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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Ruthenians of Ukraine

The Ruthenians of Ukraine, numbering approximately 337,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Eastern Slavic ethnic group indigenous to historical Kievan Rus' state that encompasses parts of modern Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia They are an Indigenous people, in the Slav, Eastern people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Roman Catholicism. They primarily speak Rusyn.

Ruthenians in Poland photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Silar - Wikimedia Silar - Wikimedia Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: European Peoples
Country: Ukraine
People Cluster: Slav, Eastern
Primary Language(s): Rusyn (rue)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Roman Catholicism
Population: 337,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046961
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Ruthenians of Ukraine

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Roman Cath… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Rusyn
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Rusyn Speakers

Media Resources in Rusyn:

Films:

No entries found for: Rusyn(rue). Help build some!

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Rusyn:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Rusyn bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Ruthenians

The Ruthenians 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 Ruthenians

The Ruthenians 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 Ruthenians

The Ruthenians 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 Ruthenians of Ukraine

Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
readRomans 11:22

Pray that God will transform those who persist in unbelief and, in His everlasting kindness, graft them into His family.†

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that the gospel will advance among those who don’t know the good news of salvation in Jesus so that they might believe and trust in Jesus.

And God is able to make all grace about to you, so that having sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
read2 Corinthians 9:8

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will see that God provides for their needs and be content in His provision so that they may excel in every good work.

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. 

Ruthene (Rusyn) (ROP3 - 108457) 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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