An expedition by the Yakutsk Diocese to Ewen nomadic communities in the Momsky District of Yakutia has wrapped up, with clergy, doctors, and specialists providing local residents with food, clothing, and medicines, and conducting health checks, according to the Yakutsk Diocese website.

One of the expedition’s main goals was work on translating the Gospel into the Even language. The “God’s Word for the Families of the North” project ran from July 29 to August 9, with assistance delivered to two communities, “Kukuin” and “Erikit.”

For residents of the tundra, the team brought food supplies, hygiene products, clothing, and veterinary medicines, including treatments needed for reindeer. Funding for the effort was raised through the church’s online platform mirom.help.

Officials noted that delivering such supplies to remote reindeer herding camps in Yakutia is a major challenge: reaching far-flung encampments can take weeks, and during the flood season the journey can become even more difficult. At the same time, the health and well-being of the reindeer directly affects the communities’ way of life, since the animals enable people to maintain their traditional lifestyle.

During the visit, a priest also performed a blessing rite for the reindeer. Conversations were held with residents, children received Bibles and Gospels, and relatives of participants in the Russian Armed Forces’ special military operation (SVO) were given both spiritual and material support.

A separate component of the mission focused on testing biblical translation. Participants aged 14 to 58 reviewed a draft translation of the first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke in Even. The selected passages include the Annunciation, the Nativity of Christ, and the Presentation of the Lord. In the next stage, with support from the Bible Translation Institute, an edition is planned in Russian, Even, and Yakut.

Based on the 2021 census, the Even language has about 5,304 speakers living along the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Kamchatka Krai, the Okhotsky District of Khabarovsk Krai, and in nearby areas of Magadan Oblast and the Sakha Republic (Yakutia).

The diocese said translation work on Scriptures for Yakutia’s indigenous peoples has been ongoing for several years. Last year, a “Book of Ruth” was published in Even, following earlier collections of illustrated biblical stories and Gospel parables.

Diocesan representatives stressed that for nomadic communities, missionary work is tightly linked with social assistance. Clergy aim to travel to places with difficult transport access and support people not only spiritually but also with everyday needs. For the “Kukuin” community in particular, that presence took on a concrete form—even including an unexpected request to pray for the herd.