Russian Arctic

Extreme Missions in the Russian Arctic - Reaching out to forgotten people at the ends of the earth

After many years of missionary-evangelism to the Inuit of Canada's Arctic, Bill and Gwen Prankard learned of many groups of Inuit living in isolated regions throughout Arctic Russia, most of whom had never before heard of Jesus. Subsequent missions to Eastern Siberia brought humanitarian aid and the Good News to many communities and a strong Christian witness was established.

In 1997 Bill Prankard began taking ministry teams to the Yamal Peninsula, an even more isolated area of Arctic Russia where nomadic Nenet people live scattered across thousands of miles of frigid tundra. Many Nenets still travel in family units as they follow the migrating reindeer - totally dependent on the reindeer as their source of food, clothing, and transportation. The government has settled others in remote villages, where they are often neglected and forgotten.

The challenge of reaching these Nenet people was overwhelming at first, but the results have made the enormous cost and effort completely worthwhile. Often, as the team visits in the tents of a Nenet family, the entire group will receive Christ after hearing about Jesus for the first time! The growth in these new believers is staggering and as they travel the tundra following the reindeer, they spread the Gospel farther than our workers ever could on their own.

Our teams have ministered in Ust Kara, Laboravaya, Beloyarsk, Vorkuta, and many other areas of Arctic Russia. The Gospel’s impact is evident and there is now a strong Christian presence in many of these communities. Local believers host “DVD churches”, reaching out to their neighbours by using Biblical teaching DVD’s that are translated into Russian and delivered by our workers.

We continue to partner with Pastor Valentin, who was with our team on the December 2008 trip. Valentin leads a growing church in Vorkuta and sends teams to evangelize on the tundra and in the villages, encouraging the believers and ministering to the unsaved. BPEA also supports the work of Ilya and Janet Bantseev, who are building an orphanage in Novokuznetsk while ministering to troubled youth and young adults.

Planning is already underway for the next mission to Arctic Russia - God has called us to be the hands and feet of Jesus and we must press on until everyone has heard the Good News!

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