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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Ossetians of Turkmenistan

The Ossetians of Turkmenistan, numbering approximately 2,600 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an Eastern Iranian ethnic group indigenous to Ossetia, a homeland that is politically divided between North Ossetia-Alania in Russia and South Ossetia, a Russian-occupied territory of Georgia and can also be known as Ossete. They are an Diaspora people, in the Persian people cluster of the Persian-Median affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Ossetic.

Ossetians in Azerbaijan photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Bohan Shen - Flickr Bohan Shen - Flickr Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: European Peoples
Country: Turkmenistan
People Cluster: Persian
Primary Language(s): Ossetic (oss)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 2,600
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024630
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Ossetians of Turkmenistan

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ossetic
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Ossetic Speakers

Media Resources in Ossetic:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Ossetic:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Ossetic bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Ossetians

The Ossetians are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Ossetians

The Ossetians are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Next steps for the Ossetians

The Ossetians are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Ossetians of Turkmenistan

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
readMatthew 6:7-8

Pray that those who don't have a relationship with their Creator will come to know a God who hears their every need, freeing them from empty rituals and drawing them into a real, trusting relationship with Him.

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
read2 Timothy 2:2

Pray that the lost will come to faith in Christ and be discipled in the truth of the gospel, becoming faithful followers of Jesus who, in turn, make disciples themselves.

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
read2 Corinthians 9:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the principle of sowing and reaping, and be generous in their giving and serving, knowing that they will reap a generous harvest.

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.
readPsalm 96:4

Pray that God will raise up believers to declare His glory among the lost, so that they may know that He is great and greatly to be praised, that He is exalted above all gods. 

Ossetian (ROP3 - 107699) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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