Kalmykia

November 19th we held our biannual day-long conference/seminar/meeting for Schools Without Walls (SWW) coordinators and teachers from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova. I love these meetings because they are an opportunity to talk with our coordinators from some of our more far-flung locations, such as Siberia, Russia’s Far East, and the North Caucasus. This meeting was no exception, as I got to hear about how a group of young Russian believers from Krasnoyarsky Krai came to start holding children’s summer camps in Mongolia, some interesting tidbits about life in Siberia, and a lot of background information about one of SWW’s newest locations, the Republic of Kalmykia.

SWW in Kalmykia was started by the ever-active staff of our center in Vladikavkaz, who already run SWWs in North and South Ossetia and Chechnya. They teamed up with a local Kalmyk believer, Sangadzhi, to organize a SWW group in the capital, Elista. Sangadzhi was at our November meeting and shared some background on Kalmykia with me. Here’s a summary of what I learned:

The population of Kalmykia is about 300,000, half of whom are ethnic Kalmyks, and other half of whom are a mix of other North Caucasus people groups. Because of the ethnic diversity Russian is still used extensively. The Kalmyk people are closest ethnically and linguistically to Chinese/Mongolians. They left China and moved to the Caucasus in the 17th century. There are still about a million Kalmyks in China, as well as large diasporas in Mongolia, France, and the US.

Like the Chinese, Kalmyks are traditionally Buddhist, and Kalmykia is the only predominately Buddhist republic in Europe, as well as the center of Buddhism in Russia. However the main opposition to Evangelical Christianity in Kalmykia comes not from Buddhists, but from the Orthodox Church, which, like everywhere in Russia, has massive political influence in Kalmykia, and would rather see Kalmyks remain Buddhists than become Evangelical Christians.

Unlike other North Caucasus republics, where there has been a large influx of Western missionaries in recent years, there is not a single Western missionary in Kalmykia. The only outside missionary in Kalmykia is a Russian from Krasnodar. There have been Western missionaries in the past, who completed translation of the New Testament into Kalmyk. However no work has been started yet on the Old Testament.

The two major pastimes in Kalmykia are chess and wrestling. Former president of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is also the president of the World Chess Federation, and has done a lot to popularize this ancient game in his republic: chess is a required subject in all academic institutions, and Elista is the home of the world’s youngest grandmaster—a 17-year-old. Everyone plays chess, from the youngest to the oldest.

It is difficult to over-emphasize how big wrestling is in the North Caucasus as a whole, and Kalmykia in particular. Many national, European, and world champion wrestlers have come from Kalmykia. Sangadzhi himself is a wrestler who used to be on the Russian national team. He has found wrestling to be a great tool for spreading the Gospel. Every year he and other believers organize wrestling camps for young men, 60-70% of whom are non-Christians. Many young men come from neighboring republics, including Chechnya, to attend the camps. They have seen a handful of young men come to Christ through these camps. In addition to the camps, Sangadzhi uses wrestling as a witnessing tool throughout the year. Despite the fact that he no longer wrestles competitively he still goes to the gym and works out regularly. After a two-hour work-out with the guys in the gym, he says, they are fast friends, and will often go to the sauna together afterwards, where he can then share the Gospel with them.

The average church size in Kalmykia is 20 members, with the absolute largest being 70. Therefore it was encouraging to see the lively response to the opportunity to study in SWW on the part of young leaders wanting to acquire a solid Biblical education. SWW, which held its first session in Kalmykia in October 2010, has turned out to be the perfect tool to train and motivate a generation of young Christians capable of serving their nation, changing society, and turning the hearts of their peers to Jesus.

The Wrestling Academy classroom rented for the second SWW session was packed with over 40 representatives of various Evangelical churches. We are confident that SWW is in Elista to stay. The only suggestion for improvement that Sangadzhi had was to find a bigger space for the December session, where 55 students are expected.