Archives for 2013

Krasnodar translates as a “beautiful gift” and it was indeed to me, especially after Yakutia. It was so, warm, sunny, and green, that I was tempted to make a quick trip (a two-hour drive each way) to one of the best Russian sea resorts: Anapa on Black Sea! Alas, my time in Krasnodar was scheduled so tightly that I couldn’t even tour the city except for the rides to and from the airport, much less venture out on an excursion. St. Cyrill and Mefodiy (first Bible texts translators into Russian) Teachers’ conference gathered more than a thousand participants whom I had a chance to address with the message of FaithSearch Discovery.

Unfortunately, there is only one hub airport for the whole country of Russia–Moscow. Fortunately, this is my home town which makes travel and connections much easier! Back in Moscow for one day and then I was off to the city of Bryansk which popped up in my schedule in the very last moment. What a wonderful time to visit it again and to minister in the biggest Baptist church in town!

Back to Moscow again, and this time I was off to Petrozavodsk in the Northern Russia, namely Karelia, to participate in the 2^nd International Conference on Creationism. Our material, our presentation, and especially our ministry’s way of introducing and presenting the Gospel message to the secular Russian schools was something many in the conference wanted to learn from. On the other two days in Petrozavodsk, I also taught FaithSearch Discovery in three senior classes of their elite Lyceum, and did a three-hour training for the teachers of the city. Funny, how their Education Ministry is now responding to my requests for city-wide teachers’ conferences almost as-a-matter-of-factually – so different from their suspicion and skepticism when we started in Karelia in 2007!

Quick (tree days) stop in St. Pete on my way back to Moscow with one of the conferences I had some serious concern and even certain fear for–at the Public School Psychologists’ Conference. For some reason I believed they would be the toughest crowd I would ever encounter. The Lord, however, sent a group of sweet people my way who needed and wanted to hear the Good News of Christ just as much as everybody else. Or, maybe, somebody prayed for me on that day so that even these we-know-it-all-inside-and-out young (and not so young) men and women actually participated in the 

presentation with great interest and enthusiasm. They even gave me some new insights and ideas of how to approach those teachers and students who sometimes are unwilling to take the FaithSearch Discovery training for the reason of being “unprepared” or “uninitiated” in Christianity.

Stopping by Moscow again for a Part I of FaithSearch Discovery at the World of Life (WOL) Bible School, and then flying for one full day (two presentations back-to-back) at the seminary and at the teachers’ conference in Krasnodar. Yes, I have already been there ten days ago, but my schedulers here apparently didn’t mind me trotting the same path twice on the same trip.

I am back in Moscow tonight for Part II of FaithSearch Discovery at the WOL church tomorrow, and then quickly packing before my very early flight back to Minnesota. I am completely ready for going home.

Only twenty hours in flight, with two stops–in New York and in Moscow for a few hours–before I landed in Yakutsk, the land of “walking houses” built on piles due to the permafrost. For the same reason, the guts of the city services–sewage, gas, water, power, and phone lines–are all above ground filling the space between houses with their intricate webs. It is winter here already–lakes and ponds are frozen and a chill quickly gets into your bones while you are waiting for a bus or walking the streets.

Luckily I do not have much time for that as my day schedule is packed with meetings, presentations, and classes. On the top of my regular teachers’ trainings and university lectures, I am also very fortunate this time to take part in a conference on 200 Years of Orthodox Christianity in Yakutia, where I have presented FaithSearch Discovery and made wonderful connections with theological schools and ministries from all over the country.

On day one during my first teachers’ training in Yakutsk, I was still not quite firm on my feet after the long flight and the jet lag. They must have noticed it and let me go only after half an hour of questions and answers. This morning, after the three-and-a-half hour presentation in the State North-Eastern University, my students held me for almost two more hours, making me miss the boat tour on the Lena river with the conference people. Lena is seven miles across here, but I’ve only seen a small part of it from the plane and a glimpse of one of it’s branches near my hotel. I am afraid I will have to come to Yakutsk again some time soon for a little longer time than these three short days, in order to cover all sites that extended to me their invitation: Yakutsk Pedagogical University, Yakutia Diocese Orthodox Seminary, a Pentecostal Bible College, Regional Teachers’ Training Center–and to see Lena river.

Only twenty hours in flight, with two stops–in New York and in Moscow for a few hours–before I landed in Yakutsk, the land of “walking houses” built on piles due to the permafrost. For the same reason, the guts of the city services–sewage, gas, water, power, and phone lines–are all above ground filling the space between houses with their intricate webs. It is winter here already–lakes and ponds are frozen and a chill quickly gets into your bones while you are waiting for a bus or walking the streets.

Luckily I do not have much time for that as my day schedule is packed with meetings, presentations, and classes. On the top of my regular teachers’ trainings and university lectures, I am also very fortunate this time to take part in a conference on 200 Years of Orthodox Christianity in Yakutia, where I have presented FaithSearch Discovery and made wonderful connections with theological schools and ministries from all over the country.

On day one during my first teachers’ training in Yakutsk, I was still not quite firm on my feet after the long flight and the jet lag. They must have noticed it and let me go only after half an hour of questions and answers. This morning, after the three-and-a-half hour presentation in the State North-Eastern University, my students held me for almost two more hours, making me miss the boat tour on the Lena river with the conference people. Lena is seven miles across here, but I’ve only seen a small part of it from the plane and a glimpse of one of it’s branches near my hotel. I am afraid I will have to come to Yakutsk again some time soon for a little longer time than these three short days, in order to cover all sites that extended to me their invitation: Yakutsk Pedagogical University, Yakutia Diocese Orthodox Seminary, a Pentecostal Bible College, Regional Teachers’ Training Center–and to see Lena river.

Only five destinations on my map this time, but some of them are six times zones apart! In fact I will be closer to Minnesota by going East than West! Oh, I wish they could schedule their teachers’ conferences and trainings with at least some consideration of my travel preferences…

But who is complaining!? A am truly looking forward to meeting with teachers and university students in Yakutia–sixteen time zones away from Minnesota! I cannot wait to hear their questions about Christ, about faith, and about the meaning of life! It am sure they will be different in the permafrost lands of Yakutsk than in the vineyards of Krasnodar, in the polar nights of Karelia or in the urban conveniences of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Please pray for my travel, connections, accommodation and, most importantly, for the Holy Spirit to prepare my audiences’ hearts to hear the Gospel with Evidence! Please also keep my family back in MN in your thoughts and prayers.