Bible trip near Belarusian border

On Tuesday, July 21st, Artyom, Roman, Jason, Stephon, Jeff Appling, and I, left for our trip to deliver Bibles to remote villages along the Belarusian border. We traveled up to 2 miles from the border. There was a threat of encountering border guards, but we prayed that we wouldn't run into them unless God wanted us to give them Bibles. We didn't - God had other plans for us. In most villages, we split up into 3 teams, each with a translator, so we could reach more people. Some of the villages were very small, 10-20 houses, with many vacant and only a few residents. The people survive off their own little gardens and fruit trees. Some go into the forests to pick wild blueberries to sell them. Very few ever get out of the village - they rely on weekly or bi-weekly deliveries of bread. Many of the babushka's (grandma's) that we met, we very lonely. They told us stories of WWII when the Nazis came into their villages and killed people and burned their villages. Some told us of losing their children to alcohol. They opened up to us and cried. Many of the older people were blind and uneducated. I was reminded of the verse, Matthew 9:36 - Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

Sergey (with the bandage), was the first to repent. When Roman and I went in his home and started telling him about Jesus, he said, "I want this". He told us he just had his 4th car accident and that he went to a "witch doctor" babushka that told him he was going to die in a car accident. We told him how God spared his life and is having mercy on him and how God is more powerful than a witch doctor. He was ready to receive God's word! Please pray for him. In this picture left to right: Artyom, Roman, myself, friend of Sergey, Jason Sturtevant, friend of Sergey, Sergey, Stephon, and Maxim (Jeff Appling took the picture).


Our first campsite. We stayed in a forest that was plush with moss. Perfect for bedding under the tents. Jeff Appling and I brought these tents from the US - they worked out perfectly for the 6 of us. God blessed us with unity in our group and we had great fellowship and times of encouragement and devotions. God knew exactly what he was doing when He put us all together.

The forest was full of wild blueberries. All the plants you see in this picture are wild blueberries. Many of the villagers depend on these for food and money. We had some for a midnight snack and breakfast the next morning. We praise God for providing for the people and for us.

Roman calling to see if anyone is home.

Jason and Roman with a 98 year old man. This man told us stories of WWII and how he remembered Americans coming to help him. He was happy to see Americans again and did not want us to leave. He accepted the Bible and we prayed with him.

Our second campsite. We were about 75 miles from Chernobyl. People in this area talked alot about the radiation and how it still affected them.

Artyom and I were weary from going house to house for quite a few hours. We talked with many people and even got yelled at one time. We were waiting for Jason to pick us up to go camp for the night, but he did not show up. I told Artyom that we needed to pray and ask God for strength because we were hungry and tired. I did not want Satan to discourage us from reaching more people. We prayed. We walked up the street and saw some benches in the shade - looked like a good spot to cool off. Before we got to the benches, we saw these children with puppies. We gave them Bibles and Bible story books. They went and got more of their friends. Jason, Roman, Jeff A, and Stephon showed up. The benches started to fill up with men, drunks included. Before we knew it at least 10 men came and Roman and Stephon started to preach. They all listened and received the Word. More people showed up. More children too. We gave out more Bibles and tracts at this one location than any other on our trip!






Be Disciples.