Meet Arman from Kazakhstan

Dear Church Family,

My name is Arman. I was born and raised in Kazakhstan in a nominally Muslim home. The first Christian I met was an American missionary, Jon. I met him at a gym during my sophomore year of university in 2006. Through my friendship with Jon, studying the Bible and history of early Christianity and observing the life of a small local house church that I began to attend, I was becoming more and more convinced that the claims of Christ as presented in the New Testament were true. By God’s grace in November 2007, I turned away from my sin and trusted my life to God in Christ. I was baptized at my house church in May 2008.

Most of my background has been in business and project management. Currently I run a Christian publishing company that is located in Russia. Our goal is to equip thousands of Christians (and especially pastors) with solid theological resources.

I’ve served as a lay pastor or preacher for most of my Christian life. In God’s providence, sports has always been one of the primary platforms for my personal evangelism and discipleship. Maybe it’s because I myself got to know the first Christian at a gym.😊

In March 2020, I started playing for a local American football team in Almaty, Kazakhstan [Almaty Horde]. Their coach came to our church service because he heard that the preacher (me) was a good athlete, and he wanted to recruit me. At first, I hated that sport, but I loved the team and wanted to serve the guys who desperately needed Jesus. At my first practice, I got nicknamed “Padre” and that nickname has stuck.

By God’s grace, all of my teammates have heard the gospel and about half of them have visited our church. To make this ministry long lasting, I wanted to learn how to coach and along with my church, started praying for an opportunity to intern in the US. 

In March 2021, I came to California for the Shepherds’ Conference at Grace Bible Church. There in God’s providence, I met Pastor Rocky. He immediately offered his help! Later he helped set up a coaching internship with Rio Hondo Prep School. After overcoming several logistical hiccups related to COVID-19, I came to LA on August 8 and will be here for a couple of months.

I am so thankful to our Lord for the hospitality of Evergreen SGV’s members! Brother Baldwin took me to the church service straight from the airport and I immediately felt loved by you! Quite a few people came to say hi and told me that they’ve been praying for me after watching a video I recorded a couple months ago. Thank you for providing me with housing and a car. My church in Kazakhstan also praises the Lord for your generosity! 

My coaching internship started well. The staff and the team showed me a very warm welcome. I need to learn a ton of things as I feel like I went from kindergarten to high school, but I am very excited about this invaluable experience. Please pray that I learn well and that I can serve the team well in any capacity I can.

I look forward to getting to know you better while I am here.

Much love in Christ,

Arman