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!
God has shown us mercy to be His preachers in the Yamal Peninsula. Being in God’s hands, we experienced many blessings. The initiator of this journey is, of course, our Savior, who said that His followers would be witnesses of the Good News to the ends of the earth.
Starting the trip with a prayer, we used the all-terrain vehicle “Tracola”, to drive a pre-planned route. We heard about difficulties in traveling for others and were surprised how the Lord helped them in those circumstances. But at the beginning of the road, we still did not know what obstacles we personally had ahead of us. But still we will value it, because of our experience of trusting in God, He has the solution to all problems!
Seeing the power and strength of our Lord through hard times strengthens our faith and it encourages us to continue on our way, visiting missionary families and groups of believers, as well as believers of the Nenets and non-believers living in tents. When preaching about Christ, we encourage some and also encourage ourselves.
Our path led us through the national villages in which there were churches. After more than 700 km (435 miles) we ended up in a village, in which a church exists and a family of missionaries lives with their five children. We were greeted with a lot of care, attention, and warmth, and enjoyed being with our friends.
How nice it is to be around people who have dedicated their lives to the altar of the service to God! Our hearts are especially pleased when, in these last times, we come in contact with simple Christian families who are living openly a sacrificial life in Christ.
While socializing with the local people of the northern Yamal, we noticed that they have their own special history of settling in these once-lifeless places.
Even their faces are more adapted to the harsh weather conditions! And the bodies of the indigenous people, it is clear that for centuries they have adapted to the harsh realities of the North. But they need Christ! With all their health and fitness – without God, they are lost sinners. I am convinced that He wonderfully planned the salvation for perishing unbelievers!
By the grace of God, I was able to participate in several evangelical trips. Together, we have traveled more than one thousand miles off-road. In our journey from hut to hut, and from village to village, we were periodically accompanied by difficulties and breakdowns.
One time, because our all-terrain vehicle broke down once more, we had to spend three days in the open tundra, far from any civilization and essential human necessities at -22 degrees Fahrenheit.
While being in a warm snow truck, during the quiet hours of thinking about the Word, our brothers got the right idea for solving the breakdown. God had planned our breakdown in advance so that we were not in need of anything: food was there, material for the repair was not far off in the tundra, and we had enough fuel. Even a cellular connection – miraculously worked in this place among the tundra, however, for it to work we had to climb on the roof of our snow truck “Tracola”.
I can’t keep quiet about the fact that in spite of all the beautiful things that we saw during our travels in the tundra, leaving the North – sadness remains in my heart. I feel for the missionary families who are far from other Christians, suffer from lack of communication and care. In these difficult circumstances, they lead a sacrificial life, leaving a good mark in the hearts of the non-Christians around them.
It is also sad to see for those Christians who live in tents, far from any church, they receive visitors, who can and encourage them, only a few times a year. I will never forget the family of our Nenets believers: Victor and Veronica are members of the church. They live in front of the White Island, near the Malygin Strait. I still see Veronica crying when we were leaving them. Seeing us driving away, she sobbed, fell on her face down into the snow, and did not stand up until we disappeared from her eyesight. She did not hide the reason for her grief because she knows that the next time the evangelists would come to them again will only be in a year.
It makes us sad to see how our friends remained at the very edge of the earth, far from the church or brothers and sisters – and surrounded by many deer. Although the deer are not a burden for them, but the relationship to other Christians is hard to forget.
This was only one family, but there are still many other Christian families out there! Let us pray for them, that God will support them and strengthen them in following Him!
