The tremendous nine-time zone crossing began May 13 after a church service in Varel, Germany, and concluded as scheduled on September 2 with a similar service in Vladivostok, Russia.

Four teams of 7-8 young bicyclists each participated, handing off to the next team at predetermined locations. Only the leader, Vladimir Skovpen — a 50-year old grandfather and father of ten — completed the entire grueling journey. Mr. Skovpen earned notoriety as the national cycling champion of the USSR in 1980.

The bicyclists toured across Germany, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, and then across seven of Russia’s eleven time zones. On their arrival in Vladivostok, the Expedition team poured a pitcher of water from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific, symbolizing the union of East and West.

During the course of the Expedition, the bicyclists faced flat terrain, mountains, significant weather extremes, swarms of insects, occasional reckless drivers, and other challenges. The bicyclists were warmly received in the vast majority of the cities, towns and villages.

A total of 130 meetings were held in public halls, stadiums, churches, town squares, street corners, and any other venue that would receive them. Audiences as large as 500 people gathered in even rural locations, and hundreds of children were also treated to special ministry activities. Dozens of thousands heard the Gospel, and more than 100,000 received New Testaments.

SGA helped provide Russian-language Bibles, New Testaments, and other Christian literature for distribution by the Expedition teams, and also helped with rental facilities for the evangelistic meetings.

The roads traveled by the Expedition cyclists ranged from well-paved asphalt to dirt and gravel. Early on, they managed 196 miles in one day with favorable roads, but were slowed to an average of 62 miles per day when the roads worsened.

Impacts of the Expedition

Rev. Leonid Kartavenko, director of home missions for the 1,800-church Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (UECB), said that the sports ministry approach of the Expedition helped gain significant attention from the public and the media, as well as from local governmental officials.

“One has many more possibilities for conversation when sitting on top of a bicycle. We get a very different kind of access to people.”

Another positive impact of the Expedition was the credibility gained by local evangelical churches across Russia. Rev. Valery Pashkovetz, a one time military pilot and pastor of a Baptist church in Kaluga, believes it helps to motivate local believers.

“Our church is up and moving. Out here, we can be lethargic and isolated from the world, but now we are moving out into the streets.”

Pastor Pashkovetz took part in bicycling the first stage of the Expedition from Varel, Germany to Bryansk, Russia. After that stage was finished, he returned home to Kaluga where he took 33 bicyclists on a 10-day tour of the region.

Rev. Kartavenko also expressed thankfulness for the surprising support of local governmental officials. Evangelicals historically encounter significant opposition to their ministries.

“We held many of our meetings in the central market places. The local authorities almost always helped us organize things for free. We are seen as strong and healthy people capable of helping Russia overcome its demographic crisis. The government is not against us. There are only certain religious interest groups wanting to turn the state on us.”

According to Pastor Kartavenko, the vice minister for youth and sport in the Vladivostok region approached the senior pastor for Far East Russia and asked him to help form a joint Baptist-governmental tour back to Moscow next summer — something unprecedented in Russian history should it take place.

Rev. Yuri Sipko, president of the Russian UECB, expressed his deep appreciation to all in North America who had prayed for the Expedition and provided resources to help make it possible. He praised the Lord for His marvelous protection, as none of the riders were seriously injured or even ill.

“Evangelical churches all across Russia were united in daily prayer for the teams, and churches along the route joined enthusiastically in the outreach activities. From beginning to end it was a gloriously blessed undertaking.”

SGA president Dr. Robert Provost expressed thankfulness for the success of the Expedition, and called for regular prayer for those reached with the Gospel.

“The Lord abundantly answered our prayers each day, keeping the teams safe, using them mightily, and bringing them safely to the Pacific. Please join with me in great praise to the Lord, thanking Him for His mercy and His grace — all of it way beyond measure! And pray for all whom they touched for the Lord. Pray that the Lord will grant repentance and saving faith to each and everyone in whose heart He has begun to work.”

Next summer, Russian evangelical church leaders are hopeful to conduct smaller scale bicycle evangelism tours in all 52 church districts across Russia.

Spared from an Accident

While we were waiting for the police cars, two well-equipped local cyclists arrived. They were obviously sportsmen on professional bikes. We looked like beginners in comparison with them. It turned out that they were preparing for competitions. We told them about our goals and they moved forward.

When we had cycled several kilometers along the town streets, we met them again. One was standing while the second was covered in bruises and wounds. We saw the car that hit them. But our Guide, the Lord Himself, kept us and we safely arrived at the Central UECB church in Vladivostok.

The Sunday morning service was already over, but Christian sisters who prepared lunch for us were waiting, as well as the church pastors. We were short on time as the meeting in the central town square was fixed for 5 p.m. Churches from other denominations provided us with additional sound equipment, so we had good sound and it was possible to hear us from a distance. We had permission from the town authorities for a one-hour meeting, and we were able to tell people about Christ during those 60 minutes.

Pouring the Ocean Water and a Baptism

After the official part of the meeting, we went to the central beach on the Pacific Ocean accompanied by police cars. We arrived at the place where we planned to pour the water from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific.

It so happened that last year’s Bicycle Expedition prevented one man fron being baptized. It was our doctor and fellow cyclist, Levon from Krasnodar. Last year he was with us during an Expedition from Bryansk to Omsk, and while he was away they held a baptismal service at his church. This year, he missed it again.

Brother Nikolai Sobolev, his pastor, asked us to find an opportunity to baptize brother Levon. And the moment came after the symbolic pouring of water from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific Ocean, we baptized Levon there. He was baptized on the same day as people in the Krasnodar church! It was already evening in Vladivostok, while it was morning in Krasnodar and the baptism service was in full swing at exactly the same time!

After that we went to the Good News Church in Vladivostok, where we prayed for the new members of the Krasnodar church and had the Lord’s Supper. We began our Expedition with the Lord’s Supper in Germany, remembering the sufferings of our Lord. We finished the Expedition the same way in Vladivostok. By the sufferings of Christ and His shed Blood, we have been redeemed from our former life.

The Happy Results

The Transcontinental Expedition, The Gospel to the Nations of the World, finished with God’s blessings and had demonstrated His grace. Over nearly four months, we covered 14,711 kilometers on bikes, had 130 services, mostly open-air meetings. Dozens of thousands of people heard the Good News about Christ. We prepared some 100,000 copies of the NT for the Expedition, and booklets about Christ. But this number was not enough. During the last stage of the Expedition, we borrowed books from the churches and gave them out. Praise God, people need the Gospel. The thirst for the Word of God was more intense than we expected. All the churches that we visited became active in evangelistic ministry.

Praise God that new people are coming to the churches. Here is only one example. There is a small group of 11 Christians in the Trans-Baikal area. Its number grew twice after our evangelization. The following Sunday after the Expedition visited, 14 new people came to the church. This is not the only example. Now our task is to pray that churches will accept these new people and work with them, that new leaders and ministers will grow from among them.

Leonid Kartavenko

The first day of fall met us with a cool morning. We got up early, then had prayer as usual and continued on our way. Two hours later, the sun began to warm up the earth and summer returned. We thought we had enough time, but there appeared to be parts of the road without asphalt. These parts of the road ate up the extra time we had.

At the entrance to Ussuriisk, the usual road inspection cars were waiting for us. So the last stage of our way was covered without stopping or incident. At lunch time, we arrived in Ussuriisk and went to the church, where Christian brothers and sisters were waiting for us. After lunch, some of us went to the central town square to put up our sound equipment. The began at 6:00 p.m. Praise God, people filled the square rather quickly and with some anticipation. The people listened attentively and after the ministry, we had personal fellowship and talked with the local people.

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.

We arrived at the road inspection station 30 minutes earlier. Two escorting cars were waiting for us there along with a representative of the town administration. We turned into the town of Lesozavodsk from the main highway. Unfortunately the escorting cars can not always protect us from incidents, but God is able to do it always.

After we had went about 5 kilometers, we saw a car coming up to us quickly and the driver signaled us to stop. The police car was first in line and stopped abruptly, then the car with the administrative officer also stopped. We had to slam on the brakes in order to escape a collision. No one was injured, praise God.

We found out that a Christian man from the local church was driving that car, hurrying to give us a Russian flag. The one we had before was stolen from our car, so ge bought one and gave it to us. After this small incident we continued on our way. We finally met a minibus belonging to the local TV channel, and they accompanied us to the church house, where they interviewed members of the Expedition.

The service began in the concert hall later that evening. I was surprised at the kind attitude of the town administration to believers. There are seven churches of various Christian denominations in the town in addition to our UECB group, which has not yet been registered as a local church. The administration helped our church with the advertisement and the stage. Administrative representatives came to the meeting and greeted members of the Expedition with kind words.

Reaching More Children

The service was held in a usual way. Perhaps that day the children’s ministry was even more successful than usual. There were more kids in the square than adults. Our children’s workers, Kate and Marina were shouting out with joy.

Our kind “Sharik” (brother Pavel dressed in a dog costume) invited kids to come. He had a very difficult task — to teach kids to become kind and obedient, to learn to be honest and friendly. Puppets Vitiok and Natasha constantly argued with each other. Once the kind puppy Sharik heard their shouts and told them about God, and how he began to attend the church and it made him a really good dog. He stopped robbing the neighboring dog Tuzik of bones, and learned to forgive everyone. Puppets Vitiok and Natasha also wanted to go to the church and read the Gospel. Such a simple story attracted not only kids, but also their parents who stood and listened.

It was interesting to observe two young mothers, who at first listened to the children’s program and then hurried up to the place where the service for adults was held on the other side of the square. After the puppet show, Kate and Marina organized a competition for kids with the balloons, and even young girls took part in the game. A caretaker from the local orphanage came up to our girls, and asked for the words of the children’s Christian songs, which she liked so much. Now kids in the orphanage will sing Christian songs. May God bless them to receive Him and not just sing, but to know Him as their Heavenly Father.

After the service, we picked up our sound equipment and went to have dinner in the house of a Christian brother. Tomorrow is another day.

The town of Luchegorsk is the first location we visited in the Primorie area, the last region to be visited by the Expedition. The population here is over 20,000. There are two big water power stations and a mine, clean beautiful streets, and many multi-story apartment houses.

The church here was founded not long ago. There are no men in the church, only 11 middle-aged ladies. They have a one-room flat where they come together for worship services. At a minimum of once a month, a church minister visits the sisters to have the Lord’s Supper.

Our evangelistic meeting was planned for the central park in Luchegorsk. Right after lunch, our men went out to invite people to the meeting. They visited the office of the local road inspection and militia, meeting the commanders who said they would send servicemen to keep order at the meeting. It was good for them to listen to the Good News also.

The meeting began at 5 p.m. We were concerned whether people would come as it was a working day. But people came. At the beginning of the meeting, the vice-chairman of the local administration greeted the people and the Expedition. After that we presented our program. Boris Berezhnoi and Albert Redin sang. Vladimir Skovpen, our chief cyclist, told the people about his way to God. Our tallest biker, Yuri from Belgorod, also shared his testimony. Constantine Petrov, the pastor from Ussuriisk, preached. He also coordinates Russian UECB youth work in the Primorie area.

People stayed after the service and our conversations continued. A meeting with believers was planned for 8 p.m. We thought we’d have about an hour’s service but the singing, preaching, and prayer continued without limits. We could have continued all night long, but we had to get up early next morning. We decided to continue our fellowship in Heavenly Jerusalem when we meet there. There will be a lot of time there and we will not be in a hurry. After the service we noticed that someone stole a Russian flag from our car. We felt sorry and then prayed to God.

It turned out that there were not enough sleeping places for everyone. So all spare places were occupied in the kitchen and in the corridor. God blessed our sleep regardless, and at 5:30 a.m. we got up and a new day of ministry began.

Bikin for the “Bikers”

Bikin has 19 thousand people and is located on the border with China. The church in this town originated at the time of the spiritual revival in the Far East, which took place in the 1920s. In the 1960s, the church bought a small house for services. Last summer, when the Bikin believers were at the UECB Congress in Bryansk, homeless people broke into the church house to sleep there and set it on fire. Praise God, neighbors noticed the trouble in time. The fire brigade arrived very quickly and only an auxiliary room was damaged. But the church has purchased another house for paperwork. The services are still held in the old church building.

Right after lunch, we sent some people from our team to the central park to set up the sound equipment. The service was planned for 6 p.m. It was a working day and it would have been better to start later, but the time was set so we decided to begin the meeting. Not many people came. But there were many militiamen who came and left in shifts. We thanked God for the opportunity to have these men with us as they had an opportunity to hear about salvation. Gradually more people came. We were happy to feel an atmosphere of kindness and attention. Not many people were there, but they were very receptive to the Gospel message.

Two elderly ladies sat by Piotr Ryazanov, and after the service Piotr invited them to the church. They said they attended the Orthodox church, but they had never had a Bible. One of them said that while she was sitting at home, she felt an impulse to stand up and go somewhere, but she didn’t know where. As she passed the park, she heard music and went there, and then sat on the bench. It was not in vain. She received a Bible and found out where she could study the Word of God.

During the service, Leonid Kartavenko noticed a young lady with a child. She was recording the service on a video camera. After the meeting, she came up to him and asked several questions. Leonid asked her if she attended the church. She sighed and said that she lived far away in a very little village in the Primorie area. Her relatives from Bikin told her about the planned meeting, and she took her little son and came to Bikin to the meeting. Then she would go back home.

The meeting was planned for 90 minutes, but three hours passed and still people did not want to go home. They asked us to sing more songs. How much we wish that the church would grow here, and that the light of Christ’s teaching would reach many local inhabitants!

The first Baptist churches in Khabarovsk were planted in the 1920s. Well-known Gospel ministers worked there, including Jacob J. Delyakov, as well as the grandfather and the father of George Wiense. Presently there are seven churches with about a thousand members. Six churches have their own houses of prayer.

Setting a New Record

God blessed us that day in a special way. First of all we reached the “hand hold.” A big map of our route is glued on one side of our KAMAZ. The Expedition checked the map daily, where we had come from and where we were still to go. Once we reached the “rear wheel.” then the “middle wheel,” and today we reached the door handle of the truck. A mere 195 kilometers were ahead of us. We cycled for 5 hours and 33 minutes, and reached a record average speed for the Expedition — 34.9 kilometers per hour. Praise God, we have a strong team of bikers, and the other teams were not weaker.

We reached Khabarovsk in amazing time. We came to the road inspection office close to the highway. They called to the central office and a car went to meet us. They guided us to the Central Church where the happy faces of believers met us, as well as a nice lunch. After lunch we took part in the meeting in the church.

Bringing the Body Together

It was not a typical meeting, but a general meeting of all believers from Khabarovsk churches. It was a service of gratitude. Unbelievers were invited, and it was not in vain as some people answered the altar call. Praise God!

The service was planned for 90 minutes, but lasted for over 2 hours. Immediately afterward, we went right to a planned evangelistic service in the central square downtown. We put up the sound equipment and began the service at 7 p.m. sharp.

Right before the beginning, young boys came up to us — a local team who are sport acrobats. They found out about our visit and came to greet us with their special trick — a somersault above the stage without any safety wire. It was a kind of greeting to us from the town sportsmen. We greeted and thanked them with Bibles and words of salvation. Many people were in the square. The weather was nice. Families strolled along the town streets and the square.

Saving a Life Despite Restrictions

The official permission we had for the meeting stated that no religious propaganda was allowed. That is why we sang and talked about how physical development without a spiritual basis would do no good. We told the story about the Prodigal son, and what happened when he stood up and went to his father. We did not give out the New Testaments officially, but at the end of the meeting, not a single copy of the New Testament was left. Believers talked to unsaved people and gave them the NTs. Those were individual discussions, not religious propaganda.

A young man came up to Levon, our doctor-cyclist, and asked about the meaning of the meeting. They talked. The young man’s name is Dmitri, he is 24. He has been using drugs for 7 years. He grew up without a father, and according to his words he lives for the sake of his mother and two sisters. During their talk, Dmitri confessed that he was ready to end his life. Many of his friends had died already. He attended their funeral services and began to think about the meaning of life. This young and still strong man wept, knowing that he had to make a choice — death or to change his life. Praise God, we came there in time.

Brothers Alexei Nozdrachev and Piotr Ryazanov stood by the truck. No more books were left. Two ladies came up to them. They were surprised about the Expedition. They began to talk about the places of interest in the town, mentioning our churches and that they have the New Testaments. One of the NTs was given to one of them the other day, on her birthday. She was very grateful to Christians for their attention to her. She wanted to thank them in response, but she had nothing with her.

It is interesting that the next day, when the brothers went out into the town, she met them and bought a book by a local poetess, and a book about the history of crafts in Khabarovsk. She took the men on a sightseeing tour in the town, and they told her more about Christ. She did not stop to wonder, as it is hard to meet each other in such a big town. The brothers told her that it was not by coincidence that they met again, that it was God’s mercy for her soul. After the tour, she led men to the church. We hope that her first visit to the church will become her permanent way there.

The cyclists did not wheel, but dragged their bikes 120 km. When we got closer to Birobidzhan, the sun began to shine, the clouds disappeared and blessings were poured on us. It was the end of poor roads and rain. Moving several kilometers along the asphalt road, we stopped by the first lake we saw, and washed our bikes and cars. The bravest of us swam. Then we again switched to our racing bikes and continued our way. The final 60 kilometers were a real pleasure for us. And it was easier for people in the cars to see our easy cycling.

We arrived in Birobidzhan in time, and were accompanied by police to the church. After lunch, the cyclists went to clean up while the musicians went to the stadium to set up the sound and music equipment.

About the Jewish Autonomous Region

Birobidzhan is a fairly young town. This year it will celebrate its 70th anniversary. The town was built on the tears of people, when by the order of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, the Jewish Autonomous Region was formed. Jews were sent to live there on permanent basis. It was a place full of swamps. The town is located on the junction of two rivers — the Biro and the Bidzhan. A town was built there, a beautiful town. The location was transformed by the people. The richest collective farms existed here in the times of the USSR. Only a few Jewish people still live here, but Abraham’s blessings are still here in this place. The former swamps produce amazing tomatoes, watermelons and many other kinds of fruit.

Overcoming Hindrances

Pleasant impressions about the town were dampened a bit by the unpleasant news that an “unplanned” football game was being held. We decided to have a meeting in the square near the stadium, but were informed that there was no electricity. Supposedly no one present knew how to switch it on. Such circumstances grieved us. But finding strength and encouragement in the Lord, we decided to have the meeting anyway without the sound equipment and singing. People still came to the meeting. There were many militiamen too. Though they stood rather far from the stage, they still could hear everything that was said about salvation. It was great to meet brothers from Khabarovsk area, who came there to be with us. Those were Gennady Abramov with his wife, Svyatoslav Tyutyunik with his wife, and Jacob Franchuk, who remained with us to accompany us to Khabarovsk the next day.

The meeting was held without singing. But many members of the Expedition shared their testimonies. Boris Berezhnoi recited poems. Christian sisters showed the puppet play to all people, both adults and kids.

We talked to many people after the service. Though the militiamen politely refused to talk to us and take the New Testaments, we saw a keen interest in the eyes of some of them. But due to their orders, they could not take the books. Praise God, they listened to our words very attentively. Police cars guided us back to the church, where we had dinner and rest. Tomorrow we are to get up again and have breakfast at 6:00 a.m. Please, pray for us.

The very first car we met left such a cloud of dust that that no earth or sky was visible. Somewhere in the dust there was the road and cars. It was possible to see oncoming cars only when they came very close to us — even with their lights on! How was it possible to see the cyclists in such a dust? The cars did not know about our existence and moved very quickly. And suddenly the drizzle began and the dust disappeared. The small drops of rain solved the problem. Praise God, it was not raining hard. Otherwise we would have puddles on the road. But it was just the kind of rain we needed most of all. I asked the Lord to forgive me for grumbling at such rain before, as I considered it as a bad weather. Once again I realized that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Certainly we did not move too quickly. We tried not to stop too often. Our destination, the town of Obluchie, is located in the Jewish Autonomous region, which means a new time zone and one hour forward. We had little time before the scheduled meeting, so we tried to do their best and travel along as quickly as possible.

Local church pastor Alexander Vitvenko and regional pastor Victor Lokaichuk met us in the vicinity of the town. They accompanied us to Obluchie where some people had already arrived. It took us only a few minutes to set up the sound equipment and start the meeting. There were many people in the square, more specifically many kids. The children were given a separate meeting, where they showed a puppet play and told kids about salvation and eternal life.

A kind atmosphere filled the place of the meeting. When brother Albert sang, a very drunken man came up to him. Albert took the man by the hand and continued to sing while the man stood by him. When Boris Berezhnoi, sang a little boy came up to him. Boris took him in his arms and continued to sing. It created a special atmosphere of trust. Singing, testimonies of the members of the Expeditionm and preaching were received attentively, and were followed by personal talks with people. After the service we had dinner and a meeting with local young Christians in the church.

The Shadow of the Gulag

The town of Raichikhinsk was founded in tsarist times on the junction of two rivers — Rai (means “paradise” in Russian) and Chikha. But people turned this paradise into hell. Where the church house is located, there used to be a barracks for prisoners in the infamous GULAG. The population of the town is 43,000 people. They mine brown coal here, but some mines are closed and people left for more prosperous regions.

The church in Raichikhinsk is not large with a little more than 40 members. It was planted in the 1990s. There used to be a small church in the vicinity of the town. All the neighboring churches united their efforts to have evangelization there.

After our arrival and a brief time to clean up, we went out into the town streets to invite people to the evening service. The authorities allowed us to have the evangelization at the gymnasium downtown. We traveled along town streets several times and invited people with the help of loudspeakers. Many of them had already read about our arrival on the posters. We were pleased to see people coming together with their kids. Families were heading for the stadium. As usual there were many kids and our children’s workers had a lot of work. Boris Berezhnoi and Albert Redin sang. Vladimir Skovpen shared his testimony. Leonid Kartavenko preached. We were surprised at the number of militiamen at the stadium, who were there to keep order. Praise God, the commanders of these men ordered them to be at the event, and they also listened to the Good News about salvation.

People remained at the stadium for a while after the event concluded. It was getting dark and we were forced to stop conversations between the cyclists and the people, as we had to be at the church to rest.

Tomorrow more travel — over 200 km. Part of the way will go along a gravel road. May the Lord keep our cyclists!

We started at 9:00 a.m. — later than usual. Our trip was successful, and we eventually arrived at Blagoveschensk. A tasty lunch was waiting for us in the church, and bikers went to the sauna. Others were preparing for the service. Today is a farewell service as part of our team is leaving for home. Among them Edward and Natalia from Irkutsk, along with Sergei and Julia from Chita, who will go back via their minibus. New singers will take part in the service.

The town authorities did not allow us to have a meeting in the square, so we decided to have the service in the central church. By 7 p.m. the church hall was full of people. Believers from two more evangelical churches came, as well as from the village churches. There were unbelievers also, but not as many as we wanted.

Pavel Svetlov, the senior pastor for the Amur region, led the service. It was a special service as many of the Expedition men and others shared their testimonies. They shared with the audience what had changed in their lives, and why they decided to travel such a long distance. Boris Berezhnoi and Albert Redin sang, Edward and Natalia sang, as well as the local church choir. Piotr Ryazanov and Leonid Kartavenko preached. At the end of the service, Boris Berezhnoi invited people to pray a prayer of repentance.

Young and elderly people came forward. One elderly lady was the first to come forward. It was her first visit to the church though she does not live far from it. Her native sister from Kaliningrad visited her. She had found Christ there and told her sister about salvation and invited her to the church. The Holy Spirit touched the heart of another elderly lady. Young people who sat on the rear benches of the church also came forward. Albert received a note from a young man who asked him to tell him more about God, as his brother is a believer. And it was hard for him to repent. Albert invited the young man to come forward and prayed together with him to God. In all, six persons came forward. Some persons, who raised their hands, remained in their places, and the Lord heard their sincere requests to forgive them of their sins.

After the service, the young people went to look at China on the opposite side of the river. There are many lights on the riverbank in Blagoveschensk. But the bank on the China side is so bright that it bathes the whole surrounding area in its lights.

Leonid Kartavenko

We arrived a day earlier and were able to meet the Expedition cyclists in Svobodny. I had parted with the Expedition in Kansk a month ago. On August 21, I saw them again but they looked like new people. They didn’t resemble those clean, neat men with whom we went to Germany, where the Expedition began. Now they were weather-beaten, brown, tired people, some with beards. They looked not only mature, but older. Only one thing did not change in their appearance — their shining eyes and unfailing desire to reach people with the Gospel.

A Temporary Roadblock

The town administration in Svobodny did not allow us to have the evangelization in the central square, nor at the stadium. They said that the Orthodox Church didn’t have any activities in those places either. Praise God, the evangelical church is located on the central town street, so we decided to have an evangelistic meeting in front of the church house.

Journalists of two local TV stations and other mass media workers met us at the entrance of the town. A highway patrol car was waiting for us too, though no official order was given to them to accompany us. It reminded us about the parable in the Bible about two sons. One of them said that he would go and did not go, and the second said that he would not go, but went.

Our group was accompanied by winkers and the sounding of horns stopped all traffic in the town. People came out of shops and houses, asking each other what was happening when they heard such a noise.

We so much wanted to tell them that it is Jesus from Nazareth entering this town. The posters put up throughout the town answered their questions, inviting people to the evening service.

The senior pastor for Russia’s Amur region was with me in the car. He accompanies the Expedition in this territory, which he supervises. Looking at the fuss around us, he recalled the story about Mordecai, to whom malicious Haman wanted to do evil, but he was the one who helped Mordecai mount a horse, leading him around the town giving him all possible regard as if to the king. In this way, the Gospel of Christ entered the town of Svobodny.

Threatening Weather

We put our sound equipment by the church house, checked it and then rain began. Dark clouds covered the sky. My first wish was to take the equipment to the church, but, praise God, the cyclists had stronger faith than me. They urged us just to pray and we prayed. I was looking at the clouds with caution, but the rain became less intense and then stopped a few minutes later. We saw a rainbow in the sky, no . . . there were two rainbows simultaneously! They were large and beautiful. Perhaps one rainbow was for everyone, and the second was designed for me so that my faith would remain strong.

The service by the church began, but people continued to arrive. Believers of other denominations and unsaved people came. The sky was covered with dark clouds, and some drops of the rain reached us, but the grace of God was abundantly pouring on the listeners.

The service was very rich. Boris Berezhnoi and Albert Redin sang, as well as Edward and Natalia from Irkutsk. They are going to leave for home tomorrow. Members of the Expedition shared their testimonies and preached. But as usual the most important part of the event started after the official part of the meeting, when all members of the Expedition and the cyclists talked to people. Such discussions continued in small groups till late at night.

Then according to our usual plan we had dinner in the church, with part of our team staying in Christian homes while the cyclists prepared benches and slept in the church. It is impossible for them to stay in Christian homes, as believers will not let them sleep and will talk all night long. But the cyclists need rest as more kilometers await them tomorrow.

Leonid Kartavenko

We were greatly encouraged by their desire to help us with our problems. After lunch and a prayer, we began preparations for the evening meeting in the central square of the town. The church house there is located close to the Orthodox church, but it does not mean we expect any problems.

The square is surrounded by 5-story apartment houses, and there were residents on the balconies listening. The good procedure of announcing the arrival of the Expedition by the loudspeaker and issuing invitations to the meetings always has positive results. Those who wanted to see and hear the members of the Expedition came to the square.

The singing of the Mashonovs and the inspired testimonies of members of the Expedition moved the hearers. Marina, Kate and their “friend” Sharik (Pavel Kalmykov) worked very well. They played with kids a lot, and as usual, we talked to people after the meeting was over.

All the members of the Expedition were involved in fellowship. Brother Levon talked to Armenian people (there is a big diaspora of Armenian people in this region). We gave out Bibles and booklets about the Expedition to people. Coming together for dinner in the church, we thanked the Lord for the opportunity to tell people about Him and His love, and His Word, which can change the life of any person who opens it with love.

During dinner, Pastor Igor Molchanov from Taldan called us and happily informed us that after our departure, eleven new people came to the church on Sunday and three of them repented. They were two young boys aged twelve and fifteen, and a lady. We prayed for these new converts and thanked our Lord for doing miracles — saving people from their sins! We pray that this day worked for the glory of our Lord, and we concluded it with our joyful and sincere prayers to Him.

Piotr Ryazanov

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!

We began to get ready for the trip. We put on our sport suits, saddled our bikes and started at 7:00 a.m. Before we arrived at the federal highway, we moved along a country earth road which was very even. We were ready to exchange the federal highway for such a forest road! After 4 km along this forest road, we again found ourselves moving along the gravel road with ditches and ruts. Again we had to climb hills then go downhill. It was not possible to go downhill quickly as we had to be careful of stones and rocks in the road. Our cyclists have pains in their arms, fingers and legs. The cyclists go first, then the KAMAZ and other vehicles. Oncoming cars bring with them clouds of dust. We have to stop them in order to breathe freely. Vladimir Skovpen does it, raising hid left hand. The KAMAZ driver moves to the left side of the road, forcing drivers to lower their speed. Most of the cars stop, but there are those who are indifferent to such requests.

We stopped to rest after 40 km of travel. Thirty minutes later we resumed our trip. When we saw the road sign at 70 km, we stopped as that was the point where Siberia ends and the Far East/Amur region begins. We took several photos by the monument that marks this point, and decided to have lunch – sandwiches, canned fish, biscuits and some other food, which God gave us that day. We stayed there for about an hour and resumed our trip. The heat began with a bright sun, accompanied by the dust of the road until the end of the day trip.

At the entrance of the town, we were met by Christian men who went forward to discuss the opportunity for evangelism with the local administration. The authorities allowed us to present our program at the central sports complex. They showed us the place where we could take a shower. We arrived at Yerofey Pavlovich and went to the public sauna. After that we went to the meeting with people. We set up our music equipment, switched on the music and people began to fill the stadium. By 7 p.m. there were about 200 people there. Kate and Marina had a lot of work that day. Over 70 children came to play games, to watch the puppet play, and listen to the story about God’s wonderful salvation. The Lord blessed all people who came together that evening.

We stayed at night in the caravan church, kindly provided to us by local believers who also prepared dinner for us. We headed to bed as a hard journey lay ahead of us the next day.

P.S. There are lots of mosquitoes here, so all our actions are made in a quick tempo and are accompanied by specific gestures, which resemble dancing!

The road that will take us to Amazar is 104 kilometers-long. We started on our way at 8.00 a.m. after breakfast. We are not surprised by the road covered with gravel and dust. The cyclists were first in line followed by the KAMAZ. Each time we see a cloud of dust before us we know that those are oncoming vehicles. Our truck KAMAZ then goes to the front and forces them to stop. Most vehicles slow down, except in some rare cases. Our God preserves us according to the prayers of His saints.

We met our brothers Sergei and Alexei, who told us that the Amazar village administration had given consent for the meeting, and that they had found a shelter for the night. Workers who are building the road have a hotel and they gave us available rooms for free.

By the village of Amazar, there is a river with clear water. We had some time before the beginning of the evening meeting and we went to the river. After eight hours along a dusty road, we were happy to swim in clear water. Our men as usual went along the village streets and invited people to the meeting. About 60 adult people came along with very many children.

Time for Youth to Testify

We began our meeting at at 7 that evening. Many young people had come, so the younger members of the Expedition shared their testimonies — Yuri and Levon, Edward sang and also shared his testimony. Then three young men from our team sang a Christian song about Russia. Boris, Yuri and Pavel sang this song rather well. Yuri Volzhankin sings well and he is a good cyclist, and besides he is very skilled in managing our sound equipment. It demands attention and does not always want to work well. But Yuri knows the secrets of how to improve the equipment each time. We prayed for the meeting and God helped us.

It is amazing that in places where there are no churches of our fellowship; the doors for outreach are open for us. Even though we do not have an opportunity of informing people beforehand, still people come and attend the meetings, and then talk for a while to the members of the Expedition. We gave out New Testaments, while Kate and Marina worked with the children. We can not cope with adults as skillfully as they do with kids. The cheerful voices of the children and their enthusiasm inspire all members of the Expedition.

This meeting is finally over. We are tired but feel that we have done all we could. We had a group prayer and dinner. And then we went to sleep. As Ecclesiastes says, “The sleep of a laboring man is sweet.”

We started at 7:00 a.m. from Aksionovo-Zilovsk. One car went forward to meet the town administration to discuss opportunities for evangelism and shelter, as there is no church in Ksenievsky.

The Lord blessed us with nice weather — the warm sun and cool breeze helped us. The federal highway became very poor, with wet sand, many chuckholes, ditches, and puddles after the rain. We had to use all our strength to cycle along. The road went over steep mountain slopes. After 50 kilometers, we stopped and saw a wonderful view — mountain creeks, tall pine trees, bare rocks and clean air. We were overwhelmed with it despite all the hardships on our way, and our weariness.

After the next 20 kilometers we stopped again. We were amazed and rejoiced. We saw lots of blueberries in the forest. We ran to the forest and ate a lot of these wonderful berries, which have a lot of vitamins. The quality, size and taste of the berries made us feel happy! After 30 minutes in the forest, we heard our truck engine start and the command of our leader . . . “Saddle up!” Again the dirty road and wonderful wild nature greeted us.

When we reached the 100 km mark, we met our men who returned from the visit to Ksenievsky. They told us about the situation. The village was 40 km from the highway, but they could not get there because of the poor condition of the road after the rain. They had to drop into the neighboring village of Sbega. But there was no shelter there because of an ongoing local sports exhibition.

We were very tired, but had to answer a very important question. Are we to cover the other 100 km to Kluchevskoy, or are we to stop and stay in our tents in a wet Siberian forest? Vladimir Skovpen was firm in his decision — we are to continue on our way. We thought the same, but if we were to do this, we would need some food and there was no place to buy it. We again sent our car forward to get fuel. After eating some more berries — blueberries and red huckleberries — we headed further. After 20 km, we met our car bringing back food, and sisters prepared a wonderful lunch for us.

Winding Down a Long Day

It was getting dark. It was 6 p.m. and we still had 60 km more to travel. The Lord is mighty and great, and we continued on our way. We met many obstacles on our way there — puddles, ditches and road signs announcing a detour. Not far away from us, we saw workers who were engaged in road construction, and we heard the explosions intended to create gravel and clear the road. We continued our way surrounded by unusual beauty — two beautiful clear rainbows and an orange sky with clouds. We stopped and took pictures, then had a little rest.

When it became completely dark, our vehicles lit our way. At first we stopped at the wrong village, but God helped us to find our brothers and sisters in Christ, who anxiously awaited us on the road. A nice dinner was waiting for us. The distance we covered was 208 kilometers, which meant 11 hours of cycling.

We planned to rest in Kluchevsky. Now we will have 3 days of rest and participation in the Sunday worship service, plus an evangelistic meeting in the local square. Praise God!

P.S. As members of the Expedition are not accustomed to local conditions, they become ill from time to time. They often feel sick. Please, pray for us!

Boris Yurchenko,
Belgorod

The Expedition cyclists wheeled along on new bikes. Over 1,000 kilometers are ahead of us and most of the road is poor. We will find out how bad the road is in reality, as we have only heard about it from other people.

Our departure from Zhireken was not easy. The road was covered with small pits and our bikers had to really show their skills. Our KAMAZ truck went rolling from one side to another. At last we reached the federal highway, which was covered with sand and gravel. Pits and ditches accompanied us all the way as an inseparable part of the road. The situation with the roads has remained the same, and we can recall many examples from books in which this theme was discussed by many authors.

Our trip was not long and we arrived at Aksionovo-Zilovsk at lunch time. The population of this village is 4,500 hundred people. Alexei, the pastor of the local evangelical church, met us. We also met the mayor of the village by the church house. He was not against our evening meeting with villagers. We appreciated the hospitality of our Christian brothers and sisters at lunch.

The central place of the village is the railroad station. We had a meeting with villagers, whom we invited with the help of a loudspeaker.

When we came back to the place of the meeting, a big group of kids was waiting for us. There could hardly be a person able to answer all the questions they have. We sang hymns. Alexei Nozdrachev led the meeting. Vladimir Skovpen and Yuri Golozubov shared their testimonies, telling people about their life before and after their encounter with Christ. Sergei Stepantsov preached. A young couple from Irkutsk — Eduard and Natasha — inspiringly sang about God’s love and the forgiveness we have in Christ.

The visit of the Expedition to a small town is always a special event. That is why many people came. Eighty minutes of inspired testimonies did not leave people indifferent. As usual, we had long personal conversations with people who had questions.

Many children came, of course. It was impossible to count them as they moved around so quickly. Kate and Marina organized them into two lines and presented a program for kids. We always heard the cheerful voices of the children despite the distance from the general meeting. Amazement, joy and high spirits always accompany meetings with kids.

After the meeting, we had dinner and fellowship with local Christians until late at night. Another blessed day of the Expedition was over. Tomorrow the trip awaits us again, meetings with new people and new opportunities to tell people about God’s love, His mercy and forgiveness for everyone.

Piotr Ryazanov, TransWorld radio

For you have made the LORD, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent (Psalm 91:9-10).

We reached Chernyshevsk 85 km later. Half of the trip was on good road, but the other half was not so good. But we cherish hope that sometime this highway from Chita to Chelyabinsk will be nice. We do not know when it will happen. So we will continue to go along the dirt road. We see cars passing by us on the opposite side of the road. They are all dirty and it is impossible to guess their color. We anticipate what awaits us further on.

Reaching Chernyshevsk, we stopped at the gas station. We had a strong wish to continue our way to the next point — the town of Zhireken. We decided first to have lunch, and then check our vehicles and bikes. Brothers Alexei Nozdrachev and Sergei Stepantsov will meet with the administration of the town, and will give them the map of the Expedition with our route as well as the New Testaments. The stop lasted for about 3 hours.

In order to reach Zhireken we had to travel 40 more km along a very good asphalt road. It was the last asphalt road on our way. It was not hard for the cyclists to cover this distance quickly. Zhireken is in a kilometer from the highway, which leads to Khabarovsk. We went straight to the town administration. When we stopped, kids encircled us as they wanted to see and touch our bikes. They liked everything and touched all parts of bikes. Cyclist Yuri Golozubov could hardly answer all their questions. The children followed him and continued to ask many questions.

Discovering an Unknown Church

There was no one yet anyone in the administrative office. We met Mrs. Tatyana Alexandrova, who runs the recreation centre in Zhireken. She kindly welcomed us into the centre for rest. Conditions were very modest but good enough for minimal comfort. The town administration people came at 5.00 p.m. and we received permission for the meeting at 7 p.m. We went along the town streets and invited people to the meeting with the help of a loudspeaker.

We had some difficulties. When we switched on our music and sound equipment, we found out that the voltage was too low. The city officials invited an electrician to help us but nothing worked. But then we had an unusual meeting with an electrician named Anatoly. It turned out that he was pastor of the local evangelical church. When we came there we were sure that there was no evangelical church existing in Zhireken, nor Protestant believers. We were pleasantly surprised. On the other hand, not many people know about the existence of the church in the town though it’s been there for 10 years. Anatoly invited all his church people to the meeting.

We began our meeting without sound equipment. It was a good place for the event, surrounded by 5-story apartment houses. About 100 people came. As usual, we sang songs, shared our testimonies and preached. At the end of the meeting we asked brother Anatoly to pray for God’s blessings on the town people and administration. Not less than 50 children were there. Marina and Kate managed to cope with all of them very skillfully. They always have many interesting things to offer kids. After the meeting, our talks with people continued. People usually have questions and not all people are indifferent to the issues of faith.

Saving a Life

Alexei Nozdrachev had a very interesting conversation with a young man. The young man had passed by, heard our singing and saw the gathering of people. He was in a low mood. He had personal problems – a quarrel with a beloved lady and other misfortunes. He found himself in a deep depression and he did not want to live. He was planning to commit suicide. And there he met Christians. His talk with a Christian man helped him to come to himself and look at his circumstances in a sober way. As usual we gave out many Christian books and New Testaments. We gave Bibles to the local church people along with Evangecubes, and encouraged them to be active evangelists.

The next day, the road was waiting for us. It was not covered with asphalt. When the meeting and talks with people were over, we began to prepare new bicycles for the trip, which were designed for poor roads. They are twice as heavy, and not as speedy as bicycles designed for highway. But they are safer and it will be easier for bikers to cover poor parts of the road. We went to bed late at night.

Piotr Ryazanov, TransWorld radio