Frostbite Evangelism in ‘Coldest Place On Earth’
It’s called “frostbite evangelism” in what is officially the coldest inhabited place on earth.
In Russia’s Far East — home to the vast frozen tundra of Yakutia — temperatures in January can plummet to minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 50 degrees Celsius. At such bone-chilling temperatures, exposed skin suffers frostbite in seconds, and beards and eyebrows freeze solid.
Yet local Christian missionaries, brimming with evangelistic zeal, don’t let the extreme Arctic conditions — or the challenge of traveling hundreds of miles across treacherous icy terrain — put them off.
They’re on an unstoppable mission to share the “good news” with people in the remotest outposts of Siberia and neighboring Yakutia in Russia’s Far East — a region that’s larger than Canada, the world’s second biggest country by land mass.
Vast Mission Field
Alexander is a local missionary pastor in Irkutsk, Siberia. He’s one of thousands of local pastors and evangelical churches in the former Soviet Union supported by U.S.-based mission organization Slavic Gospel Association (SGA, www.sga.org), ministering to the physical and spiritual needs of families, widows, and orphans across 11 time zones.
For Alexander, the daunting Siberian tundra offers a vast mission field. During winter, members of his congregation brave freezing conditions to take the gospel message to the Buryats, a minority ethnic people of Mongolian origin that traditionally worship the sun, moon and stars.
“There are many heights in the places they live, where their tribal people offer sacrifices,” Alexander said.
After decades of official atheism under communist rule, many Buryats don’t believe in God — and have never even heard of Jesus Christ.
It’s a difficult mission field, but Alexander and his faithful flock support the growing local church among the Buryat people. On a recent visit, Alexander preached from the Old Testament book of Joshua, and encouraged the local Buryat pastor. “He’d never thought about (the Buryats) as a unique (people group) with characteristics, viewpoints, life principles, and so on. But when he began to consider this, he changed his attitude and (Buryats) began to attend the church.”
‘Earth’s Coldest Inhabited Place’
Mikhail is an SGA-supported missionary pastor in Yakutia, one of the remotest locations on earth, with its northern shoreline along the Arctic Ocean in northeast Russia. The Guinness World Records lists Yakutia as the coldest inhabited place on earth, with a winter record low temperature of minus 90 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 67.7 degrees Celsius.
Mikhail visits isolated Yakut villages in areas that can be reached only by air or along frozen river beds. It takes three hours in a four-seater airplane to reach one community, where there is a small evangelical church. The aviation ministry is supported by SGA, a mission that has operated in Russia for more than 90 years.
Recently, the local Yakut people asked Mikhail, “We have our own gods, so why have you exchanged them for another faith?”
Mikhail, a native Yakut, took the opportunity to share his own journey of Christian faith with them.
‘Impassable’ Roads, ‘Unwanted’ Orphans
Meanwhile, an SGA-supported team in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region braves icy roads and tracks often deep in snow to travel 350 miles visiting remote orphanages, part of the local “Orphans Reborn” outreach.
Last month, their vehicle got stuck in snow and they had to huddle in temperatures of minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit until a tow truck came to their rescue.
“It snows heavily in our region and it makes (our) way to the orphanage quite challenging,” admitted a member of the team. Sometimes, they have to finish their journey on foot because the snow-covered roads are impassable in their vehicle.
“The orphans look forward to these visits as the highlight of their week,” said SGA senior vice president Eric Mock, a frequent visitor to bleak, state-run orphanages across the former Soviet Union.
“Many of these children feel unwanted and abandoned,” he said. “They’ve never felt the love of a parent, or heard that God loves them. The local Orphans Reborn teams show them the love and attention they’re craving, and share the good news of the Bible with them.”
Founded in 1934, Slavic Gospel Association (SGA, www.sga.org) helps “forgotten” orphans, widows and families in Ukraine, Russia, the former Soviet countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Russian-speaking immigrants in Israel – caring for their physical needs and sharing the life-transforming Gospel.
(SOURCE: Slavic Gospel Association via Christian Newswire)
