World Christian Ministries: Bringing the Gospel to the Nenets

Russian missionaries are reaching an unreached people group in what could be the coldest place in Russia. No, it’s not Siberia. It’s even colder than that. Read on.

The Nenets are a semi-nomadic people who are short and stocky in build with broad, flat faces. Their traditional occupation is herding domestic reindeer in the Arctic regions north of Moscow. Estimates of their population range from 10,000 to 40,000, and the domestic reindeer they herd are estimated to number around 300,000. The herds range as far north as the Kara Sea in the summer, and the forest tundra just south of the Arctic Circle in the winter. (WCM Map).

The Nenets live in tepee type tents called chums and subsist by hunting and fishing, as well as by selling reindeer meat and hides. They roam the Yamal Peninsula, which juts up into the Kara Sea, and the northern parts of the Komi Republic, which borders the eastern edge of the Ural Mountains in the far North. (Global Opportunities for Christ tent photo).

Temperatures fall to as low as -50°C (-58°F) in the winter. According to Bruce Barry, writing for the BBC, the Nenets men keep warm by wearing a multi-layered coat in the winter: The inner coat (a Malitsa) composed of four reindeer skins is worn with the fur facing in, and the outer coat (a Gus) goes over it with the fur facing out. Barry writes these coats will allow a man to sleep outside with the animals in the winter. The women wear a similar double-layered coat called a Yagushka.

Photo of Nenets man lassoing reindeer by Bruce Barry (BBC). View their photo gallery.

According to Barry, the Soviets herded the Nenets onto collective farms in the early 1960s, and managed the herds by teams of Soviet workers called Brigady (from which we get the term brigade, and their leaders, called brigadiers). Such herds can number from 50 in private herds to several thousand in collective herds, and provide meat for the Russian population. Read the rest of Bruce Barry’s article.

The Soviets' experiment, however, carried some negative side effects. The “All Things Arctic” website explains:

“During the Soviet collectivization period in the mid-1900's, many Nenets were forced to abandon their traditional lifestyles and made to live on permanent farms. Children were turned over to state-run schools which eventually led to loss of cultural heritage and serious adjustment problems.” In fact, some of the children failed to learn the Nenets language, making it a dying tongue. There is no New Testament in the Nenets language. And most of the Nenets practice shamanism.

But there is a ministry reaching them with the gospel. Edward Grabavenko, a Ukrainian, went to Perm, Russia, about 700 mi. (1100 km.) east northeast of Moscow, right after graduating in 1991 from a Bible school in Latvia, the first one to open after the collapse of communism. He began what is called New Testament Church ministries and his associates have since planted some 300 congregations throughout the region, including the mother church of several thousand believers in Perm. I hope to share more about this church-planting ministry next time. Photo: Missionary team rents this off-road vehicle to reach the Nenets (Global Opportunities for Christ photo).

Perm has about 1.2 million people. It stretches for 30 miles along both banks of the Kama River and is a stop on the Trans-Siberian Railway. It is a major trade and manufacturing center in the Ural region, and produces machine tools and equipment for the petroleum and coal industries, as well as agricultural machinery.

One of his Edward’s associates, Peter Kudrov, planted a church in Syktyvkar, the capital of the Komi Republic, about 300 mi. (500 km.) north-northeast of Perm. From there, missionaries traveled to the town of Vorkuta, a coal-mining town of about 100,000 just north of the Arctic Circle. It is about 560 mi. (900 km.) from Syktvkar and 1,200 mi. (1,900 km) due north of Perm. Of course, there are no roads and the only way to get there is a 24-hour train ride.

From the Vorkuta church missionaries traveled still farther north to reach the reindeer-herding Nenets. To reach them they must use off-road vehicles with huge tires to navigate the deep snow in winter and the swamps in summer. They have no vehicle of their own, so have to rent one, which taxes their operational budget.

The missionaries hold gospel crusades, gathering outdoor crowds around their chums for teaching, preaching, sharing testimonies, singing and worship.

A group of Nenets believers in the summer (Global Opportunites for Christ photo).

Edward recently returned from visiting the ministry among the Nenets and said, “Pavel is doing a wonderful work with the Nenets and with the homeless and unemployed. People are deeply frustrated, as many do not have jobs and don’t have money to leave or move to a warmer part of the world. Most of them end up spending the rest of their lives in this severe climate. Today in Vorkuta it was -35°C (-31°F). In Perm it was only -3°C (27°F). I’m grateful to God for the wonderful pastors who do the work of ministry in Komi.”

Edward Grabavenko heads one of the largest church-planting ministries in all of Russia. I hope to tell you more about New Testament Church ministries next time. Meanwhile, if you want to support the ministry among the Nenets, please contact Bob Emery at Global Opportunities for Christ or e-mail Bob@GOforChrist.org.