A letter from Gary Payton in Russia and the U.S.
August 1, 2009
Dear Friends in Christ,
Prayers of confession are a key part of our worship in the Reformed tradition. Through them we lift up our shortcomings and receive the gift of God’s forgiveness promised to us in 1 John 1: 8-9.
I have a confession to make.
For over 40 years I engaged in “things Russian” from a Euro-centric or “Russia, west of the Urals” perspective. I knew of and studied Russian expansion east to the Pacific and beyond to North America. But I never seriously considered the life and culture of native peoples in Siberia and the Russian Far East. It’s like someone claiming to understand the United States without an awareness of Native Americans!
At the Christian Music Festival in Ulan Ude near the Mongolian border, women from Tuva, Buryatia, and Yakutia join Gary.
This changed dramatically in June when I participated in a conference on “Reaching Shamanistic Peoples of Asia Partnership 2009.” My friend and Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship colleague, Donald Marsden, and I flew east from Moscow to Irkutsk, near the shore of Lake Baikal, and then took the Trans-Siberian Railroad to Ulan Ude, just north of the Mongolian border. The conference brought together Christians who were emerging from a tradition of shamanism. Representatives of people groups from across Asian Russia gathered with folks from European Russia, Western Europe, and North America to be encouraged in their faith and to learn more about “contextualizing” the gospel.
There are 42 distinct people groups between the Urals and the Pacific, some number in the hundreds of thousands and some only a few thousand. These native peoples have had distinct languages, culture, and historic interactions (some peaceful and many violent) with the dominant Russian culture. There were representatives in Ulan Ude from the Buryat, Altai, Tuvan, Khakas, and Sakha peoples, and missionaries who work with many other people groups across this vast area.
Brothers from the Altai Republic share their songs of praise to an enthusiastic audience.
Hearing the stories of faith and meeting these new Christians stripped away my Euro-centrism and opened up a whole new understanding of Siberia, the Russian Far East, and the role of Christ’s church. I think of Aideen Kurmanov from the Altai Republic in south central Siberia, near Kazakhstan. From a people group once strongly connected with “black shamans,” “white shamans,” and oracles, he is now a leader in the Evangelical Church of Altai. Aideen is also an award-winning throat singer, a unique singing style from this area of the world. In his ministry to expand the church in Altai, Aideen has written new hymns praising the Lord with native instruments and throat singing. They’re simply stunning!
I also think of Raisa Kechil, a Christian leader from the mountainous Republic of Tuva on the Mongolian border. Her stories of standing up to persecution and threats of violence because of her faith were an inspiration to all. This summer, against mighty odds, Raisa organized the first Christian music festival in the republic’s capital of Kyzyl. Her dream is that the festival will bring new persons to Christ.
The extraordinary Presbyterian missionary and teacher, Harold Kurtz, says that contextualization of the gospel is “letting the gospel run free.” Worshipping the Lord, in other words, should take forms of expression that are a part of the culture: music, song, dance, poetry, etc. The point is to be authentic in worship style and not adapt the style of Christians from Europe or North America. In a place like Siberia, new Christians who only use the worship styles and music of “Western places” run the risk of being ostracized by family and neighbors and separated from their culture. It was with great joy that I was surrounded at this Christian festival by the song and dance, costumes and national instruments from across the region. The auditorium in a former communist “House of Culture” was transformed into a place of glorious worship and praise!
I am home again, and my ministry continues. In cooperation with colleagues in Presbyterian World Mission and Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship, we are prayerfully discerning where God is leading us in our next steps of “mission in partnership” with people groups in Siberia and the Russian Far East. How should our support of local evangelists best continue? How best can we share the gospel message through teaching, accompaniment, and new technology? Are we being called to place a mission co-worker in Siberia?
I invite your prayers as we ask the Lord what steps we should next take together. And, I ask for your gifts. Click on this link to connect you to the Extra Commitment Opportunity 040068 titled “Frontier Mission: Siberian Unreached People Initiative in Russia.” It is the channel for support to our ministry with people groups.
May your 2009 summer and fall be richly blessed! I hope to see you at the World Mission Celebration in Cincinnati, Ohio, from October 22-24. The gathering will be an extraordinary opportunity to come together with others who are passionate about our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) engagement across the world. See you there!
Your brother in Christ,
Gary The 2009 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.177
