Elder Chia Shan Yang, a retired shipping broker and merchant marine captain founded Central Asia Sharing Aid (C.A.S.A.) in 2000. He and his wife, Yuen Chen Yang, had previously served as missionaries to Kazakhstan. It was during this period that Elder Yang felt led by God to start Christian schools. He was reminded of becoming a believer himself through a missionary school in China. He soon met another missionary with a similar vision. They joined force and started Mercy Foundation of Kyrgyzstan. C.A.S.A. is a major supporter of Mercy Foundation.
Mercy Foundation, a non-profit interdenominational Christian organization founded on May 11, 2001, is the first legally registered Christian Foundation established in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, with the full approval of the Religious Affairs, Justice and Education Departments. Mercy Foundation's goal is to establish Christian charity projects, such as schools, orphanages, playgrounds, technical training centers, seminaries, churches, medical clinics, drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, and other projects, as God leads. Mercy Foundation has been blessed with the cooperation and goodwill of the Kyrgyz government.
Our school and orphanage projects are dedicated to bring Central Asian Muslim children to know Christ, uniting the efforts of foreign and domestic Christian organizations. Some of our orphanage children formerly lived in city sewers and others came from abused and neglected backgrounds. Many of the children in our schools come from poor and single parenting familes. We also have a live-in school for the mentally, physically, emotionally and even some sexually abused disabled children. Our five schools and two orphanages serve about 1200 children, between the ages of 4 to 18, in Northern Kyrgyzstan. We not only provide for the physical needs of the children, such as food, clothing, shelter, health care and education, but also for their moral and spiritual needs, including Bible studies, importance of prayers and character building from Christian principles and models.
Mercy Foundation was founded in 1999 as a united effort between individual Christian organizations: Central Asia Sharing Aid of Illinois, New Life Ministries of North Carolina and Good News Bible of Kyrgyzstan. In the past many years, Mission of Mercy of Colorado, has been providing child sponsorships for our students and orphans of Mercy Foundation since 2000. We pray other children sponsorship organization will step in to continue this important ministry of God.
Mercy Foundation completed a major project of a gymnasium building adjacent to the Tokmok School of Blessing in September 2004. This multi-purpose facility is houseing a library, classrooms, and basketball courts available for various sport activities, in addition to church and evangelism activities. During this same time period, the Foundation has also completed a playground with the approval and cooperation of Tokmok government with adjacent evangelism-building project in Tokmok. This project is collaboration between Mercy Foundation, Kids Around the World, Rockford First Assembly and C.A.S.A., all from Rockford, Illinois.
As requested by the regional Kyrgyz Governor, Mercy Foundation will start Christian grade schools in the Kyrgyz countryside in the near future. The summer of 2004 saw the beginning of Christian summer camps for poor and homeless children in many of our Christian schools, taught by the voluntary efforts of our Christian school teachers and volunteers from local churches. The camps were extremely well attended and well received, and will continue in future summers. We welcome church groups, including youth groups, to come on short-term missions trips to help us at these summer camps.
As God leads, Mercy Foundation will start new projects in higher educations, such as professional institutes and one day even International University serving other Central Asian countries, such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and nearby countries..It is our founders’ dream and vision that different races may live in peace and harmony through God’s love.
Elder Yang held on to the promises in Proverb 22:6in the Bible:
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
He remembered becoming a Christian in his teen at a Christian school through the efforts of American missionaries serving in China. That is why even when he and his wife know that they are not trained in education, they are willing to submit to God’s calling for them – that is to bring children in Central Asia to God, to know Jesus love the children. While they knew they are able to do so by their own ability, they believe that God will provide the wa and this will be through Christian education.
As Jesus said in Mark 9:37, "Whomever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me." So,Yang and wife left their comfortable life in US at a young age of 70+, dedicated everything they have ,to give these forgotten children of Central Asia a hope and a future in this life and in eternity, in the Muslim country of Kyrgyzstan. May God bless His own work through His faithful servant and maid.
It is the hope of the founders that the many of the next generation of Central Asian Christians will arise come impacted from the education and other projects that the founders have initiated. They pray that the locals will become the Christian witnesses, the salt and light of this part of the world, that they are blessings for many and it is because of their testimonies, other lives are transformed and be touched by God.
professional institutes and one day even International University serving other Central Asian countries, such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and nearby countries..It is our founders’ dream and vision that different races may live in peace and harmony through God’s love.