Bike trip – August 9 – Aksionovo-Zilovsk village

We started very early in the morning as we had to cover only 40 km to Aksionovo-Zilovsk. There is also a church there. Pastor Anatoly from Zhireken gave us the local Pastor’s phone number.

 

Bikers wheeled on new bikes. Over a thousand kilometers are ahead of us and most part of the road is poor. We will find out how bad the road is in reality as we know about it only from the words of other people. Our departure from Zhireken was neither easy. The road was covered with small pits and our bikers showed skilful wheeling. KAMAZ truck went rolling from one side to another. At last we reached the federal highway, covered with sand and gravel. Pits and ditches accompanied us all the way as an inseparable part of this road. The situation with the roads remain 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 thousand 500 hundred people. Alexei – Pastor of the Lord Evangelical church met us. This village is in 7 kilometers from the highway and goes downward. Brother Alexei saw us when we only started to head for the village. We met the Mayor of the village by the church house. He was not against our evening meeting with villagers. We appreciated hospitality of our Christian brothers and sisters at lunch. Varied salads and other meals did not leave us indifferent.

 

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, who could answer all the questions they have. We sang hymns. Alexei Nozdrachev led the meeting. Vladimir Skovpen and Yuri Golozubov shared their testimonies and told people about their life before and after the meeting with Christ. Sergey Stepantsov preached. A young couple from Irkutsk – Edward and Natasha inspiringly sang about God’s love and forgiveness, which we have in Christ.

The visit of the Expedition to a small town is always a special event. That is why many people came. 80 minutes of inspired testimonies did not leave people indifferent. As usual we had long personal conversations with people who had questions. Many kids came, of course. It was impossible to count them as they moved around so quickly. Kate and Marina can organize them in two lines and present a program for kids. Others always heard cheerful voices of kids despite the distance from the place of a general meeting. Amazement, joy and high spirits always accompany meetings of kids.

 

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