Bended Knee International
Russia
| Tom Watson Slideshow |
Patrick Foss Interviews RUSSIA TUVA AUDIO © SRNNEWS.COM |
| Our Russian ministry has been primarily in the Southern region of the Russian Federation, in the Republic of Tuva, which is located just north of Mongolia in central Siberia. It is an economically depressed area where many survive on the equivalent of sixty US dollars per month. Although still influenced by Atheism, Shamanism and Buddhism have been synchronized as Tuva’s state religion. | Russian Ministry Introduction  |
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According to World Magazine, September 3, 2005, only one—tenth of 1 percent of the Russian people can be considered evangelical Christians. However, the Lord has given us a wide open door for evangelism and church planting. We are told in nearly every remote village we have visited that we are the first Americans to visit there. |
| Since 2003, we have traveled by boat on the Yenisey River and by car to many of these villages. The Lord has blessed us with the privilege of sharing the gospel in the village schools and planting churches in both Susch and Baj-Xaak. Our third church plant in Balgazyn is underway. We have opened a leadership training center in Susch. |  |
When we enter a village, we immediately go to the school where we meet with the upper grades. The Lord uses the fact that we are English speaking Americans to open the door. We begin our presentation with information and pictures of the United States and then transition into our faith and a presentation of the Gospel. |
Village Evangelism  |
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Each student is given a gospel tract, a booklet on salvation and a Russian New Testament. This material then makes its way into the homes and the entire community. We have found a great openness to the Gospel in an area of the world that has no gospel witness. |
| Our first church plant in 2004 was a follow up to our evangelism in 2003. Susch, a collective farm established under Josef Stalin, is a village of 500 primarily consisting of Native (oriental descent) people. We met with approximately 35 people to establish the first church ever in Susch. We purchased a home for $1,000 U.S. dollars and for and additional $1500, remodeled it into a church. |
Susch   |
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The first service was held on December 3, 2004 with 125 in attendance out of the village population of 500. The church is pastored by Anatolli KeeDeyekov a Native Tuvian. What a joy and privilege to see so many in this village turn from Atheism, Shamanism/Buddhism, drugs and alcoholism, to faith in the Lord for salvation, and a life of growing in Him. They often express that they are amazed that someone from America would care about them. |
| Our second church plant began in April of 2005 as a follow-up to our evangelism in 2004 in Baj-Xaak. A village of 5,000, located only 40 miles from Mongolia, Baj-Xaak is populated with a mixture of both Slavic and Native people. A building was purchased for $1200 (U.S.) and remodeled at a cost of $3,000 (U.S.). Under communism, every Russian Orthodox Church and Buddhist Temple in Tuva was destroyed, making this new church the only evangelical work and the only religious establishment in this large southern district of Tuva. |
Baj-Xaak  |
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Konstantine Yanov, who left his secular work as a basketball coach in the capital city of Kyzl to answer the Lord’s call to full time ministry will pastor the church, and like most Siberian pastors will not receive a salary from the church. |
| The church continues to grow and is reaching others in the village. |  |
| Tuva is located in Central Siberia, just north of Mongolia. It was formed as a republic in 1914. Yet because of its close proximity to China, the Tuvian government chose to unite with the Soviet Union in 1944, and is today a part of the Russian Federation.
The Native people in this remote part of the world are of Oriental descent. But in 1944, the Slavic people of Western Russia began to settle in Tuva in order to escape WWII and the brunt of Communism. Thus in many villages, people communicate in both Russian dialects and the Native Tuvian tongue. |
Republic of Tuva A Missionary Challenge  |
 The Shepherd's Home |
As a welfare state, Tuva has one of the highest rates of unemployment and alcoholism in Russia. Living conditions are reminiscent of 1940's rural America. Their log homes are heated with coal or wood and travel is difficult over many unpaved rutted travel routes that serve as "roads". Over one million Siberian people are scattered throughout the mountains, forests and tundra where living and climatic conditions are harsh in the extreme. |
| Josef Stalin destroyed every church and temple in Tuva during his reign of terror, yet "religion" survived. Most Siberians are influenced by animistic shamanism, the belief that natural objects and the creation possess souls and spirits. The role of the medicine man among Native Americans has a close parallel to the shamanism practiced in this area. Altars erected to these spirits can be found all along the travel routes of Tuva. |
 A Buddist Temple in Kyzl |
 Tuvian Nomadic Shepherds |
Today, Lamaistic Buddhism is the official state religion. This is the Buddhism of Tibet and Mongolia, a Mahayana form including non-Buddhist Indian elements as well as elements of the preexisting Shamanism. Pictures of the Dali Lama are found in the temples, homes and even the urtas (tents) of the shepherds. New temples are springing up throughout Tuva. Throughout Russia 70% of the children are baptized in the Orthodox Church. An Orthodox church is now under construction in Kyzl, the central city of Tuva. |
| Thirteen time zones East of Dallas/Ft.Worth and a 5½-hour flight East of Moscow, Tuva is truly the uttermost part of the world. This vast distance, combined with the lawless society, shattered economy, and a great spiritual darkness and deception, truly makes this area of the world a challenge for missions. Operation World reports: "There are only a handful of Christians, and Buddhism is being revived... These small, isolated peoples will need hardy pioneer missionaries". |  A Shaman's House  A Shaman's Altar |
The Republic of Tuva