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| Down from the mountain: the Siberian branch of the Bible Society in Russia continues to rise to the challenge of distributing Scriptures even to such small and far-flung communities as this. Photo: UBS/Larry Jerden (RUS01T-92) |
For those seeking to bring God’s Word to Siberia, travelling great distances over rough terrain to reach people in remote villages is not the only challenge. Russians and Ukrainians account for the majority of Siberia’s population, but the region is also home to people of many other ethnic groups, each unique in its language and culture. Shamanism continues to be practised within some of these groups, while the Communist era has also left a legacy of atheism.
This is the background against which
the Siberian Branch of the Bible Society in Russia launched To the
Ends of the Earth in 1998. This project, which is receiving financial
support from the Opportunity
21 global Scripture initiative, is working to bring God’s
Word to far-flung communities where social problems such as alcoholism
are rife, and to serve the expanding Siberian church.
One of the trips made last year as part of To the Ends of the Earth
took staff from the Siberian Branch to villages in the Kemerovo region,
located in the southern part of western Siberia some 200 kms (130 miles)
from Novosibirsk, Siberia’s largest city.
This region is home to the Teleut people, who number around 3,000 and remain very proud of their cultural heritage. The Bible Society made the trip at the invitation of Agape, a Russian not-for-profit medical aid organisation which was travelling to five villages in Kemerovo to run mobile clinics offering free health checks and, where necessary, medical treatment.
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The
team travelled by truck, boat and even helicopter to 11 remote
villages inhabited by Shor people
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The offer of medical treatment attracted many people and thus provided a valuable opportunity for Bible Society staff to talk to them as they waited in queues to be seen at the clinics.
Many people spoke openly to Bible Society staff about their problems, fears, hopes and challenges, and they were in turn very willing to listen as staff told them about God’s Word. They were delighted that, along with free medical help, they received gifts such as children’s Scriptures, New Testaments and large-print Scriptures. These people live a long way from established Christian communities, but the Bible Society left them these materials in the knowledge that “the Word of God is able to accomplish much more than we can imagine,” according to Siberian Branch Director Alexei Bulatov.
A few months later, the Siberian Branch undertook another trip in collaboration with Agape, this time to the mountainous Shoria region, some 600 kms (390 miles) south-east of Novosibirsk.
Here, the team travelled by truck, boat and even helicopter to 11 remote villages inhabited by Shor people, who eke out a living by fishing, farming and hunting. The Shor face many challenges, and this explains why they were initially suspicious when they were told about God’s love.
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| Their playground may be remote but it is not God-forsaken: the tiny figures of four children, dwarfed by the immensity of the Siberian landscape. Photo: UBS/Larry Jerden (RUS01T-128) |
“Their life is too hard to believe immediately in God’s love for them,” says Mr Bulatov. “It is hard for them to accept the fact that someone gave his life for them.”
However, local people listened with interest and were pleasantly surprised to receive free Bibles. Indeed, in one village the team even encountered a lady who had been actively requesting a Bible from various Christian organisations but had as yet received no response. For her, the visit was truly an answer to prayer.
Further reports about Bible work in Siberia can be found in Special Report 28, February 2002. (WR 378/13 - 7/8.03)