THE DESCENDANT OF a breakaway religious group which rejects the Bible and preserves its beliefs by memory has returned to her ancestral homeland to help lead efforts to reach them with the gospel.
Canadian Elsie Dannhauer is part of a team befriending members of the Doukabour community in the south-west part of the country, from where her great-grandparents emigrated late last century.
The Doukabours got their name - which means "spirit wrestlers"- in the late 1700s with the spread of a religious movement opposing the teachings of the Orthodox Church. Renouncing the institution's ceremonies, structure and public Bible reading, they instead passed on tHeir teachings orally by memorizing Psalms.
Looked upon as heretical, the growing group was persecuted and forced to move from homes in the Don and Cossack regions to the more remote Tavriheskoj area, where many members were killed or imprisoned.
Subsequently a splinter group emigrated to Canada where, now known as the Union of Spiritual Communities, they presently number around 20,000 and hold to their traditional doctrines of pacifism and vegeterianism.
Those who remained in Russia resettled again in the 1920s, moving near to the city of Rostov-on-Don where some 6,000 now live in small outlying villages. These Russian Doukabour maintain their own traditions and culture, which include "the gathering" - where members swap a special greeting and recite their teachings.
Together with her husband Larry, Elsie Dannhauer leads a nine-strong YWAM team based in Rostov-on-Don, from where they travel to the surrounding area to visit people and make friends.
Married 25 years, the couple from Grand Forks, British Columbia moved to Russia three years ago from India, where they had been involved in YWAM training programs for five years after becoming missionaries in mid-life.
"We have been readily accepted because of my Russian heritage," she said. "There is an instant kinship, even though our cultures are so different. Being here is a dream come true, as I have wanted to share the gospel in Russia since becoming a Christian 21 years ago."
She added: "Although the Doukabour historically rejected the Bible, many now want to study Scripture to earn more about Christianity." The Dannhauers hoped to soon start a Bible study in one of the towns they visits.
Last updated: 1996, July 21 /pf