The most amazing part of our six weeks in Siberia was not the horsemeat we ate, or pushing the car out of the mud, or adjusting to outhouses but, without a doubt, the people we ministered to and with. Not only did we get the opportunity to talk with almost every InterAct missionary on that field (a plus for us since we’re considering missions in our future), but we had the privilege of being led by Stas, a young Yakut pastor who has a great heart for serving the people.

Stas took us from village to village, where we had the opportunity to give our testimonies and encourage the Yakut Christians, many of whom had been believers for less than five years.

The hospitality of the Yakut people was overwhelming both to the heart and the stomach (needless to say we never went hungry). One evening we arrived in the village of Pokrovsk and attended an evening service at the church. No plans had been made for our stay overnight; however, it took no time at all for someone to invite us to their home. WE arrived at 10:30 p.m. and our host prepared us dinner and made up beds for us! Although there was a huge communication barrier because we don’t speak Russian or Sakha (Yakut), Christ’s love was poured out to us through their hospitality.

The most memorable portion of our trip was during the last week when Stas picked us up in the morning and informed us that we were going to take the ferry across the Lena River and then travel to four villages that same day. Although traveling several hours on dusty roads with no AC was the last thing we wanted to do, we decided to have a positive attitude and glorify God with our thoughts and actions regardless of the circumstances.

The one-day trip turned into two days, but the four villages we visited had a bigger impact on our hearts than all the others combined. We had a great conversation with an unbeliever who was eager to hear how believing in Christ affected our lives, and in the other three villages we saw a need for discipleship because there were one-year-old believers who had no church to attend and no one to teach them.

The pinnacle of this trip and the point at which we feel that God really stamped a passion on our hearts for the people was when we arrived in the village of Tabaga to meet with about 15 new believers. They were so excited to see us and reported that they had been praying for someone to come from another country so that they would be able to expand their global view of Christ’s church. Their passionate faith and longing to learn more about the Bible was encouraging and also an instance that made us realize the need for missionaries in Yakutia to disciple these and other new believers. Through Siberia Reality, God has given us such a love for the people and a longing to see them grow in Him. We hope someday to fulfill that longing and return to Yakutia full time.

Lucas and Jamie are recent graduates of Moody Bible Institute. They plan to return to Siberia as career missionaries.