110 Cities

Karakalpak in Türkiye (Turkey)

The Karakalpaks in Turkey are generally poor, and unemployment is high, but people do what they can to make a living, working on their vegetable plots and gardens, fishing, selling at markets, raising livestock, doing casual or seasonal jobs, etc. There is no social security system, just a network of local committees who can provide temporary support for the severely destitute. Karakalpak societies are patrilineal, which means that the line of descent is traced through the males. Large families are the ideal, and the nuclear family is composed of as many as four generations in the same household. The Karakalpaks believe that families who share meals together will stay close. The majority of Karakalpak boys and girls receive schooling up to the age of 15 or 16. Although school attendances have fallen since independence in 1991, the great majority of both boys and girls are still enrolled in primary schools. Literacy rates are high. Girls often marry at age 16 or 17 right after they finish school. Rites of passage are important to the Karakalpak people. When a baby is born, a Karakalpak mother will invite all family members to come meet the baby. They embrace marriages as the way to merge two families and keep their family lines alive. They celebrate weddings for days with music, dancing, speeches, and feasts. When someone dies, there are rituals that the bereaved family must do while mourners come to extend their sympathy. A Muslim mullah will lead the procession to the graveyard where he utters the final prayers. The family is responsible for burying the deceased.

What Are Their Needs?

Very few Karakalpaks have ever heard the gospel; among those who have heard, very few have responded. There are only a few reported church members among the Karakalpak people in any country where they reside.
Prayer Points

Pray for the Lord to thrust out workers who will be compelled to nurture a movement to Christ among the Karakalpak people.

Pray for a Jesus movement among the Karakalpaks in Turkey that will spread joy, peace, reconciliation, and salvation to other peoples in Central Asia.

Pray for the Karakalpak culture to be renewed and enhanced by a work of the Holy Spirit and shaped into a God-centered and God-honoring mold.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to move among Karakalpak family and community leaders to seek his face and enjoy his blessings.

Pray that soon the Karakalpak people will have faith that will lead them to live honorable lives that will draw others to the Savior.