The Mordvins of Kazakhstan

The Mordvins of Kazakhstan, numbering approximately 21,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Volga Finnic people of the middle Volga region of Russia, composed mainly of the Erzya and Moksha. Their culture reflects Uralic roots and centuries of interaction with Russian and Turkic peoples, and they are predominantly Eastern Orthodox. They mostly adhere to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Erzya is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Mordvinian

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Kazakhstan
People Cluster: Finno-Ugric
Primary Language(s): Erzya (myv)
Primary Religion(s): Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Population: 21,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024289
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Pray for the Mordvins of Kazakhstan

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

70%
%
Eastern Orthodox Christia… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Erzya
Language Family: Uralic

100%
%
Erzya Speakers

Media Resources in Erzya:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Erzya:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Institute for Bible Translation✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Erzya bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Mordvins:
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

Pray specifically for the Mordvins of Kazakhstan

But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
readPsalm 130:4

Pray that God will bring those who have hard hearts to repentance and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
readPsalm 34:8

Pray that the gospel will advance and that many will have the opportunity to taste and see the goodness of God and entrust their lives to Him.

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.
read1 Peter 3:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will always be prepared to share the reason for the hope that they have in Jesus with gentleness and respect.

And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
readMatthew 10:14-15

Pray for God to raise up and send out believers to share the gospel with those in this people group who do not yet follow Christ. Pray that they will be welcomed with open arms so that the people they share with will hear and receive the good news with joy.

Mordvin-Erzya Across Countries (ROP3 - 106791) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

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 Data Standards section.

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