Happy Farmer First! Meet Pastor, & Special Needs Advocate, Kiyalbek

“The earliest followers of Jesus were known to care for the children that society would not, they loved the outcasts. We work to follow in that tradition.” 

Of the many beautiful things we heard from Pastor Kiyalbek (pictured above), this one stands out.  Kiyalbek was chosen to lead his congregation after the Soviet Union collapsed. Not long after, the young pastor’s firstborn son was paralyzed after being dropped by doctors at their local hospital. Kiyalbek explained that it was this tragedy that ultimately led him to truly trust in God’s goodness…

“When Christians came and prayed over our son and helped him rehabilitate, it was like a miracle. The boy was able to hold his head up, we even had a relative regain their sight. So I began a ministry to support children with disabilities after that, and I do it in honor of my son.” 

After the accident, Kiyalbek’s eldest was renamed Amman, meaning “so he will live.” The family committed to celebrating their son and giving him the best life possible. 

Over lunch, we met other members of the family and sat swapping stories until eventually a little singing led to the appearance of instruments which then became a full-on jam session culminating in Kiyalbek’s son, Yusef, playing his stringed “qulmoos” on the back of his head! 

Pastor Kiyalbek sustains this ministry through a chicken farming business you and our partners helped provide funding to start. The C Fund community invested in local ag businesses that offered him the training he needed to get started, a high-quality, affordable feed to raise healthy chickens, and even remote farm depots to ensure he and other rural farmers could get emergency access to inputs without having to travel hundreds of miles.  

One of AgGrandize’s partners, Oasis Agro, is extending distribution in Central Asia. You can support a pastor like Kiyalbek with capital and training by making a donation to Farmers for Farmers.