The city of Yaroslavl in December is so different from the same place in September when I was here last time! I actually cannot see much of it as the snow keeps falling all day and piles of it are waist high in some places. It slows down the traffic but—
not the pedestrians! People seem to move even faster covering their faces from the blizzard – it is minus 18 C (0 F) outside. My hosts here, however, didn’t worry about the evening event attendance. Fr. Pavel, the Diocese Missions Department Chair, was confident the classroom will be full tonight and his only concern was that the participants would not freeze there. All I can do is to make my presentation as energetic and inspiring as possible – I also need to stay warm in this 18th century church basement.
My first couple of days in and around Moscow were not as challenging weather wise, but I was definitely passing through an unfortunate strip of my journey. First, I missed my flight from JFK to Moscow simply because my phone did not switch to the NY time zone, and I only noticed that something was not right when I saw my airplane leaving the gate. I did not hear them calling my name all over the terminal as I was enjoying the view over the airfield and a free breakfast in the Air France lounge fifty feet away. 
A quick moment of panic, a brief prayer – and the Lord graciously took care of this little misfortune: I was put on the next Aeroflot flight to Moscow five hours later. Free of charge. God is good.
My next little accident didn’t make me wait very long – a bottled gift from Minnesota which I was carrying as a gift to my friend in Moscow, broke and poured all over my down coat in my luggage. Fortunately, I had a lighter jacket and plenty of extra layers to survive through the first week of travel. I will have it cleaned and dried before my travel to Northern Urals. He is good all the time.
I am almost glad I didn’t have that coat during my four days in St. Petersburg, as I had to move around the public transportation of the city very quickly between my events and presentations. This time, the range of the audiences’ ages and educational levels varied as never before. One day I presented a class to the seminary students of 
the second-most advanced Christian school in the country (St. Petersburg Theological Academy). Next day, I taught a class on the Validity of the Bible to three groups of fourth-graders at the most expensive private school in the city (both of Putin’s daughters went there). I gladly embraced and totally enjoyed the challenge of adapting the presentation material to these different audiences. Their feedback seems to indicate that both groups liked and appreciated it as well.
A Fourth Grade teacher said: “This class connected their knowledge of the Bible from the Intro To Christianity course with the World Cultures chapter they have just finished and links it to the Ancient History topic they will be studying 
next semester! Perfect timing!”
An SPCA professor summarized my FaithSearch Discovery presentation to his seminarians: “What you have just heard and seen will serve as a foundation for the rest of our class. We will build on it and will bridge this material to all our other courses – Apologetics, Mission, and Catechism. Make sure you study it (the presentation on CD) well at home.”
My next class will start in a couple of hours in the city of Voskresensk, 
sixty miles south of Moscow. Their Municipal Department of Education and Orthodox Diocese Missions Department along with a local Evangelical Church will bring their audiences together for this exciting time together, around the evidence for the truth of Christ. I am looking forward to seeing their eyes and to hearing their questions! I will then take a train back to Moscow for a brief nap at a friend’s apartment before the early morning flight to Sochi.
Speaking of which, the last time I was there in September, I was on my way back from Abkhazia. Just this morning I received an E-mail from their local missionary reporting that my FaithSearch Discovery presentation, which we recorded back then, was broadcast twice on their national TV channel. Very positive responses keep coming to the station from all over this Southern Caucasus country. Praise the Lord!
