More than 70 Chulym Tatars receive holy Baptism

More than 70 people from the small indigenous Chulym population of Siberia have united themselves to Christ in His Church in holy Baptism in Krasnoyarsk Krai, reports the Diocese of Krasnoyarsk.

The mass Baptism came during a recent missionary trip to the villages of Chindat and Pasechnoe in the Tyukhtetsky District undertaken by Fr. Vitaly Adaemnkov, the rector of St. Nicholas Church in Bogotol and Holy Annunciation Church in the village of Tyukhtet.

These settlements are home to the indigenous Chulym Tatars who appeared in the 17th—18th century as a result of the mixing of some Turkic groups. They warmly welcomed Fr. Vitaly, who held catechetical talks, after which he celebrated the Sacrament of Baptism for more than 70 people.

12 Chulyms were baptized in the village of Novomushilovo last spring, and the number of those desiring the holy Sacrament increases with every trip, Fr. John Fontosh of the village of Teguldet, who celebrated the spring Baptisms, noted.

Fr. John is also part of a project of the Missionary Department of the Tomsk Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church for translating the New Testament into the Chulyms’ endangered language.

According to the 2010 Russian census, the number of Chulyms is only 355. The majority of them live in the village of Teguldet in the Tomsk Province, fewer living in Chindat and Pasechnoe.

A mass Baptism was also celebrated farther north in Krasnoyarsk Krai one year ago, with 120 residents of the Siberian village of Essey in the Evenkia district receiving the holy Sacrament.

Source: Pravoslavie.ru