Russian Ministries file photo, Crimea
Russian Ministries Vice President Sergey Rakhuba says Joseph Stalin forced many Crimean Tatars, who are nominal Muslims, out of Ukraine and into exile into Siberia and other parts of the former Soviet Union. But, they're going home. "Today it's estimated there are more than 250,000 Crimean Tatars are moving back to Crimea and those villages and little towns are growing rapidly. They're building mosques," says Rakhuba.
Russian Ministries Regional Ministry center in Sevastopol, Ukraine recently held a conference to encourage the national church to take the Gospel to Muslim people, especially Crimean Tatars. Rakhuba says, "This is an opportunity and since they're more secular and nominal Muslims it's easier to reach out their younger generation and when young Christians are properly equipped for that there is lots of fruit."
Next Generation Christians have already been building bridges to their Tatar neighbors. Through evangelistic summer day camps in rural villages, Sunday school ministries and special events, these young Christian leaders are reaching out to Muslim families.
Fear is the difficult obstacle for believers reaching into the Muslim culture. Rakhuba says some Muslims in the Northern Caucuses are radical. "In the Northern Caucuses we have to be very careful because it's very dangerous for our people, for our missionaries."
Radical Muslims have bombed subways in Moscow and a school in Beslan, attacked a police stations, and assassinated key Russian leaders.
Rakhuba believes the Tatars are far less radical and may be the key to reaching deeper into the Muslim culture in Central Asia.
Through the ministry center and other training programs such as "School Without Walls," some young Crimean Tatar believers have the opportunity to become better equipped for reaching their own people for Christ.
Rakhuba says the training in Sevestopol needs partners, "to support this training seminar for how to equip young people who are reaching out to the Tatar population."
The training is working, says Rakhuba. "We have several young Tatar believers already. We are so excited that training young people we can reach out to this Tatar and Muslim population."
