some to flee the country; others have recanted their faith. Pastors are frequent targets.
“One [pastor] was beaten so badly he lost hearing in one ear,” Russell said. “His head also was held underwater to the point he almost drowned — multiple times.”
Though some churches have weathered such attacks, not all are as steadfast. In 2006, a 60-member congregation was scattered after its pastor was forced to leave Turkmenistan.
Russell said setbacks like this underscore the need to cultivate new leaders within the church. He believes teaching believers how to endure, even thrive, under severe persecution is instrumental to a church-planting movement (CPM) among the Turkmen.
“Fear prevents them from seeing a CPM,” he said. “The world they live in is opposed to them changing, and they need to be prepared for that.”
Getting ready to plant
Leadership training events are one tool Russell uses to help prepare them. Scheduled throughout the year, groups of six to eight Turkmen are flown to a neighboring country for a week of intense discipleship.
But Russell said there’s more to building strong leaders than training. That’s why he’s recently opened a wholesale coffee business in the city where he lives. The business sets an example for Turkmen churches: Sharing Jesus can mean a job. Besides providing believers with finances to engage in outreach, Russell’s business also opens doors that otherwise may be closed.
As a wholesaler, Russell’s local distributors form the business’s frontline, pulling double duty as both salesmen and evangelistic church planters. The job requires a passion for sharing Christ and a knack for building relationships.
Russell is excited about the future of the Turkmen church. In spite of obstacles like poverty and persecution, there’s real evidence the gospel is making progress.
“I see steady, gradual growth within the church,” he said. “We’ve got leaders who are starting to have a vision, taking initiative to go out and start new churches in areas they know the gospel hasn’t penetrated.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — Names changed for security reasons. (BP)
Share with others: