CEE Story From The Mission Field
God replies to Southern Baptists’ prayers for Udmurts of Russia
October 22, 2007
Alexander Popov, senior pastor of Baptists in the Russian region of Udmurtia, knows God answers the prayers of the righteous. He has witnessed it—especially since May 27 when Southern Baptists across the globe focused their prayers on the Udmurt of Russia during the Day of Prayer and Fasting for World Evangelization.
For 24 hours believers fell to their knees and cried out to the Father on behalf of the Udmurt, asking the Lord to reveal himself to members of the people group, for Udmurt believers to be bold and passionate in their witness and for existing churches to multiply.
God has responded.
“We are seeing an increase in God’s activities,” Alexander said.
As a result of prayers, approximately 25 new believers are awaiting baptism—a two-fold increase over last year’s numbers. Members of local Udmurt churches are acting on a fresh spiritual awareness of the lost as they begin to actively tell others about Jesus and seek evangelism training. Multiple humanitarian aid projects are in their planning stages, with the focus of easing suffering and building bridges for the Gospel in several Udmurt villages.
“I believe the Lord is using the prayers of His people to lay a solid foundation for all of Udmurtia to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ,” said International Mission Board (IMB) missionary Tim Wicker, who coordinates IMB work among Udmurts.
Yet Tim recognizes the spiritual battle remains.
“Where the Lord is at work, the enemy continues to rear his ugly head,” he said. “Spiritual darkness abounds. Please continue to pray.”
Since the Day of Prayer and Fasting, God has answered his children’s requests for the Udmurt in specific ways.
Russian leaders of Revival Ministries, a growing outreach, followed God’s direction to share the Gospel along with basic food items through a project called Open Church. Since the project’s first event in July, approximately 250 individuals have heard the Gospel and 100 have prayed to receive Christ as their personal Savior. Both new believers and the seeking have begun regularly attending church services or study groups.
Chur Baptist Church may be small, but it has participated in significant outreach since May. Four individuals invited Christ into their hearts as a result of follow-ups from an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) event led by members of the White River Baptist Association in northern Arkansas. Locals are continuing to reach out using EFL on a weekly basis and through an Internet cafe they set up in their church building.
Valera Pikulev, an independent Udmurt pastor of four house churches in southern Udmurtia, has seen God call on the hearts of several new converts. Believers among his groups are displaying an increased evangelistic spirit.
Russian believers know Central Baptist Church in Izhevsk as a traditional house of worship, with members possessing a “fortress-type mentality,” Tim said. Yet since the Day of Prayer and Fasting this body has organized three different ministry teams to evangelize in Izhevsk and surrounding villages. Five individuals await baptism.
Six more Russians are ready for baptism at Resurrection Baptist Church in Izhevsk, where believers want to multiply their growing small groups. Volunteer teams from the United States are currently planning trips in January, March and May 2008 to meet the request for help in training potential leaders.
Another Baptist church in Izhevsk is experimenting with using home groups for evangelism. Believers have vocalized a desire to grow these groups into churches.
Yakshir Bodya Baptist Church also has experienced a noticeable increase in worship service attendance since May, and many people have come to know Christ. Their outreach activities in three villages have resulted in three house churches with new believers.
A volunteer team shared Christ with more than 70 people in Izhevsk. Their efforts established relationships that opened a door for local Baptists to teach EFL classes with Bibles at a local vocational technical school. Future volunteer teams are planning to conduct English clubs in the school while local Baptists will do follow-up.
Opportunities are waiting for you, too, to be involved. Consider fulfilling our region’s top job request by serving the Udmurt as a long-term strategy coordinator. Learn about this position.
To discover more about the Udmurt people and access prayer requests that God is answering, go to hope4udmurt.org. Additional ways to learn about what God is doing in Russia are available at hope4cee.org/Russia.