Monday, February 23, 2009

Trans-Siberian Distribution

A friend of mine from high school is a missionary in Siberia. Here's their latest email:

Lyubomir left on Monday Feb 2 with 4 other pastors. For the sake of reaching Yakuts, Russians and others in spiritual darkness they have started on an arduous journey of about 9000 kilometers through the ice-bound wilds of the Siberian heartland. They are planning to come back in the middle of March. They will be going to the north (into the Arctic Circle and to the arctic coast). The last stop will be the place where we used to live before (Cherskii).

They went in a double cabin truck. They had to take food, water and petrol for the journey as there is nowhere to buy these things on the way. Much of the rest of the space inside their truck is taken up with Christian literature which they want to give away to people they will meet.They will be visiting villages where there has never been anyone speaking about Jesus before and they will also visit groups of believers who have never had opportunity to fellowship with believers from elsewhere.

They have to cook in the open air, by the road. The temperature has been below -40c. The roads are very isolated and there is no mobile phone service so they are completely cut off. It is a dangerous trip because if anything happens with the truck on the road they canot call out anyone to help.

One of the pastors is a good mechanic and he knows the truck well, having nearly rebuilt it. He had to rebuild it as while it had been given - new - to Lyubomir's chch network by a foreign Christian organisation it was in poor shape. It had been bought from a truck factory but was typical of Russian truck production standards and technology!

In between the rebuild and this journey north the truck had already been travelled in quite a lot and it seemed OK. However it has broken down on the journey already. They were able to fix it and soon after arrived in one of the villages where an American has started a church. There they have been meeting with believers and non believers.

They are planning to visit several villages around, before carrying on.

So, would you please pray for them and if you can, ask others to pray as well...

Lyubomir really wanted to go to some of these places because he lived in three of them. But this time it was quite hard for him to go because of my health. I should not carry heavy things yet I have to in his absence because I need to heat the house with wood which I need to bring in from the woodshed. And there are other lifting and carrying jobs I need to do while Lyubomir is away.

Putting this difficulty in context, there is no meaning to our living here if we let other needs hold us back from doing God's work. God has been looking after me and there are also brothers and sister who can also help me if I need it.


How do you feel about your life right now??

Blessings, The BDF

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