Gospel Expedition

The third stage of the Expedition has reached its end. The fourth and final Expedition team is waiting for us in Irkutsk. They are to travel along the last sequence of towns and cities from Irkutsk to Vladivostok. Vladimir Skovpen, the leader of the Expedition, will continue along with us and carry on his ministry. He has already cycled along 10,500 kilometers of road. A little more effort and he will reach the goal, but what an effort it will be. There are no good highways anymore.

Vladimir began his trip in Germany on May 13, and will finish his ministry in Vladivostok September 3. Thus far, his bicycle has suffered no flat tires. What one can say about such a person? He is an artist as well as a good preacher. The following people will remain with Victor on the Expedition – another brother named Victor, a cyclist; Levon, a doctor; and Dmitri – our KAMAZ truck driver. Others will leave for home after the evangelization planned for Irkutsk.

Irkutsk is one of the largest cities in eastern Russia. It was founded in 1661 and is located in the valley of the Angara River. It is also 55 km from a global treasure, the internationally known Lake Baikal.

We took a picture at the entrance to Irkutsk. We felt sorry about our coming parting. We have done the missionary ministry entrusted to us by God and the UECB.

Thanks to the children’s ministry, thousands of kids came to know about the Gospel. Our missionaries — Vyatcheslav, two Natashas and Marina — talked with the kids clearly and easily. Thank you for your commitment and faithfulness in the children’s ministry!

Our cyclists – Andrew, Artiom, Sergei, Piotr, Andrew, Yaroslav, Victor, Vladimir, and Vladimir Skovpen covered the third part of the route without any complaints. The music team, Eden’s Heavens from Vladikavkaz, (Dmitry, Nona, Denis, Ksenia, Elmira and Oksana) daily sang about the Gospel. I would like to mention 14-year-old Denis, our sound engineer. During the entire 28 days of our ministry, our sound equipment worked perfectly.

Vitaly Semionov maintained our bicycles along the way. Denis Bernaz made us happy by his singing and even devoted one song to this stage of the Expedition.

Sergei and Dmitri from Smolensk joined the Expedition in Kemerovo. They filmed several kilometers of events. From all the footage, a short film about the Expedition will be made at the Christian TV studio, Spring, which will inspire Russian Baptist churches toward more evangelization efforts.

We had good drivers with us — Dmitry, Alexei and Guennady. Almost the entire way, the cyclists followed the Expedition vehichle very closely. Guennady, under the leadership of Vladimir Skovpen, did not make any mistakes. Alexei, the driver of the Jeep, fulfilled his task perfectly.

Vera, a Christian sister from Ufa, daily cared for our meals. When she had free time, she sang together with the music team from Vladikavkaz.

I would like to wholeheartedly thank my wife Ludmila for her understanding and support of my ministry, and her humility. As the leader of the third stage of the Expedition, I would like to express special thanks to all husbands, wives, fathers, mothers and children of the members of the Expedition for letting us to take part in this important ministry. We thank all the churches for prayers and material aid. We thank the Irkutsk Christians for their warm welcome and care.

In downtown Irkutsk on the banks of the Angara River, we had the last evangelistic service of this leg of the Expedition. The next day, we took part in the worship service in the central UECB church. After the service, we met new members of the team.

Now we are free, but we are not free from our ministry of daily Gospel preaching. “You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.” This motto will remain unchanging for us!