Gospel Expedition

Today is the last day of summer as we reckon it. The fall begins tomorrow. So we imagined we were on vacation and had an extra hour of sleep. The alarm clock woke us up at 6:30 a.m. We washed our faces quickly, and had breakfast at 7:00 a.m. At 8:00 a.m. the escorting cars arrived and we continued our trip. Our distance for today was only 140 km, but we decided to keep a good speed and were right in doing so.

After 90 kilometers, we stopped, bought a watermelon and thanked the Lord. After 20 more kilometers, the asphalt road ended and we traveled on gravel road for the last 10 km.

The church in Spassk-Dalniy originated in 1919. It lost 15 ministers during Stalin’s repression, but continued to have worship services. Ten years ago, the church laid the basement of a new church. Constantine, the pastor, is a graduate from Khabarovsk Medical University. Today they already have a new church house. They must still do some interior work and complete the steeple on the church roof with a cross. They hope to finish in two years, just in time for the 90th anniversary of the church.

The meeting in the central square of the town was planned for 6:00 p.m. As usual, a team of men together with Albert Redin went to the square to prepare the sound equipment. A half hour before the meeting, our cyclists went out into the town streets to invite people to the meeting.

At first sight, there were not many people in the square — about 100 persons. But around the square, there were many people walking and sitting on benches. They didn’t seem attentive, but still they listened to Christian songs, preaching and testimonies. The meeting went on all right. We felt we did not come there in vain. The local pastor addressed the people in the square with a short message after the presentation by the Expedition.

After the public meeting, we met with local Christians in the church, and shared many examples of God’s care during the Expedition. Leonid Kartavenko preached, and then we had dinner together. After dinner, our local Christian brothers and sisters welcomed most of us in their homes. Our cyclists remained in the church house for a night’s rest in sleeping bags.