Today We Join With Operation World in Praying for Turkmenistan, Asia

Turkmenistan

Asia

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 488,100 sq km

Two populated strips of irrigated land on its northern and southern borders, separated by the barren Kara-Kum Desert. Only 1% of the country is irrigated, arable land; 80% is desert.

Population: 5,176,502    Annual Growth: 1.34%

Capital: Ashgabat

Urbanites: 49.5%

HDI Rank: 109 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 42 (52% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: Turkmen using Latin script as in Turkey since 1994; previously Cyrillic script    Languages: 9 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Muslim

Religion		Pop %	Ann Gr
Christians	94,730	1.83	-2.1
Evangelicals	1,718	0.0	2.1
Muslim	4,977,724	96.16

Answer to Prayer

The demise of the man who built himself up as a god-king, wrote his own “Holy Book” and named himself Turkmenbashi, “the father of all Turkmen”, brings what is hopefully the beginning of transformation. It is still early to pass judgment, but there is a greater sense of hope about openness and positive change from the repressive personality cult of the past.

     For an additional Answer to Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

Challenge for Prayer

The new government and leadership face difficult decisions about continuing Niyazov’s legacy, about domestic policies and about the awkward relationships with Russia (its main buyer of gas), Iran, Afghanistan and China. Pray for godly wisdom for the new leader, for a departure from oppressive policies of the past and for the respect of constitutionally guaranteed human rights and religious freedoms.
     For an additional 5 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Turkmenistan.