Have they heard the
gospel?
-Pastors/evangelists to population in 2000:
13 (1 for every 315,769 persons)
-Missionaries to population in 2000: 24 (1
for every 171,042 persons)
-Number of mission agencies targeting this
group: 5(that we know of)
Who is Jesus Christ to them?
-80% believe Jesus is the Son of God (but
not in a personal relationship sense)
-10% believe Jesus is a
prophet/teacher/good man, but not God’s Son
-< 10% believe Jesus is a myth (cf
"fairy tale"; Russian= "skazka")
- ~ 1% have never heard His name
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Assumption Mens Monastery in
Ufa |
Have they responded to the Gospel?
Believers to population
In 2001: 1 believer to every 684 persons
(total believers: 6000) (0.146%)
Is there adequate prayer for this
people: Not yet
Number of churches/fellowships adopting
this people group:
Four
--
Grace Church (Edina, MN), Westside Baptist (Sumter, SC),
BridgeBuilders Int’l (Oregon), Latvian Baptists
Do they have a church?
In 2001: 1 church for every 165,000
persons (total churches: 25)
Total number of communities (as of 1996:
4,735)
Cities: 20
Towns: 41
Villages: 4,656
In 2001: 1 church for every 189
communities (without a church: unknown)
Does this people have the Word of God
translated into their mother tongue?
-yes (Russian); New
Testament, Old Testament, scripture portions. First full NT translation in
Tatar finished and published in fall 2001 in Kazan, Tatarstan.
-forms: printed, audio cassettes, cd-rom, dvd (soon), videocassette,
Internet.
Hinderances to scripture distribution
(none from illiteracy: literacy rate almost
100% ~ to government stats)
A. Shipping costs for bulk mail
potentially prohibitive at times
B. No known indigenous
publishers/printing houses which will assist with evangelical needs
C. Few existing places for bulk storage
D. Cultural sensitivity among Bashkirs/Tatars
(especially government) toward scripture distribution in their
indigenous languages when foreigners involved
E. Bibles are certainly cheaper to print
than in US, but even so, indigenous church financial support for such
projects not very strong
(complete NT in Russian: @ $2…complete Tatar NT: $1.35
F. Lack of church libraries (bibliotekas) and scarcity of book tables in
rinoks, etc.
Availability
of other forms of Gospel presentations
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LaLa Tulpan Cathedral Mosque in northern Ufa |
A. Recordings: unknown
B. Literature: growing availability of
Western apologetic material translated into Russian for evangelistic use
(e.g., CS Lewis, RC Sproul, Josh McDowell); some indigenous Russian
evangelical books/pamphlets/tracts also
C. Films: one known indigenous Jesus Film
team in the Ural mountains area which is available for mass showings of
Jesus Film & one Ufa team recently trained in Moscow by New Life;
other films: unknown
D. Radio: International Russian Radio and
HCJB are beaming short-wave broadcasts of a gospel nature into B-stan in
Tatar & Bashkiri languages, possibly also the Far East Broadcasting
Co.?
E. Video: if shipped from
Moscow/Petersburg; very little available in B-stan, even in capital city
of Ufa
F. Internet: evangelistic web pp can be
accessed in Russian, German, English, Finnish
Receptivity to change and to
Christianity
Change comes easier in the cities
& towns. Change comes much more slowly, even with resistance, in
the villages. Islam, although in my opinion
nominally adhered to within much of B-stan, still holds tremendous
influence both culturally and ethnically. The typical Russian is more
concerned with how to survive
economically and find some sense of meaning and hope in daily life; there
are seeds of hope within the rich
religious tradition of Russia if dealt with discreetly and tactfully.
Moderate nationalistic tendencies
present formidable hurdles toward Americans openly participating in
evangelistic work (especially the viewpoint
within government)
8. The
potential for outside (cross-cultural) assistance ("bridges")
Strong potential exists in several
key areas
A. Training and mentoring of indigenous
pastors/church planters in CPM principles
B. Assisting Russian Baptist leadership
in teaching the churches about tithing, indigenous financial support,
house-church concepts
C. In the transfer of
reproducible/indigenous methods of Biblical literature production and
distribution
 D. Development of CPM-related strategies:
-media saturation
-humanitarian assistance
-crisis ministries
-short-term volunteers
-partnerships
-theological education at lower levels of the 5 point scale.
E. Art forms
-Bashkirs are known for their paintings
of the beautiful scenery of the Urals; also for wood-carving, hand-made
jewelry using stones/gems of the republic and the Urals
F. Media
-there are at least 12 radio stations in
the Ufa oblact (remainder of B-stan: unknown); most of the country
receives 2 state TV channels and 2 or 3 Moscow channels through
transmitters
-there are two major newspapers in the
Ufa oblact; other Russian papers are also available (e.g., Sevodnya,Argumenti/Facti,
etc); the Bashkiri government has prevented transmissions of independent
television stations from Moscow; governmentt has also shut down independent
newspapers critical of government
policy.
C. Problems (morality, insurrection,
family, etc)
-there is a systemic problem with alcohol
and drug abuse that is growing in B-stan, even among the Bashkiris
and Tatars themselves; this has been voiced as a source of tremendous
concern by the government & is seen
as a threat to a pure sense of their ethnicity -there
continues to be a fracturing of the Russian family structure -divorces
are growing at an alarming rate-personal, corporate, & governmental
ethics (or lack thereof)
-there is an emptiness in the hearts of
especially township youth perhaps from lack of meaningful activities/facilities/guidance
for them
D. Greatest needs
-freedom from alcohol/drug addiction;
deliverance from nihilism
-modeling & mentoring of healthy
family systems, including a biblical understanding of man- & woman-hood
-deliverance from the false hopes of
Orthodoxy, Islam, lingering spiritism and animism deep in the rural
settings
-in the final analysis, a clear
presentation of the gospel that is culturally relevant in meeting the
deepest desires of the Russian mindset
-globally focused prayer strategy and key
workers to the field
*Religion
- Religions practiced: Islam (majority are
Sunni of the Hanafi school), Russian Orthodoxy, evangelical Christianity
(Baptists, Pentecostal, Charismatic, Lutheran, Church of Christ), Catholicism,
7th Day Adventism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, animism & spiritism
(traceable back to 10th century).
-Primary religion: Islam (Ufa is one of 4
Muslim spiritual directorates in Russia; estimated 100+ mosques
in B-stan)
-Secondary religion: Russian Orthodoxy
-Adherents: 6000 known evangelicals in B-stan;
adherents of other religions unknown
-Percent practicing: unknown
-Religious practices/ceremonies
*there is one known wedding chapel in Ufa
where Orthodox couples are expected to give their wedding
vows; normal Islamic observances (Ramadan, etc); specifics of traditional
Bashkir ceremonies unknown
-Redemptive analogies/bridges
*the Russians are seeking hope and
stability for daily life; Jesus can fill this deep yearning for hope,stability,purpose
within the context of a loving, studying, discipling Christian church
community
*there is a tremendously rich Orthodox
tradition within Russia; the possibility exists of helping Russians
recover the best parts of Orthodox history that dovetail with evangelical
thought, namely that God is loving and
although He is transcendent, He is also immanent and wants to be known in
a personal sense. This type of trust in
a personal God has been elusive because of the distortion of the image
of God within Orthodoxy as almost altogether mysterious and unknowable
*Jesus is well-respected by Muslims as He
is presented in the Koran. A bridge of dialogue is possible using
the Koran as a primary text to point to the uniqueness of Jesus for
salvation; also using Abraham as a
figure of faith in the coming Messiah
-Spiritual openness/climate
*there is strong resistance toward
evangelical efforts to the Bashkirs; such efforts are seen as a threat
to ethnicity and Islamic tradition; this
resistance at times is fomented and encouraged by government leaders
and entities.
*there continues to be a perception among
Russians that evangelicals (especially Baptists) are the equivalent
to what American evangelicals consider as a cult or sect. There is also a
mistrust among many Russians/Bashkirs
toward anything religious that is tied to the West.
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