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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Russians of Svalbard

The Russians of Svalbard, numbering approximately 1,200 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a diaspora community of Russians in Svalbard. They are an Diaspora people, in the Slav, Eastern people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Eastern Orthodox. They primarily speak Russian.

Russians in Czechia photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: AV Photographer - Pixabay

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: European Peoples
Country: Svalbard
People Cluster: Slav, Eastern
Primary Language(s): Russian (rus)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Eastern Orthodox
Population: 1,200
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000542
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Russians of Svalbard

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Eastern Orthodox
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Eastern Or… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Russian
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Russian Speakers

Media Resources in Russian:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Russian:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Russian bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Russians

The Russians are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Russians

The Russians are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Next steps for the Russians

The Russians are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Russians of Svalbard

For one will scarcely die for a righteous personóthough perhaps for a good person one would dare even to dieóbut God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
readRomans 5:7-8

Pray for the many who don't yet understand the hope of the gospel, and pray that God will reveal to them that while they were in darkness, Christ died for them.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
readPsalm 119:105

Pray that they will receive the Word of God as a lamp to their feet and commit their ways to Him.

The LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
readNumbers 6:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that He has given them His favor and His presence.

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
readJohn 7:38

Ask God to raise up believers and sustain them as they cross cultures to share hope with those who need it. Pray that many might come to know Christ and that streams of living water will flow from their hearts so they will never thirst again.

Russian (ROP3 - 108452) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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