For some time, God had laid them on the heart of Alexander Balagnasky, one of SGA’s supported missionaries and he has prayed for them for many years.
Recently, he and four other believers travelled 1553 miles, along dangerous roads, to reach Sorok village. The Soyot have a background in Shamanism, and speak a local dialect of the Buriat language. Alexander’s desire is to translate biblical stories into this dialect. He needed to test the translation with the local people to see if they could understand it, before translating it back into the Russian language to check the clarity of thought and Biblical truth.
The idea was to then make good quality audio recordings of the stories which they could share with the people. Initially, on arrival in Sorok, people welcomed them and were very friendly. Then the deputy director of the village found out, and forbade them to enter the village. Alexander says “We felt desperate and did not know what to do next. What was God’s plan?” Tatyana, an elderly lady from another nearby village, who is already a believer, found workers in her local library who helped the team edit the translated text. Other workers recorded the sound of the translated stories. Tatyana was happy to help them as she is anxious that her own people come to know God.
Alexander concludes: “We hope the stories will fill the hearts of people with hope and meaning. To give them something wonderful and amazing that God has prepared for each of them. We rejoiced at every meeting with people, seeing their sincerity and kindness. We would like to thank all those who helped us in this cause. Certainly, there is a still a lot of work to be done, as we are only in the beginning. I believe that God, who began this cause, will complete it in fullness in the time He sets”.
Pray that Alexander and the team will be able to record more of God’s Word in the Buriat language and that many will come to see it as the living Word.
