We strongly believe and affirm that more evangelism and church planting needs to be done in areas where there aren't many indigenous Christians to evangelize their own people. Partnering in ministry in Central Asia will deepen our heart for Muslims, expand our vision of God's calling for all Christians and increase our passion for the work going on in another part of the world as we join others who are committed to this calling.

Engedi is partnering with a family working in Central Asia among the Fotizo* people. The Fotizo people are living in the largest unreached country in the world.  The population of this area is 73 million people and there are less than 3,000 believers. (.00004% of the total population are Christians.) According to Operation World, there needs to be at least 2% of the people within a people group to evangelize their own people. This definition is what classifies the Fotizo people as "unreached" although there are many missionaries working among the Fotizo people.

*Fotizo is a made-up name referring to a specific people group in Central Asia that is used in printed material to protect those we are working with. Fotizo is a greek word that means "to enlighten".

Engedi's Role: In November 2007, engedi sent an exploratory team to meet with a couple working among the Fotizo people through Global Partners, the mission arm of the Wesleyan denomination. Engedi will be partnering with this couple's work among the Fotizo people through prayer, education of ministry to Muslims, short-term teams, sending groups of students to be a part of a six-week class being developed, and equipping folks from engedi to join this couple in their long-term work. 

Our Partner's Vision: Their vision is to plant churches which are self-sustaining, self-governing and self-propagating. The goal is to plant churches which are capable of reproducing themselves in order to present the gospel in a clear and culturally relevant manner. Some key aspects of ministry will include evangelism, discipleship, and leadership training. They are diligently seeking God's plan for how they can penetrate the culture in a unique but natural way. They believe that God calls them to help meet the social and physical needs of a society, thus they are seeking out ways to be the "hands and feet" of Christ.  It is their goal to implement this plan in 2008. Verbal evangelism occurs primarily in personal relationships in homes. Foreign missionaries need to gain verbal proficiency and cultural sensitivity to speak about Christ in relevant ways.

Get Involved
Interested in more informaiton or getting involved? Check out ways to get involved in our partnership with Central Asia here.