Bike trip – August 22 – Blagoveschensk town

Today is really a good morning. Not only because the sun is shining brightly and there is no rain, but because the bikers will wheel on racing bikes again. About 500 km of asphalt road are ahead of us. Then there will be again earth road (the last portion of such roads). And then asphalt road will be from Birobidzhan to Vladivostok.  

We started at 9:00 a.m., later than usual. But we hoped to arrive in time as we had to travel 160 km after 300 km along gravel roads. 16- km along asphalt highway seemed to be an easy trip.

Our trip was successful, and at 16:00 p.m. we 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, Sergey and Julia from Chita, who will go back by their minibus. New singers will take part in the service.

Town authorities did not allow us to have a meeting in the square so we decided to have the service in the Central church. At 19:00 the church hall was full of people. Believers from two more Evangelical churches came, as well as from village churches. There were unbelievers also, but not so many as we wanted. Pavel Svetlov, Senior Pastor for Amur region led the service. It was a special service as many men shared their testimonies, what 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. Praise God, He urged people to come forward giving them courage. 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 the church. Her native sister from Kaliningrad visited her. She found Christ there and told her about salvation and invited to the church. The Holy Spirit touched the heart of an elderly lady. Young people who sat on rear benches of the church 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. 6 persons came forward. Some persons, who raised their hands, remained in their places, and the Lord heard their sincere requests to forgive them their sins.  

After the service young people went to look at China, on the opposite side of the river. There are many lights on the embankment in Blagoveschensk town. But the embankment in China is so bight that it makes the whole surrounding to bask in its lights.

Leonid Kartavenko