Almaty, Kazakhstan

Arriving at a place I'd never heard of until a few months back, in a country I knew little about, with a language I can only say four words in, I was struck by a feeling that is becoming more common with each month that passes outside the UK... I'm a stranger here. My visit to Almaty is a humbling experience. It seems to me that Central Asia, this stretch along the Silk Route, is somewhere that the world has forgotten about. Whenever the world map pops up in my heard, I'm ashamed to say that I seem to get to India a bit too quickly, without even seeing the huge expanse of countries between China and Russia. On this trip we met people from Uzebekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Afganistan, Turkmenistan... Places I hadn't given a second thought, until now.

I've never been to Russia, so was surprised at the intensity of the Russian language. To my British ear, the Russians sound as if they are cross, all the time! It was hard to get used to, especially when I would say something meaningful and hear the translator (to my ear) shouting it back in Russian!

Kazakhstan was part of the former USSR until 1990, when it gained independence. They are the lucky ones, the country has huge oil fields and oil money will pay for the country to build up its economy, as it's starting to do already. Immigration is up 30% as people from neighbouring countries come to find a better life.

The landscape is bleak, yet hauntingly beautiful - the city of Almaty is surrounded by snow-capped, fairytale mountains. Yet there are signs everywhere of the previous political system and the darkness behind the country's newfound economic wealth. Women in rags with pale children beg at the roadside, poverty affects the old and the infirm, young teenagers are affected by cancer and illness due to toxic water and earth contaminated by nuclear testing during communism. I met a 15 year old girl with breast cancer, stomach cancer and and a weeping tumour on her innocent face. These people are desperate for something, for change, and I believe that change is on its way in the form of hope and trust in God. Those we met were hungry for newness, for their faith to grow, for more of God. In a land where life is often hard, maybe it's easier for them to trust and have complete faith in the one above. In the West we trust ourselves, our own ability to look after our families, to plan out our own lives, but in doing so maybe we lose something - the reality that life is short, we're here for a purpose, even if things are tough.

This trip has changed me, and given me a heart for that region, for the people I had forgotten existed. I hope I'm never as ignorant again.