Uzbekistan's Religious Affairs Committee claims Shestakov, an evangelical pastor affiliated with the registered Full Gospel Church, is not an authorized leader of any officially-recognized religious organization in Uzbekistan. They describe him as an "imposter" leading an underground group engaged in proselytizing under Shestakov's leadership. He is appealing his four-year labor camp sentence. ICC is joining a broad effort to send letters to Uzbekistan on behalf of Pastor Shestakov for the month of April, in conjunction with the website www.freepastordmitry.com. Would you join us, and help Vera see her father again? ICC recently received a letter from a young girl in Uzbekistan. She wrote: My name is Vera. I am 8 years old. I live in Uzbekistan. I have a Dad, a Mum, and two older sisters. We all believe in Jesus. My Dad is a pastor. Two years ago he was put in prison, because he spoke to people about God. I don't understand why. My Dad is the best of all! He is good, fun-loving and generous. I really miss him. He used to take me to the park and bought me ice-cream. We all long for him to be here. Mum often cries and worries about him. When I wake up each morning I really want to see Dad. I ask God to bring Dad back to us. So that everything will be as it was before. Help us to get my Dad back! Vera Shestakova Pastor's daughter. Uzbekistan Here's How You Can Help #1 Pray: The first thing you can do to help is stop right now and ask the Lord to intervene. #2 Next, review our petition at http://www.persecution.org/suffering/pdfs/2009-03_Petition_to_Free_Pastor_Dmitry_Shestakov.pdf. Uzbekistan officials are concerned about their relationship with the United States and other countries, so when the people shout, they will listen. We have also found that evil prefers to stay hidden and when we shine the light on it, it flees. #3 Electronically sign the petition at http://www.persecution.org/suffering/petitions.php. #4 Print out the petition and take it to your church and have everyone you know sign it. Send it back to us so we can present it to the Uzbekistan President and Ambassador. Feel free to print out extra signature pages for large numbers of sign ups. When you have collected all your signatures, please mail the signature pages to (please note that our address has changed!): ICC PO Box 8056 Silver Spring, MD 20907