Cjen* & Alya*
Missions Personnel Code: "CNA"
Involvement: Teaching, Mentoring, Media and Communications
Serving in: Central Asia
We are Cjen and Alya. We have two adult daughters.
We came to know the Lord in our teenage years. The Lord separately placed a call on our lives for cross-cultural missions when we were in our twenties. Cjen is an audio technician by training, while Alya is a high school science teacher. To prepare ourselves for ministry, we completed Bible college training in our younger years.
In 1988, Alya was sent by Bartley under a mission organisation to teach at an international school that serves the educational needs of missionary families.
After our marriage in 1991, Bartley sent us out as a family in 1995. Cjen served in a Christian media ministry as a studio technician, while Alya was a full-time homemaker caring for our two young daughters.
Several years later, Bartley transitioned from direct sending to partnering with a mission organisation. In 2002, God led us to join a Bible translation ministry, where we served for nine years. Alya taught high school science at international schools serving Third Culture Kids, while Cjen supported Bible translators as a Vernacular Media Specialist.
In 2012, Cjen was invited to take on a new role with the same ministry. Alya continued teaching at an international school. Cjen served in media training and development, equipping ethnic minority Christians to create culturally appropriate media resources for Scripture engagement. This ministry was especially important among oral communities where many people could not read or write, despite having access to Scripture in their mother tongue. Media became an effective tool for sharing and engaging with God's Word.
After 23 years overseas, we returned to Singapore in 2018 to support our aging parents and attend to the health needs of extended family members. By God's grace, family circumstances have become more stable. Since 2021, we have been praying and seeking the Lord regarding a possible return to cross-cultural ministry.
In December 2025, the Lord opened an opportunity for us to serve in Central Asia. We thank God for inviting us to partner with Him in His work in this emerging mission field.
Alya will be teaching Chemistry, while Cjen will be serving in media and communications. Together, we hope to support the school community, encourage missionary families, and contribute to God's work in the region.