"The Mullah and the Bear"-The Sequel
By Leon and Donna Duell
| Farit Valiyev, a Bashkir man,
was the main character in the spring 2002, Message in an article
called "The Mullah and the Bear." The Bashkir people
are one of over 100 distinct ethnic/language groups inhabiting
the former Soviet Union. They have their own autonomous region
in the Russian Federation.
When he served in the Soviet Army about 30 years ago, Farit
moved from the Ural Mountains and was stationed in Kharkov,
Ukraine. He married a Ukrainian girl named Tonya and began
a family. In God's providence, the Valiyevs came to know Christ.
Farit immediately became burdened for his own people, who
are primarily Muslim. However, he was new in his faith and
few churches in Ukraine at that time even thought of sending
out missionaries. They had just gained freedom to preach and
evangelize in their own country.
Farit and his family attended Afanafsevskya Baptist Church in
Kharkov, a well established church with numerous preachers.
Early in the 1990s, they partnered with ABWE and other agencies
such as Russian Gospel Ministries to assist them in planting
a daughter church in 1995, and a granddaughter church in 1999.
We worked closely with this church for six years, and became
well acquainted with Farit. With tears in his eyes and yearning
in his heart, he often expressed his great desire to take the
gospel to his people. We encouraged Afanafsevskya to let Farit
make a three-month trip into the Urals. The ABWE Kharkov
team helped financially. We loaned Farit a camera, and he
left with great anticipation and enthusiasm. He returned three
months later with photos, stories, and lots of experience.
One of his stories was "The Mullah and the Bear,"
which missionary Scott Carter translated into English. |
After his three-month initiation, Farit wanted more
than ever to serve the Lord in the Ural Mountains, but his family
was reluctant and his church felt he wasn't ready. We moved to Perm,
Russia in the spring of 2001. In March 2002 while teaching in Ukraine,
we once again approached Farit's church and asked them to consider
sending the Valiyevs to help us. In May 2002, we hosted Farit and
Tonya on a survey trip to see how we could partner to reach people
for Christ in the Ural Mountains. One town we surveyed in the southern
part of the Perm oblast is Chernoshki with a population of about
50,000. It has one struggling Baptist church with 15 members, 14
of them women. They were excited about Farit and Tonya coming to
help them reach more of their local people, many of whom are Bashkir.
In August 2002, the Valiyevs moved to Chernoshki, sent out and partially
supported by their home church.
ABWE has served in Ukraine only since1991. We worked with the Afanafsevskya
church during our years in Ukraine, and now they are sending out
their first missionaries to work with us! Our partners in Ukraine
have even begun the process of organizing their own mission board.
We believe this is just the beginning of national-based missions
movement in Ukraine.
P.S. We don't know what happened to the bear.
|
 |
