M o s c o w – The Vladivostok-bound Russian Baptist missionary cycle tour which originated in Varel, Germany on the North Sea on 13 May has reached Siberia. The original plan was that the total distance of 15.000 kilometres be divided into four stages and four teams, but two riders have stayed in the saddle since the outset: team captain and former national champion Vladimir Skovpen (Klintsy near Briansk) and the dentist Levon Sarkisov (Krasnodar). Eight new riders started on the third stage in Tiumen, Western Siberia on 6 July. They are to be replaced by the fourth and final team in Irkutsk on 27 July. The group is scheduled to arrive in Vladivostok on 2 September. According to a press release from the tour organiser, the Moscow-based Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, swarms of flies, the brutal Siberian heat and bad roads sapped team strength. The unexpectedly abject poverty of many in Western Siberia has also stricken the hearts of the cyclists.

The tour’s evangelistic concept has been adjusted. Because the daily, evening evangelistic events caused little stir among adults, the tour has begun to concentrate on children. They are supported by experinced childrens’ workers from the German mission “Light in the East” out of Vladikavkas in the Kaukasus region. The workers are specialising in evangelistic puppet theatre. Their in Russia well-known children’s magazine “Tropinka” (The Path) has been eagerly received by hundreds. The tour is also visiting children’s homes and schools.

Changes have also occurred on the expedition up front: The Dutch relief society „Dorcas Aid International“ (Andijk) has presented the Russian Baptists with a large lorry which is now leading the way. After the expedition it is to be converted into a mobile chapel and mission station.

Russian Baptist President Yuri Sipko (Moscow) has showered the mission-minded athletes with praise. In a conversation with the Christian radio station “Teos”, he labeled the expedition a “glorious deed”. Young Baptists were pressing forward to even the most remote villages in order to “bring the message of God`s kingdom to the most distraught people of all”. They are doing this “so that Russia might awaken to new life”.