Gospel Expedition

When I look at the schedule of our Expedition and our visits to various towns, I sometimes ask myself a question — what awaits us in a new place? Usually the events of our schedule are quite similar — wakeup call, prayer, breakfast, the road, arrival, and evening meetings with people, dinner, prayer, and then sleep. The next day it’s the same schedule.

But behind these seemingly monotonous things there is something happening that we cannot describe with words. It’s the invisible presence of God in each detail and our ability to see it and praise God tells us if we are close to Him, and how sensitive we are to His work. It was good to see the residents of Yerofey Ivanovich eager to listen to the Word of God, and their wish to have the New Testaments. Such things give us joy and inspire us even despite our weariness.

It’s A Long Way There

A rather long road lay ahead of us. There was no planned evening meeting and we were to keep cycling along for some time. We were to either reach the village of Taldan, or get as close to it as possible. Our departure was planned for 6:00 a.m. but it began to rain at about 4 a.m. On one hand we needed the rain to cover the dust, but if it rained for too long a time, then puddles would appear and our bicycles would sink in the mud.

Coming up to the federal highway, we again became sure of the mightiness and power of God, who has everything in abundance. One could hardly expect better state of the road than that day. First, the rain allowed the KAMAZ truck to go ahead of us and it was easier for us to follow it. There was no dust. We continued on our way comfortably. But soon the sun began to shine brightly and we expected clouds of dust again. But no! We saw a small cloud which gave us just enough rain to cope with the dust. But it was only the beginning of miracles. We expected the day to be hot, but small clouds covered us during our entire journey. The condition of the road also allowed us to move rather quickly and by 2 p.m. we had already covered 120 km.

When we got started in the morning, we thought we would have to stop along the way and sleep in the forest. But we saw the care of our Lord. Two Christian men joined with us for the journey through the Amur region — Pavel Svetlov and Igor Molchanov. Igor is the pastor in the village of Taldan and visits believers in nearby villages. There are several groups of believers in the district. He said that we would visit the village of Bolshoy Never where a Christian man lives, and that we could stay there overnight.

We arrived at the village of Bolshoy Never, where there used to be many warehouses to store shipments for Yakutia and Magadan. Brother Alexander welcomed us very warmly and gave us shelter in his house. In the evening, several Christian men and women came to see us. We had a nice fellowship and told them what the Lord has done thus far. We sang together and prayed, then thanked our Lord for the wonderful things He has done. There were 80 more kilometers to Taldan, but it will happen tomorrow. We praise and thank God for this day!