<I>Contributed</I><BR>Local volunteers served as part of the Church of the Nazarene's short-term mission program. The group labored for more than seven days in Borovoe, Kazakhstan, digging trenches, pouring concrete, and cleaning the surrounding yard to install a fence for the Nazarene Bible College.

KAZAKHSTAN – When a small Nazarene Bible College in Asia needed a new fence, volunteers here in Grant County were more than willing to lend a hand.

In fact, they were so willing, they raised the money for the project and flew to Kazakhstan to install it themselves.

“It was great to see that the people over there have the same love for God as us,” said Nazarene Pastor Dan Wiese. “They (the Kazakhs) were really hard workers and went out of their way to help us out.”

The group of volunteers – nine from John Day and one from Nampa, Idaho – served as part of the Church of the Nazarene’s short-term mission program. Each year, about 7,000 Nazarenes give time, money, and skills to places in need all across the globe.

Borovoe, Kazakhstan was no exception. After a short stay in the country’s capital, Astana, the 10 volunteers made the 3-1/2 hour drive north to Borovoe where they began building a fence around a Nazarene Bible College.

“Overall we were about to donate about $12,000 in materials to the project,” said Wiese. “We were just there to serve them, and we wanted to leave Kazakhstan being a blessing to the people.”

The money helped pay for the building materials, a battery-operated tool set, a guitar, 70 folding chairs, and numberous children’s items difficult to obtain in the former Soviet-bloc country.

Once settled into rented apartments in Borovoe owned by a local church, the volunteers labored for more than seven days, digging trenches, pouring concrete, and cleaning the surrounding yard for the fence’s installation. The end product was about 70 percent complete by the time they left.

“It was a unique experience to work side-by-side on project that isn’t your profession,” said group leader Greg Armstrong of John Day. “It was rewarding to work with the Kazakhs, and virtually our only method of communication was using hand gestures and pointing.”

The language barrier was only a minor obstacle to overcome, said Wiese, because the group was often accompanied by a Russian to English translator. In fact, he used a translator to preach to dozens of Kazakhs, twice in a church in Astana, and once in Borovoe.

“It was important to me when I prepared a sermon not to let American thought into it,” he said. “I had to avoid using slang and humor doesn’t necessarily always translate.”

He added that when working with a translator, you have to get into rhythm where you stop and pause so the translator can communicate everything to the crowd.

“It takes a while to start really clicking together, but once you do, it’s nice, and it gives you a couple seconds to think of what to say next,” he added.

Wiese said that American and Kazakh church services are similar in many ways, with one of the more striking resemblances being in song.

“When the service got under way and they started singing worship songs, we recognized a lot of the songs and started singing with them in English,” he said. “That was a pretty neat experience.”

Aside from building the fence and preaching in local churches, the group’s ministry activities within the country were somewhat restricted. Kazakhstan’s two most dominant religions are Islam and Russian Orthodox, and according to Wiese, religious expression from foreigners is best kept relatively low-key.

“They were okay with us being there, but we didn’t necessarily want to draw attention to ourselves all the time,” he said. “We were told that if we did (draw attention), it could cause problems for future ministries.”

Outside of work, the team had plenty of opportunity to tour the country, which included a few humorous moments.

“One day we were all cramming into a bus, and I didn’t go directly to the back which is what you’re supposed to do,” remembered Wiese. “I took a step back right as the bus was taking off, and I fell over and landed in a lady’s lap.”

The whole team bursted out into laughter.

“She didn’t even look at me, she just pretended I wasn’t there.”

In the end, Wiese believed his team accomplished its mission, and learned a lot, too.

“I think we got to expand our world view and see how other people live,” he said. “No culture is right or wrong, it’s just different, and you have to learn to be flexible.”

Armstrong, who had been to the former Soviet Union four times prior, took a similar view.

“These people are God’s people and they’re just as loving and easy to get to know as other people around the world,” said Armstrong. “Growing up in the Cold war era, we were taught that anything Russian or Soviet is bad. It’s refreshing to come here and see they’re just like us, they’re God’s people.”