Bike trip – July 17 – Mariinsk town

Mariinsk town is the town called after the name of the wife of the Russian tsar Alexander the II. His wife Mary had never been to this place. Once Alexander the II visited the village located on the bank of the Kiya River. Local merchants asked the Emperor to give their village the status of the town and to call it after his name. The Emperor granted the status of the town to this place and asked local merchants to give this town the name of his wife.

We saw the results of one of the road accidents in the street of Mariinsk town - Broken motorbike, crashed car and much blood on the asphalt. The motorbike deriver died instantly. The car driver was in the critical state. Friends of the perished biker arrived there. We were told that both drivers were drunk.

An alcoholic factory works in Mariinsk in full swing. Its production is well-sold. All the tings which people need for “normal” life are there in Mariinsk town. But is it really normal? Various questions are running in our heads – Who was he, the motor biker? How old he was? Did he have friends? Did he think about God? Many questions – and no answer. I am sure there will be a funeral service and people will remember the late young man with the drink, which took his life.

Road inspection cars are always with us. We entered the local park in the company of two cars. We had guards with us. Perhaps there were reasons for it. There were many drunken young people in the park. We put sound equipment on the dance floor and began to wait for people. Only about 30 people came. 9 persons responded to the altar call. Pavel Bak, Senior Pastor fo Kemerovo region and the church Pastor Sergey prayed for them.  Sergey used to be a drug addict. He heard Good News in 2000 and repented. There is a rehab centre in Mariinsk church for drug addicts and alcoholics. Many people know about the church and its ministry, and about the rehab centre. One young girl wept during prayer. I do not know about her inner feeling, but do hope that all burdens of her sinful life are in the past now. I can not say the same about the boys who also came forward. After the prayer they resumed drinking beer.

This year Mariinsk celebrated its 150th anniversary. The Administration decided to commemorate this date with the new monument to Empress Mary, and put it in one of the most beautiful and romantic places on the embankment of the Kiya River. A well-know local sculptor Leontiy Usov will create the monument. It will depict the empress sitting on the bench and feeding doves. It is planned to put the monument there in September when the jubilee of the town will be celebrated. No one knows if once there will be the day of freedom from sinful dependency. Such holiday is in the authority of the local Evangelical church.

Piotr Lunichkin