Russian Churches Launch a Christian Newspaper
to Reach the Unreached Living in Moscow

AIMS News: Posted 6/1/2005

"What's next?" asked "Pastor Yerik," pastor of a Russian congregation in Moscow. He had participated in a Harvest Connection seminar in Moscow last February, and, although the concept of reaching the unreached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ was not new, he was unsure of how he should respond. He prayed to God for an answer -- a way that he could reach unreached people groups living in the city of Moscow.

The answer came quickly. Pastor Yerik discovered that a family in his congregation was from Kyrgyzstan -- a small Muslim country in central Asia, just west of China. After much prayer, he decided to reach the Kyrgyz people with the Gospel in a unique way: through a Kyrgyz Christian newspaper.

"This newspaper was not something that came from me," said "Thomas," an AIMS Associate who led the February Harvest Connection in Moscow. "I taught them to target unreached people groups with the Gospel and to pray, listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, and receive wisdom directly from God as to the best methods to reach them. This newspaper was the result."

The new distributed Kyrgyz newspaper, the Ata-Zhurt, debuted in March 2005 and reached a circulation of 1,000 copies by the beginning of April. The paper features news from Kyrgyzstan along with articles and testimonies from a Christian point of view.

"Though it may not be a new idea," said Thomas, "this is the first time I've ever heard of a church starting a newspaper to target an unreached people group with the Gospel."

Connecting Churches in Moscow

Last November, Thomas received an invitation to compete in the Russian Chess Championship in Moscow. When he completed the AIMS Associates Training in January, he decided to see if the churches in Moscow would be interested in a Harvest Connection seminar. He connected with several pastors in Moscow through a Russian friend at Regent University. Pastor Yerik was one of them.

Five churches, including Pastor Yerik's church, participated in the first Harvest Connection seminar in Moscow. During the sessions, they began to assess how their congregations could work together to more effectively reach these unreached ethnic minorities within their own city. About 40,000 Christians attend the 250 churches located within the city limits of Moscow. However, these Christians make up less than 1% of the 12 million people who live in the greater Moscow area. The opportunities to reach the unreached in Moscow are endless. More than 1.5 million people from twenty different ethnic minorities live in the region, including Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Georgians, and many other groups from the Middle East.

For instance, since Kyrgyzstan (or the Kyrgyz Republic) declared its independence from Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Kyrgyz Church has grown from about 20 believers (in 1990) to more than 3,000 by the year 2000 (1). The Kyrgyz newspaper is the first step that the Church in Moscow has taken to reach the Kyrgyz people living in their own city.

"Please pray that the eyes of the Kyrghyz people who read this newspaper will be opened to the glorious light of the Gospel," said Thomas. "Also, please pray for the brethren authoring and publishing this newspaper that they be protected, empowered, strengthened to persevere and given favor, discernment and wisdom."

The Next Step

Churches in Moscow have a unique opportunity to reach several unreached people groups within their own city. People from other countries that used to belong to the Soviet Union have migrated to Moscow and have created an international culture within the city. Because many of these unreached people groups speak Russian in addition to their native languages, the cultural difference is less for the Russians.

"The Church in Russia understands it stands in a strategic position to reach unreached people groups with the Gospel and is interested in partnering with international churches to complete the Great Commission," said Thomas. "Ministry events such as the Harvest Connection seminar serve as catalysts to get Christian leaders together who do not normally meet together."

Several participants of the training in Moscow have expressed interest in being trained further as an AIMS Associate and have requested additional AIMS seminar sessions later this year.

(1) Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk, Operation World: When We Pray God Works, 21st Century Edition (Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster USA) 2001. pp. 393.

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