Tundra ministry still growing despite Arctic cold

MNN's Greg Yoder has been following a team throughout the Arctic Circle, reports MNN.

He joined a Russian Ministries' expedition team four years ago, exploring the evangelistic work being done at the end of the world. A pleasant surprise awaited him. He says, "The church where I'm standing right now, Good News Church, is pastored by Anatoli Merechev. He has done incredible things. When we were here four years ago, it was just being built, and it's nearly completed now. "

The church ministry center has also been enthusiastically received in the community and is a springboard for outreach in the Tundra. Says Yoder, "It's basically being operated 24/7, bringing young church leaders into the church, discipling them, helping them, and then sending them back out. "

It's the home of one more of Russian Ministries' "School Without Walls" programs. There are 35 locations across Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. These young Next Generation Christians are making the most of the opportunities God has given them to be equipped and prepared for leadership their churches and their communities.

Groups usually meet in churches, like Good News Church, and students spend two to three days a month taking practical courses and spending time with experienced faculty.

"School Without Walls" is about investing in the lives of young Christian leaders in a post-Communist period. These young men and women are prepared to communicate the Gospel to their peers, bring the hope of Christ to people affected by HIV/AIDS crisis in Russia and Ukraine or serve in the churches as Sunday school teachers or club leaders.

The people they're targeting in the Tundra are the Khanty and the Nentsy people. The group is comprised of 30,000 nomadic reindeer herders. They move whenever the land can't support the grazing herds.

That has made them hard to reach, hard to find and hard to disciple. It's also why the "Schools Without Walls" program is so successful. Yoder explains, "The newly trained pastors are actually able to go out and share the Gospel with this relatively unreached people group. In fact, up until about ten years ago, they'd never heard the Gospel before."

This year, the team initiated "Greatest Gift Exchange - Project Hope," which entailed bringing a shoebox Christmas to the children of these people groups. That served as a tool to reach the kids, which then opened doors to reach the adults.

A four and a half hour snowmobile ride in subzero wind chills reminded the team of the loneliness and isolation this people group face daily. The project is viewed as a relationship-building program and built on the growing urgency to reach their camps with the hope of Christ.

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[01/11/2008]

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