Russian villagers hear gospel for the first time

In parts of Far East Russia there are those who have never heard the name of Jesus.

Alexander Balagansky, a missionary sponsored by the Slavic Gospel Association (SGA), in the Buryatia region, is involved in the difficult and sometimes dangerous challenge of reaching them. Villages and communities there are isolated, often cut off and inaccessible due to extreme weather conditions. However, strange as it may seem, the extreme weather can become the missionary’s friend and associate in pioneering gospel ministry!

Buryatia has a million residents, one third of whom live in its capital, Ulan-Ude, a modern city. Outside the city, however, traditional rites are still alive in local villages. This includes ‘nomadic worshipping of nature’s spirits’ and daily prayer ‘to [the] mountains and the deities that dwell at their peaks,’ according to Euronews.com.

One local ‘datsan’ or traditional village preacher said the rites he led were ‘mixed’ with ‘offerings made to shamanistic spirits that are bound by an oath to Buddhism that also makes them deities of the Buddhist pantheon,’ he said.

Alexander tells of a planned trip to the remotest village in the Okinsky district of Buryatia, Alag-Shulun. Earlier they had failed in their attempts, because there was no bridge across a river on their route, and their journey proved fruitless. Now the extreme weather became their friend. The temperature had dropped to –35°C and the offending river had completely frozen over, so the evangelists now had a ‘road’ to their mission field. As is often the case in Far East Russia, frozen rivers become roads, and the way in to otherwise inaccessible communities. Alexander’s journey was a dangerous undertaking, and only possible by means of transport which could cope with the hazardous conditions.

SGA(UK) responded to this need, and had the privilege of supplying a suitable vehicle. Alexander reported something of the challenge they were about to take on. Having found and purchased a suitable vehicle in Khabarovsk, they prepared it, making adjustments to the suspension to cope with rough, stony, near-impassable roads, and fitting winter tyres. The evangelism team set off, prayerfully committing their venture into the Lord’s hands. Alexander writes:

The first trip for the car took place on 13 December … I worried if it would cope with the journey, or would we come to the point where we would have to go back? … We covered the natural road very comfortably. The car climbed up icy roads without any problem. We had to cover several kilometres of stony road. I was very nervous. But we succeeded!

For the first time in their lives the villagers of Alag-Shulun heard the good news of Jesus and His gift of salvation. Alexander reports that they had ‘great meetings’ with people who listened to their message. It was a very blessed and encouraging outcome of their near-2000km hazardous journey – the forging of new friendships, the precious opportunity of sharing the gospel, the gift of Bibles and Christian literature, and a further door opened to reach the lost for Christ.