XXXXXThis month, we feature a courageous American couple, Andrew (Andy) and Diane Vincent who, in 1985, bravely went with their two children (see picture to left) from Oregon to Kalmykia with the Gospel while it was still under Communist rule.
XXXXXLimited space here cannot justify this amazing story, but we will write more on this topic in later Bridge Reports.

XXXXXXAllow me (R.K.) to share a few details from Andy's life which will help set the stage for the testimony below written by Sarang Badeev, the Kalmykian Pastor Andy ordained in his place before he in 1996 permanently left Kalmykia.

XXXXXXAndy was born and grew up on a farm in Oregon. As a young man, he was captivated by Brother Andrew’s book about his Bible smuggling behind the Iron Curtain. He was ignited with a call to go to Russia with the Gospel, but it took from 1970 till 1985 before this call became a reality. ”God was refocusing and sharpening my vision during that time, as I learned that there were 130 unreached ethnic groups within Russia proper.” In the meanwhile, he married his college sweetheart, had two children, and completed a Wycliffe college course in Bible translation. When the time was right, “I went overseas to Kalmykia, not because I loved the people, but rather for fear that I would be like Jonah - in disobedience to God - if I did not go”.

XXXXXXWhen Vincent arrived… “I was treated like a movie star. Still under Communism, I was the first visitor to Kalmykia from the West since 1917 — the beginning of the Revolution!” This flung the doors open for him to share the Gospel everywhere, from the President, on down to the rural villagers. Vincent evangelized, baptized, discipled the young believers, taught the Word, helped the nationals plant churches, and initiated, with the help of the nationals, the translation of the New Testament in Kalmyk! In short, Andy did the works of an apostle - which he is affectionately called by the Kalmyk believers! Today, there are over 3,000 believers in Jesus Christ among the Kalmyks with a population of 300,000!

Sarang Badeev’s Testimony in his own words of His and the Kalmyk people’s Journey to Faith in Jesus.

To the right is a present picture of Andy and Sarang.

XXXX“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the Word of Truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” XXXXXXXXXXXXXXEphesians 1:13

XXXXI bring you greetings from your brothers and sisters in Christ who live in Kalmykia!

XXXXXXOnce you hear my story and the story of my people, you will understand why these greetings are so precious for me. You see, it wasn’t too long ago that from my nation there were no brothers or sisters in Christ who could pass on these greetings. For many generations, we have been a people outside of this circle of those who are “in Christ”.

XXXXXXThe Kalmyks are a Mongolian people that traditionally are Tibetan Buddhists. In the 12th century the Kalmyks embraced Christianity from the Nestorian (Assyrian of the East) church. They were guards for Ghengas Khan and participated in his conquests across Asia and Europe.

XXXXXXAfter some time, the Christians, including the Kalmyks, were persecuted and were faced with choosing another world religion that was acceptable. They wanted to accept the teachings of the Lutheran Reformation movement which came to them from four Swedish officers. The Kalmyk king requested 100 evangelists to come from Sweden. But because of the Russian war with Sweden [1788-90], they were not able to send them. From this time forward, Tibetan Buddhism became the official religion of the Kalmyk people. One group of Kalmyks moved to Southern Russian where they settled on the North-West shores of the Caspian Sea.

XXXXXXDuring the 18th century, my people were almost destroyed. This happened again under Communism during Stalin’s reign when one third of the Kalmyks died; but as a people, we survived under 70 years of Soviet rule.

XXXXWe were an oppressed people, not only by our religion and the Communist government, but by bondage from this unseen government whose leader is the evil one, Satan. We lived in darkness without this “Word of Truth” in our heart language.

XXXXHe [Jesus] was in the Russian language, but very few Bibles were to be found even among the Russians who lived among us Kalmyks.

XXXXXXIt was in the early 1990’s that I first heard this “Word of Truth”. Having believed, I was “included in Christ”. I, along with others of my people, were added to those in Christ.

XXXXXXA few years before Communism fell, our very first missionary, Andrew Vincent came to us from America. He brought this "Word of Truth.". I only learned much later from him, that he was like Jonah. He came to us with this message out of fear of ‘being swallowed by a fish’. So he came to us, not because of his love for my people, but because of God’s love for us. “For God so loved the Kalmyk people…”

XXXXXXAndrew loved his life in Oregon. It was like heaven on earth for him. But finally he obeyed this “Word of Truth” and he brought us this Life with much joy. He was so full of life and joy. Just as Jesus became flesh and lived among us, Andy came from his “heaven on earth”, and lived among my people and told us this good news. It was only after his obedience to God that he came to love my people. And we loved him in return. He is our Apostle.

XXXXXXHe preached the Gospel with signs and wonders confirming it. He preached everywhere … in our university and schools, in the streets, in the villages, at wedding and funerals and our big cultural events, even to the Mayor of Elista and the President of Kalmykia!

XXXXSoon there were groups of Kalmyk Christians. They met in homes and studied the Bible. Andy loved to lead us in singing to the Lord. We learned to worship Him!

XXXXAs these groups grew, they gathered for meetings in our large national library. The Lord brought me to these meetings and I received Jesus.

XXXXXXWith such beginnings, we had large Bible studies and began spreading the good news of Jesus Christ everywhere. With the encouraging power of the Holy Spirit, we were able to follow Andy’s example. The Lord opened for us the vision to bring this salvation to all our people. We have a village church, not too far from our capital city of Elista. This village church started with God doing miracles and healing to confirm His message … healing them from the most difficult of sicknesses. We experienced the power of God! But the most important thing was that the Word of Truth filled our hearts and minds.

The Kalmyks, from the time of the Christian influence, have had a monotheistic mindset. Even our Buddhist lamas admit to this. Therefore, the teaching in the Bible about a Creator God was easy for us to accept.

XXXXXOur people have come to the Living God in amazing ways. One very old person received Jesus because she remembered that the Kalmyks long ago before Buddhism once believed in the Bible. Another woman from our church came to faith after her mother, before going into a comma, proclaimed loudly that all needed to believe in Jesus the Christ. Her daughter was saved after that miracle.

XXXXXXAndy, with the help of some in the church, began to translate the Bible into the Kalmyk language. In our church were linguists and writers who helped him with the translation. Now, for the first time, we have the New Testament in our mother tongue.

XXXXXXAfter a time, Andy began to be interrogated by the authorities of the former KGB. They didn’t want him to continue his missionary work, so they tried to entrap him and kick him out of the country. They wanted him to break the law. But they could get nothing on him.

XXXXXIn 1996, Andy placed me as a Pastor and later returned to the USA. He was unable to return to Kalmykia because the government of Russia put him on a black list of missionaries who were denied entry into the Russian Federation.

XXXXXXAfter Andy left, the difficulties from the KGB continued with us. They tried to close us down many times by removing our registration, and kicking us out of meetings. But the Lord saved us. We didn’t lose our faith which the Lord gave us through our missionary. Despite the persecution, we continued to preach. In time, new people came to Christ and became leaders in our church and started new churches in Kalmykia. So from our church, six new churches and many Bible studies have been born. They are located in different parts of Kalmykia. We want our whole nation to be saved!

XXXXXXSince last summer, the building we rented in the capital city is no longer available to us, so presently, we are a homeless church. The outsiders look upon us as a sect. The official stance by the Russian government is to back the traditional religions which are Russian Orthodoxy for the Russians and Buddhism for the Kalmyks.

XXXXXX Part of our cultural way of thinking is that, to seek truth, it will be found in a “holy building”, like a faith center. It is for these reasons and others that we are seeking God to provide us such a place. One of our members has provided a private property on which we can build a Bible school and a worship center. Although our church is rich in faith, we are poor in money. Perhaps God will move your heart to partner with us in this endeavor [The cost is app. US$70,000.00].

you can find more about kalmykia and how you can be involved with prayer and finances, by clicking on "R.K.'s Corner" under May 2010 in the upper left column.