{"id":7048,"date":"2022-02-28T09:48:14","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T14:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=7048"},"modified":"2025-08-24T12:17:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T16:17:32","slug":"how-religious-persecution-caused-a-family-to-flee-kazakhstan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2022\/02\/28\/how-religious-persecution-caused-a-family-to-flee-kazakhstan\/","title":{"rendered":"How Religious Persecution Caused a Family to Flee Kazakhstan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Aleksandr and Lubov Patsenko have faced many trials in life. One of the trials they will never forget is when they had to leave everything they had known and flee to America. It all started when religious persecution began in their country, Kazakhstan. Religious persecution is the act of harming people based on their beliefs. It affects many religious groups all over the world and Christians in Kazakhstan happened to be one of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Lubov and Aleksander before the fall of the Soviet Union.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Kazakhstan is a country in Central Asia that consists of many ethnic groups. Kazakhs and Russians are the majority. Hundreds of thousands of people from European countries immigrated to Kazakhstan in the 20th century during and after the World Wars. Aleksandr\u2019s ancestors had been living in Kazakhstan for many years. Lubov\u2019s family immigrated from Ukraine in the late 1950s.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After the Soviet Union fell in 1991, the Patsenko family did not feel the effects until after 1993. They had lived in a village named Alga that was far away from the chaos happening in the big cities. \u201cWe had only heard and seen the news of what was going on. We never actually felt it, until now,\u201d Lubov said. The Muslim Kazakhs had suddenly taken back their country and started introducing new laws and building mosques. They started oppressing Christians. Lubov had connections with the church. \u201cMy mom\u2019s house was an underground church in which my family served. We began to feel unsafe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There were people who watched everyone, waiting for someone to do something worthy of arrest. Aleksandr was coming home from work one day when the police suddenly took him in for questioning. \u201cThere was one shady man who stayed at a hotel for months that kept an eye on the residents of Alga. I assume he reported me for suspicious behavior.\u201d The police were trying to get the names of the people who attended the Patsenko family\u2019s church. \u201cAs soon as I knew that they wanted names, I refused to rat people out. I told them instead that there are different and new families every time, so I do not know. I invited the police to attend church and find out themselves.\u201d This was the moment when the Patsenkos knew they had to leave. They could not endanger their three youngest children.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The children had also been experiencing hate from the village, specifically Alex Jr. Alex Jr. was a very bold six-year-old child who was not afraid to preach the gospel. He once saw his school principal drunk on the streets. Alex told him that it is a sin to be drunk, yet Jesus still loved him. Alex was bullied in and outside of school. Luckily, Aleksandr had a sister who was able to escape to the United States right after the Soviet Union fell. \u201cMy sister had been encouraging us to come to America since she heard what was going on. We decided it was time to leave.\u201d The Patsenkos began the immigration process.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While the Patsenkos were waiting for the documents to be finalized, Lubov\u2019s mother sold her house. The Christians found an old and beat-up store to rent to use as a church. They transformed the store into a beautiful and operating church. About a year or two after, with no warning, the police boarded up the doors, making it impossible to enter. When the pastor asked why this was done, the police responded by saying that the church was government property and that their documents were not valid. Everything that was in the church was no longer theirs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A year after this happened, the Patsenko family was finally allowed to immigrate to America. Lubov remembered how their friends called them crazy for leaving with so little. \u201cWe only had $700 and the clothes on our back. When we were getting a ride to the airport, our friend wondered where the rest of our luggage was. I told him that these three suitcases contained a pair of clothing each for our family. He told us we would not be able to survive in America with what we had.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The process of leaving for America was difficult. Before they could buy plane tickets, the family was supposed to pass a medical check-up. By the time they finished the check-up, there were no available tickets for another month. \u201cI told the lady at the airport that I was not waiting another month. I started praying for God to have mercy on us. And all of a sudden another lady came out and said that there are some spots available on the plane,\u201d Lubov said. \u201cThe Lord answered our prayers.\u201d They were finally going to their new home. The United States of America.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On June 14, 1996, Aleksandr and Lubov arrived in Portland, Maine, after landing in New York City. They immediately got to work. They settled down and got their children enrolled in school. It took a lot of time for them to adjust to the new culture and life, not to mention learning an entirely new language.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They both thank God every day for the blessings they have received in the States. Lubov does have some regrets. \u201cAs much as I am very thankful and blessed to be here, my heart aches for the family and friends I left behind. I am sorry that I was not able to help them.\u201d Leaving the country that you grew up in takes a lot of strength. Lubov and Aleksandr sacrificed everything they had to keep their children safe. They left behind four of their married daughters and a couple of grandchildren. The technology was not advanced back then, especially not in their village. It was hard to keep in contact with loved ones. Thankfully they were able to reunite with two of their daughters after they immigrated to America with their own families. Aleksandr and Lubov have since then peacefully retired and are very thankful to have escaped Kazakhstan. \u201cIn the hard times, I looked up to my husband. I could not have done it without him,\u201d Lubov said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Aleksandr and Lubov Patsenko have faced many trials in life. One of the trials they will never forget is when they had to leave everything they had known and flee to America. It all started when religious persecution began in their country, Kazakhstan. Religious persecution is the act of harming people based on their beliefs. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7048"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8183,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7048\/revisions\/8183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}