The Orthodox Christian community in Tajikistan is considered the smallest in Central Asia, with a parish of only around 500, according to Eurasianet.

There are reportedly six churches serving this dwindling community – in Dushanbe, Khujand, Bokhtar (formerly Qurghon Teppa), Tursunzoda and Buston (formerly Chkalovsk).  There is also a little chapel in Nurek.

At Dushanbe’s St. Nicholas Cathedral, the Christmas service led by Bishop Pitirim began at midnight and ended at 3 a.m. on January 7, Eurasianet said, noting that troops from the Russian military base stood guard as the congregation, mainly old people living in Dushanbe, prayed within.  After services concluded, elderly parishioners were taken home in a special bus.

Tajikistan’s Russian community reportedly dwindled after the country gained independence following the Soviet Union’s 1991 collapse and the ensuing civil war.  In the last Soviet census, in 1989, about 8 percent of Tajikistan’s population was ethnically Russian.   By 2010, Russians have officially comprised one-half of 1 percent.

Built in 1943, St. Nicholas was in a state of disrepair when Pitirim arrived in 2012.  Today, it is only just able to support itself with donations from the local community.