OM East’s literature and media ministry produces high quality print and digital media in over 25 languages. Always working with partners, they seek to share the gospel, strengthen churches and bring hope to people groups throughout Eurasia.
Field worker Nadia* moved to Arctic Russia with the dream to share the gospel by translating the Bible for the Nenets people. She has invested 18 years bringing the gospel to ‘the ends of the earth’.
About half of the minority group of around 45,000 people live in Russian-speaking villages, while the other half are nomadic reindeer herders who live on tundra and speak the Nenets language. “Nenets is the heart language of the reindeer herders and is much easier for them to understand,” Nadia said.
There are currently around 200 known Nenets believers, representing a small percentage of the population. This indigenous people group believes in numerous gods. For many, the reindeer are their life, their source of food, clothes, transport and shelter. Nadia longs for more of the Nenets to acknowledge their Creator as their true provider and life-giver.
A nomadic lifestyle makes it difficult for the reindeer herders to carry books. However, they do have mobile phones. The solution was to develop publications that can be stored on mobile phones, also allowing individuals to listen to the text. OM East helps provide these resources digitally.
When a local woman read a passage in Nenets, she discovered she had misunderstood the same Scripture in Russian. “This is why we need the Bible in our own language!” she expressed. Four books of the New Testament are complete, while others are in progress.
*Name changed for security
