The Hemshin’s ancestors (also called the Khemshin) migrated many times from Turkey until settling in Kyrgyzstan and Russia. Others remain in Turkey. They belonged as a branch of the Hemshin people from Turkey’s Hamshen region, located along the northeastern coast of the Black Sea. Their Christian Armenian ancestors converted to Islam in the 1890s through 1920 to save themselves from death at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. Researchers report that although the Hemshins are ethnic Armenians, many world citizens identify them as Muslim Turks due to their statelessness, language and Islamic religion. Religion and language are the primary differences between them and the more numerous Armenians. In Turkey and Russia, they speak Turkish; only the ones in Kyrgyzstan still speak Armenian.
During Soviet times, people in Russia and Kyrgyzstan were re-settled for various reasons under Stalin’s policies. These migrations occurred due to political upheaval, economic pressures, or ethnic resettlement programs rather than a voluntary choice. Forced migrations have led them to feel unwelcome and stateless even to this day. Today, they live in Russia, Turkey and Kyrgyzstan.
Today, they still mostly live in rural, mountainous areas along the Black Sea. They work in their traditional occupations, including farming, cultivating tea and beekeeping.
The Hemshin are known for their clever jokes, riddles, and stories. In Turkey, they maintain some distinct cultural traditions, such as their language and cuisine.
Lachi White people hold annual ceremonies determined by the lunar calendar. They pray for seeds before they plant them, believing each seed has a soul. They invoke the spirits to watch over the harvest, to ensure plenty of food for the entire village. The New Rice Festival along with the New Year and Seventh Month festivals are the largest, most colorful, and most important festivals of the year.
The most urgent need of Lachi White people is to place their faith in Jesus Christ.
They are blocked off from Christian witness because the atheistic governments of both China and Vietnam forbid evangelism. There are no known Lati believers on either
Pray for the Lord to call thousands of Hemshins to himself.
Pray that teachers will be sent to help them become firmly established in the truth of scripture and will help them learn to walk in the power of the Lord's Spirit.
Pray the Hemshin people will increasingly be drawn to Jesus (whom Muslims call Isa al-Masih), and that they will be prompted to seek the only true savior.
Pray for the Lord to visit them in dreams and visions.
Scripture Prayers for the Hemshin in Türkiye (Turkey).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemshin_people
https://www.khatchadorianrita.com/post/the-hemshin-a-community-of-armenians-who-became-muslims
https://www.ponarseurasia.org/the-hemshin-homshetsi-or-hemshinli-armenian-speaking-muslim-people-of-the-b
| Profile Source: Joshua Project |
