For the first time, a camp for children was organized in the Priuralsk tundra. For nearly a week, tundra children had the opportunity to get to know Christ as the best friend of all children. The hymns they learned became part of the program and the overall celebration.
The communication with adults before the camp usually culminates in the Lord’s Supper. This fellowship is eagerly awaited by reindeer herders, a tradition that has been ongoing since February 2023, with a similar gathering in the prayer house in Vorkuta. After the official part of the gathering concludes, local friends willingly express their desire to continue informal communication. The demonstrated love and involvement often solidify theory into practice, a significant aspect of mission work.
After the fellowship, local residents, some on reindeer sleds, some in cars, and others on foot, disperse to their camps and tents, ‘so as to live for the rest of their earthly lives no longer by human desires but by the will of God.’ 1 Peter 4:2.
On July 29-30, 2023, in the Vorkuta tundra at the foot of the western slope of the Ural Mountains, the traditional gathering of indigenous believers from paganism took place—Nenets, Khanty, and Komi.
The beauty of the Polar Urals is truly mesmerizing! The purity of mountain air, crystal-clear refreshing streams from melting glaciers, and the uniqueness of the region attract many tourists from various parts of the country.
For the local inhabitants, this is their historical homeland, the place of their ancestral migrations, where for centuries, the designated territory for grazing reindeer herds has been silently preserved.
The Arctic land… These places hold many sad and well-known stories from the past… Today, the younger generation can barely recount the events of the Stalinist era that occurred 80 years ago. But forgetting one’s history is detrimental to the future!
Even today, occasionally at youth gatherings, we can hear legendary lines from wartime:
“They cannot be found in the dust of paths,
Amidst the taiga and the Ural ridges,
And on the little hill, a friend’s hand,
Will not place a bouquet of violets.”
A militant atheism annihilated thousands of living Christians in the first half of the last century… But the law of “sowing and reaping” was never repealed, and as a result, today’s youth confidently echo in their hymns:
“Oh, distant North, do you see the barrenness,
Holy seeds are already growing!
And on your abandoned fields,
Fruits will be harvested in future times.”
Thanks to the prayers and sacrifices of many faithful Christians, people in the far north are turning to God!
The coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. It is beautiful here, extraordinarily! Palana – a small town with a population of 4000 people, Kamchatka, on the west bank of the river Palany, not far from the confluence with the Sea Okhotsk. A port provides a connection for ships with fuel, food, and manufactured goods. There is an airport with a local airline, receiving planes and helicopters from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and district towns.
During the winter a road with a length of almost 311 miles from Palana can be driven to reach the villages Esso and Anavgay. To get to the nearest villages a helicopter or snowmobile is needed. The church in Palana has have been praying for this event for a long time. And now here’s to the first gospel trip with the Trakol ready to go! The distance to the village and back is 124 miles.
There is no road at all, only snowmobiles can pass through. With God’s help, we will be the first to use this technology to reach them. We checked the route in advance to know how to get there. We pray about this and ask God for protection and blessing!
On May 10th, 2000 our plane landed in the village of Palana, Kamchatsky. We got off the plane, but no one was meeting us. It was cold and snowy. The Lord alone knows what happened in our hearts. He was with us. He blessed the birth of our fifth child. On July 14th, our beautiful daughter was born. Truly, our God is Wonderful, although there were many difficulties, we had to sleep dressed since it was cold. When drunk people came, with knives, the Lord was with us and showed His wonderful love and care. Today in Palana there is a Church, a house of prayer, a small choir, orchestra. We try to bring the Gospel to the poor and unfortunate souls that do not know and have not tasted the love of the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ. We thought we were going for two years as we were offered, but now it’s over 10 years we still do the ministry on the edge of the earth. And with complete confidence, we can say: “Up to this point the Lord helped us.” The life lived for Christ, is a beautiful life.
And the beauty of this life is contained in that it intertwines and joy, and sorrow, and tears, and laughter. And the greatest happiness is that we are witnessing when the unfortunate sinner is reconciled with God’s blessing. I sincerely want to thank you all for participating in Gospel with us.
The last time we wrote about the family Gennady and Galina Mozhaytsev, who are serving in Kamchatka. Their church prays for an all-terrain vehicle “Trekol”, so they can drive during the summer through the swamps, and during winter to reach remote villages with the Gospels. In the photographs, you can see how in January 2021, our brothers and sisters made their way to remote villages to evangelize to the Koryaks and Evens. Indigenous peoples are very open to the gospel.
The winter road is a frozen swamp with one lane to drive on. It’s hundreds of miles long without signs and navigation. There are sticks on the side of the road pointing to a direction that is 300 – 600 feet apart – that were put there by the road service. But during a blizzard, when the visibility is 15-30 feet meters the poles are not visible.
To determine where the road leads one person walks ahead with a shovel and looks for the sticks, and the vehicle follows slowly. But walking against the wind during a blizzard at -40 is very hard. The other option is to sit it out at the end of the blizzard while sitting in the car. But fuel runs out after 2-3 days. There is no connection, electricity, and Phones don’t work. The risks are big. Therefore, a reliable all-terrain vehicle can save the lives of our missionaries. If you get off the road, then the car falls into a snowdrift 3 feet deep and problems begin seen in the photo above. In February I was driving along the winter road for 23 hours. Had to dig up the car six times from the snowdrifts and once drove in an ice hole. There are “the dangers of the rivers” including bears and shamans. Our friends have been evangelizing here and do not give up.
In the north of Kamchatka there is village called Palana and
is in the center of the Koryak district. In the year 2000 the family of Gennady
and Galina Mozhaytsev with their four young children from Belgorod came to this
village. They settled in a cramped two-room apartment. Due to the lack of vitamins
the children fell ill with tuberculosis. The fifth child was born in Kamchatka,
and the family adopted three more orphans. Galina recalls how in one night somebody
knocked on the door, he seemed possessed and had a knife, promised to kill the
whole family, but the Lord saved them. When the children got up started praying
and singing, the possessed left.
The sacrifice that family did was not in vain. In 20 years of
evangelism to the indigenous peoples in Palana a church formed: 18 people were baptized,
now we have 32 born again Christians with 8 young families. Residents of many
villages expect believers to visit them, but in May the ice melts and movement on
winter road ends. Transportation is only possible by helicopters, which is very
expensive. Palana is cut off by swamps for 9.5 months. There is only one opportunity
to preach the gospel all year round if you buy the Trakol all-terrain vehicle: it
is excellent in the swamps and in the snow moves with 8 passengers. It floats and
is equipped with an engine from Volvo. Our brothers in the tundra have been
using Trakol for 20 years. Its the only one on the market in Russia that is fitted
for the north and off-road transportation. We visited the manufacturer. We need
to collect $ 70,000 for this project. We believe that this is God’s work and
ask all of you for help!
