Archives for 2014

It will be my last trip this school year and I am trying to make as much impact as I can on it. The Russian political situation gets more and more tense and unpredictable – who knows how long this door of opportunity will stay open for us. In fact, some of our ministry friends are already saying that the country changed drastically even in those six weeks passed since my last teaching trip in Russia in February. And not only politically but something is changing in peoples’ morale as they are getting used to live under a dictatorship that annexes neighboring territories at will.  

Please keep me in your prayers as I travel across half of the country to celebrate Pascha with our ministry friends in Krasnoyarsk and hopefully make this year celebration even more meaningful for many of them by presenting the Gospel with Evidence to teachers, students, clergy, and lay leaders there. Please also remember my family in your prayers: Oksana and Yulia in MN, Vanya in ND and Anya en route from MT to AK.

The second part of the trip, in Russia, was a little more comfortable but just as intensive as the first ten days in Ukraine. I got used to rest and sleep on the train but not on a minivan that is shaking and jumping for six hours on icy and bumpy highways.

Most of my presentations in Moscow on this trip happened to be in the Orthodox Churches and at Catechism Classes and were received by these communities with great interest and appreciation. “I have to be honest with you – we have been given today much, much more than we expected. This is something we will all remember and will be using in our classes and Sunday schools” – said Fr. Aleksander. From some experience, I can tell how hard it is to surprise a Moscovite but his feedback showed that our material can do if that.

In Kirov, a large provincial city an overnight train away from Moscow, on the other hand, they do not see many visiting speakers and they wanted to take a full advantage of my two days there. Right off the train terminal, I was taken to the Central City Library, and then – to the Orthodox Seminary, and then – to the Youth Discussion Club! They brought me back to my hotel room half past midnight and woke me up at 7:30 am on the next morning – it was already time to go to the city-wide History Teachers’ Conference! There, at least, I didn’t have to worry about time as they gave me a full day to present the historic, archeological and paleographical evidence for validity of the Gospel in every detail. This was an opportunity I was looking for for some time – to try some of my most recently added teaching material on the audience of professionals and skeptics. And many in my audience were initially very skeptical and even suspicious of what this half-Russian, half-American, half-teacher and half preacher is going to present. Praise the Lord for giving the right words and right answers to their questions and inquires! Many of them expressed their gratitude and how challenged they were in their beliefs by the facts and the evidence they saw for the first time in their life.

I am now back in Minnesota, recovered from a bad cold I picked up on my last day in Moscow and already preparing for my next teaching trip in April.

The second part of the trip, in Russia, was a little more comfortable but just as intensive as the first ten days in Ukraine. I got used to rest and sleep on the train but not on a minivan that is shaking and jumping for six hours on icy and bumpy highways.

Most of my presentations in Moscow on this trip happened to be in the Orthodox Churches and at Catechism Classes and were received by these communities with great interest and appreciation. “I have to be honest with you – we have been given today much, much more than we expected. This is something we will all remember and will be using in our classes and Sunday schools” – said Fr. Aleksander. From some experience, I can tell how hard it is to surprise a Moscovite but his feedback showed that our material can do if that.

In Kirov, a large provincial city an overnight train away from Moscow, on the other hand, they do not see many visiting speakers and they wanted to take a full advantage of my two days there. Right off the train terminal, I was taken to the Central City Library, and then – to the Orthodox Seminary, and then – to the Youth Discussion Club! They brought me back to my hotel room half past midnight and woke me up at 7:30 am on the next morning – it was already time to go to the city-wide History Teachers’ Conference! There, at least, I didn’t have to worry about time as they gave me a full day to present the historic, archeological and paleographical evidence for validity of the Gospel in every detail. This was an opportunity I was looking for for some time – to try some of my most recently added teaching material on the audience of professionals and skeptics. And many in my audience were initially very skeptical and even suspicious of what this half-Russian, half-American, half-teacher and half preacher is going to present. Praise the Lord for giving the right words and right answers to their questions and inquires! Many of them expressed their gratitude and how challenged they were in their beliefs by the facts and the evidence they saw for the first time in their life.

I am now back in Minnesota, recovered from a bad cold I picked up on my last day in Moscow and already preparing for my next teaching trip in April.