But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you;
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all
Judea and Samaria and even to the ends of the earth.
Acts 1:8
Greetings to all friends!
Three months of our mission trip to Yakutia have gone by.
The first two weeks, we spent on the road trip, but we were not just driving a car. On the way, as we were driving through the different cities of Russia, we visited 4 rehab centers and held productive meetings with rehabilitators. We talked about sin, about new life in Christ, about grace and salvation. And also, along the way we held services in several churches: we had a chance to preach the Word, share the testimony, and sing. We made new friends and encouraged many to keep us in prayer.
The second two weeks were in the church of a small Yakut city. Local believers do not have a minister, questions and problems have accumulated that had to be solved with God’s help. During this time, 10 people who are really close to conversion took a course on the basics of faith, consisting of five lessons. Some repented. Also, we visited many families in the city and in nearby villages. In the homes of unbelievers, the meeting could last from 5–10 minutes to 2 hours. If the hosts invite you for tea, it means for a long time. 80% of the people were invited to come into the house and most of the time we tried to talk with them about God.
The next three weeks were devoted to gospel outreach work in the northern villages of the region. We managed to visit 13 out of 23 villages. First of all, we visited those whom we have known from the last trip, and the Lord also opened the doors to other houses and social clubs. Praise be to God for people who repented in two villages.
The next week we spent in one of “derelict” Evenki villages. This village is located in the Arctic ulus, we drove five hundred kilometers north. There have never been any missionaries in this village, and the gospel has never been preached. The villagers were very surprised by our visit. Firstly, because we have driven a long way through the impassability, and secondly, because we have come to them with the Word about Christ and with humanitarian aid. God’s seed was sown in ten Evenk houses, and the people also came together to hear about Christ in the local ethnic and cultural center. Preparing to go back, we were given a lot of food by the locals – reindeer meat and fish. Thank God, the work has been started in the village, and relationships have been established. For now, I plan to work remotely with these people, but I would like to visit with them again sometime.
Next week, we had a trip to the Evenk villages in the Arctic. We drove 800 km there. We visited 4 villages. The final village was the Evenk village, which is remote from civilization. On my last trip, I got some Evenk contacts from this village. I worked with them remotely by sending lessons on the basics of faith to them. Now, when we arrived again, we were welcomed here as relatives. The doors were opened for us for visiting people in homes and municipal offices. More than 30 people gathered in the local House of Culture to listen to the Gospel message. Some of the women who took a course in the fundamentals of the faith called us as brothers and themselves as our sisters. Similar blessings of God accompanied us in other villages. 25 people gathered in the local library to listen to the Word of God. I also remember one house where several Evenk families came together and we talked with them about God until midnight. I know that now some of them are having battles in their own hearts. On the one hand, they believe in the spirit of the taiga and hunting – in Bayanay, and they bring him their gifts. On the other hand, they heard about the Living God, the Creator and the Savior Jesus Christ.
We pray that the Lord will work in these hearts and form a group of Evenk believers in the Arctic. Despite the fact that on this trip we had a serious and expensive breakdown of the car, I still consider this trip one of the special and blessed by God!
Next week, we had a trip to a new region. There are 5 villages in these areas; Yakuts, Evenks and Dolgans live in them. Our final point was the Dolgan village, which is located on the shores of the Arctic Ocean – the Laptev Sea. We covered the distance to this village about 2000 km. In these villages, we also helped people with food packages, clothes, shoes, and sweet gifts for children. But the most valuable thing is to hand out a person the Holy Scripture and share from the Living Word about the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We have done this with a great joy in every village.
The next 10 days was the way home: from the southern coast of the Arctic Ocean to the northern coast of the Black Sea, again “from south to north”.
On the way we visited 4 more churches with a word of encouragement.
We got to our house safely, although it was either snowing or raining on the way, and our “missionary” USV was the place of our lodging for the night. Thank God for everything!
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).
In total, we managed to visit over 10 small groups and churches in Yakutia.
As missionaries, we visited about 30 villages, 7 of which are located in the Arctic.
We went over to more than 140 houses of unbelievers with the gospel and humanitarian aid and held 9 meetings with the population in municipal institutions.
In total, 6 people repented.
In total, about 20 missionaries took part in mission trips, and there were also many who helped remotely by their prayers and concerns for God’s work in Yakutia.
Your brother Andrey
