James and Lyric were born and raised in Southeast Asia. They later emigrated to the United States to raise their children and are now blessed with grandchildren. As longtime members of MBC Tysons they were involved in a home Bible study and various MBC fellowships. After retiring, James and Lyric began to wonder if God wanted them to use their time to live and serve among unreached peoples. They searched the Scriptures, sought counsel from MBC leaders, and prayed for God’s direction.
It was clear that their thirty years of international development experience had prepared them for life overseas. They now live in the Muslim-majority country of Kazakhstan. In this context, it is hard to establish deep relationships with other Christians. That’s why James and Lyric spend time training local pastors and leaders through a program called Transformational Development (TD). They equip local churches to serve the practical needs of their communities. By meeting these needs, they can build relationships, which in turn opens the door for gospel proclamation.
In 2023 James and Lyric were granted long-term visas after five years of waiting! This means they will no longer have to cross the border every thirty days and can now spend their time in-country more effectively. Their organization is also now fully operational as a legal entity with official bank accounts. After years of planning, they were finally able to implement the TD training program through a local church. The community has a diverse group of unreached peoples composed of Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, Turkic, Uyghurs, Roma, Ukrainians, and Russians. The pastor and the local government have an open working relationship, allowing the potential for further gospel proclamation.
Major Religion: Islam
Joshua Project Status: Minimally reached
Percent Evangelical: 1.67% (1 in 60)
Visit Joshua Project to learn more about the unreached in this region.
See the full 2024 Global Outreach Prayer Guide HERE.