There are those who take seriously Jesus’s words to the disciples just before his ascension. Michael Zarovnyaev is one who desires to take the good news of the Gospel to the very ends of the earth.
Michael lives in Yakutsk, a port city on the Lena River in Far Eastern Russia. It is a mere 11,300 miles from SGA’s head office in Rugby! On February 8th this year Michael travelled, as part of a small group of believers, to the region of Khangalassky, where he hoped to deliver bags of food, along with ‘the Bread of Life’, to some of the most remotely inhabited places on earth.
Most remote of all is the village of Isit, found 186 miles from Ulakhan-An. Ask your phone for directions and Google maps will tell you that it cannot find a way there, most likely as the only route is a winter ice road that forms when the Lena River freezes over, allowing vehicles to drive on it.
Despite the freezing conditions, Michael and his companions received a very warm welcome. The Word of God, proclaimed in both the Russian and Yakut language, was as eagerly received as the sacks of rice, buckwheat and sugar left with folk they visited.
The ‘Ice’ Road!
As well as delivering good news, Michael was the recipient of good news too – news that a Yakut man whom he had visited two years previously was now seeking after God, news of numerous others who responded with joy to the offer of hearing the Word of God, and news of those in the area who were already Bible-believing Christians.
The trip was hugely encouraging with many people so open to the Gospel that further trips are planned. Please pray both for those willing to take the good news of Jesus to the very ends of the earth, and the men, women and children who live there.
‘All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.’ [Psalm 22:27]
