Bezhta in Russia
Photo Source:
Anonymous
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Map Source:
Joshua Project / Global Mapping International
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| People Name: | Bezhta |
| Country: | Russia |
| 10/40 Window: | No |
| Population: | 9,000 |
| World Population: | 9,900 |
| Primary Language: | Bezhta |
| Primary Religion: | Islam |
| Christian Adherents: | 0.02 % |
| Evangelicals: | 0.02 % |
| Scripture: | Unspecified |
| Ministry Resources: | Yes |
| Jesus Film: | No |
| Audio Recordings: | Yes |
| People Cluster: | Caucasus |
| Affinity Bloc: | Eurasian Peoples |
| Progress Level: |
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Introduction / History
For thousands of years the Bezhta language had been only an oral language. Then they had the Gospel of Luke published in their language as of 1999. In the early 2020s they also had the Proverbs in their language.
Magomed, the trailblazer of the Bezhta Gospel of Luke, must be 'a man of peace' as described by Jesus in Luke 10. Sometime in the early 1990s Magomed was exposed to Jesus and the gospels and decided to make it his project to get the Gospel of Luke into a published form in his Bezhta language. He used Cyrillic script like Russian and added a couple of characters unique to the Bezhta language. These two books of the Bible are all that the Bezhta people have published in their language!
What Are Their Lives Like?
The Bezhta are a mountain people located in the extreme southwest corner of the Russian province of Dagestan, near the border with Georgia. Bezhta people also live across the border in two Georgian mountain villages. Their lives are best described as rural. They often face violence in their remote homeland.
What Are Their Beliefs?
Russia's Bezhta people are almost entirely Sunni Muslim. They can hear the gospel from neighboring Georgians or Russians, but not from their own community.
What Are Their Needs?
"So shall my Word be that goes forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, without accomplishing that which I please and prospering in the thing for which I sent it"(Isa.55:11). Who will pray persistently (Luke 18:1-8) for this clear promise of Isaiah 55 to be fulfilled among the Bezhta?
Prayer Points
Pray for the Holy Spirit to direct and empower the three Bezhta Christ followers and use them to establish his presence in their families and villages.
Pray for the Lord to anoint, protect and empower someone to lead the Bezhta people into the ways of Christ.
Pray for representatives of Jesus' love to come who are linguistically gifted and ready to serve the Bezhta people with "language respect."
Pray for the audio Proverbs in their language to be widely circulated, heeded and embraced!
Pray for the grace of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to break through into open hearts among the Bezhta and spread from clan to clan and village to village.
Pray that what Satan meant for evil, (violence in their homeland) God will use for good to bring many Bezhta families to understand their need for a just and loving savior.