Gospel Expedition

Today a long road awaits us, so most of us began our Bible reading and devotions before 6:00 a.m. Breakfast, than a parting meeting with the pastor of the local church, who came to see us off early. We prayed and set out, thanking the Lord for dry weather. But it is not easy to cycle when it’s hot and sunny. The arms and legs of our cyclists were sunburned, and that gave our doctor-cyclist some work to do. Our guide, Pastor Ivan, was looking for the shortest ways. The condition of the roads resembled Russian roads very much.

There are very few restaurants or cafes along our way. That is why we sent Dmitri to shop for food. It is possible to speak Russian in Poland, so Dmitri bought sausage and bread without much trouble. But he wanted a souvenir from Poland, and he thought he found what he was looking for - a big beautiful candle on the shelf of the store. He asked the shopkeeper to sell the candle to him, but the seller refused. She said in Polish, “You are too young for it.” But Dmitri insisted, thinking that the candle could decorate his room after the expedition and would remind him of Poland. At last the seller, recalling all her school knowledge of Russian said, “This candle is for a coffin. You are too young. May God be with you!” Dmitri ran out of the shop! It is better without such a souvenir!

About five hours later, it was time to buy more food. Instead of looking for “souvenirs,” Dmitri bought food and added two bananas so that there was enough for all members of the expedition. The seller could not understand our request, so the owner of the shop came out when he heard that strange talk in two languages. He understood Russian, and when we explained the Expedition, he gave us the bananas and a two-liter box with juice saying, “This is a gift for you.”

After we had cycled 280 kilometers, we came to Warsaw in the evening. We stayed overnight in the office of the Polish Baptist Union. One Ukrainian Christian man who was in Warsaw at that time treated us to a real Ukrainian borsch (cabbage soup). We were given a spacious room and mattresses, on which we just fell and slept in our sleeping bags.

Leonid Kartavenko