It was not too bad at all!
Yes, a couple of my public school presentations were indeed canceled because of the grippe but those gaps in my schedule were easily replaced by informal gatherings in peoples’ homes and small groups.
The Lord likes me to stay busy and on my feet all the time.
I was, however, able to make a quick travel to Mikhaylovskoye village, sixty miles south of the city of Pskov, and to visit the burial place of Aleksandr Pushkin – a tribute every Russian has to make to our great poet. I am quoting Pushkin in my FaithSearch Discovery presentation and it was only natural to see the place where some of his most prominent poems and novels were written. Walking the streets of ancient Pskov also brought back wonderful family memories and some of the historic and cultural background I refer to in my lectures.
My Russian audiences truly appreciate those connections and references to our nation’s experience with God through history and the reflections of these experiences in culture – architecture, paintings, language arts, music, etc.
Two days in the city of Kolomna presented me with the second opportunity to address the city audience with the Gospel with Evidence presentation at their cultural center called “Dom Ozerova.”
Back in November, 2015, I already taught there for mostly believers and lay leaders but they insisted on me coming again for much broader scope of audience. It was also a great time of connecting Orthodox church folks with local Evangelical ministries and communities for joint outreaches and evangelism efforts in the future.
Last week, back in Moscow, my first presentation at the Teachers’ Conference on Multi-Culturalism and Cross-Religious Dialogue allowed me not only to present Christianity as a reasonable faith, but also opened many new doors for future ministry in Moscow schools and pedagogical colleges. For some of them, I will not even need to leave Minnesota as the technology now allows to present and to lecture via the Internet.
Most of my church connections and ministry partners, however, still prefer me to be there in person. Not that they do not trust the technology but personal presence and willingness to share, even if temporarily, their lives and circumstances definitely bring a much 
stronger testimony of God than any distant education. As one of their pastors once said to me: “God could have projected His image on the skies for everybody to see. Yet, He preferred to come down on earth and to walk and live among us to demonstrate His love and care for us. Please, Oleg, keep coming and showing His love to us the way He did – in person.”
