Climate: Mostly mid-latitude desert, long, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid grassland in east
Terrain: Mostly flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes; broad, flat intensely irrigated river valleys along course of Amu Darya, Syr Darya (Sirdaryo), and Zaravshan; Fergana Valley in east surrounded by mountainous Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan; shrinking Aral Sea in west
Environment Issues: Shrinkage of the Aral Sea has resulted in growing concentrations of chemical pesticides and natural salts; these substances are then blown from the increasingly exposed lake bed and contribute to desertification and respiratory health problems; water pollution from industrial wastes and the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides is the cause of many human health disorders; increasing soil salination; soil contamination from buried nuclear processing and agricultural chemicals, including DDT
Languages: Uzbek (official) 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1%
Government Type: Presidential Republic; highly authoritarian
How to Pray
01
Pray for Uzbeks to see the glory of Christ in the gospel. Ask God to bless the witness of churches in the country.
02
Pray that believers would be bold and wise in light of pressures from the government and others who are hostile to Christ. Pray that churches would understand the mission and focus on reaching the rural areas.
03
Pray that local believers would have access to good theological resources and would use and apply the knowledge. Pray for good theological education inside and outside of the country for leaders. Pray for permanent, systematic, theological education in the Uzbek language to be present in the country.
04
Pray that broken relationships with family and friends, due to conversion, would be restored.
05
Pray that Uzbek believers would grow in holiness and knowledge of the Lord.
06
Pray that current and new applications to register churches would be approved. And that the Uzbek church would have legal protection and advocacy. Pray that the government and society would see Christians as a blessing to the community, economy, and country and that local believers would live as such.
07
Pray that doctrinally sound workers would mobilize to Uzbekistan.
08
Pray for God to provide for the needs of the poor of Uzbekistan. Ask him to use this physical provision to open doors for the spread of the gospel.