Gospel Expedition

We got up at 5.30 a.m. and departed for Tatarsk after breakfast. We arrived there safely. It is a small town with 26 thousand people. In 1894, the Great Trans-Siberian railway was built through this town from west to east. Two miles outside of Tatarsk, a railway station was built and the village began to develop quickly, becoming in time a rather important trading post.

We arrived at the church, and were amazed by how small it was. In fact, we have never seen such a small church house. It was only big enough for 16 church members, but there were 28 members of the Expedition there for dinner. We had to take our meals in turn. It was very stuffy inside! We tried to hide from the hot sun in the church house, but the stuffiness pushed us outside again.

Positive Impressions from the Media

After the meal, the evangelistic service was held in the square not far from the church. Despite the heat, some 80 persons came in response to the invitations that had been sent out, and met with the Expedition.

The Tatarsk residents were very hospitable to us and open to the Gospel. Our children’s workers — Marina Kutuzova, Natalia Kosygina, and Natalia Moshkova under the leadership of Vyatcheslav Remizov (again in the Sharik costume) — began to talk to the kids. Denis Bernaz and the Hope music team from Vladikavkaz spoke about God’s grace, and sang to those who were older and to those who did not take part in the children’s program.

As before, people from the local mass media were present at the meeting. The journalists told me that they were amazed at the unity of our team and our skills to communicate with kids and adults. As they said goodbye, the media representatives asked the local believers to become even more involved in the public life of the town!

Literature Distribution

Taking the magazines “Faith and Life” and “Path” from the car, we began to give them out. Some local girls ran up to us and offered their help. It was good to see kids who do not belong to the local Baptist church giving out Christian literature. It was also good to see people reading the literature. We were so involved in all these activities that no one of us noticed dark clouds gathering above Tatarsk. A heavy shower began, and everyone tried to find shelter. When the rain stopped, our fellowship continued in small groups.