It has been almost two full weeks on the road but it felt just like a couple of days! You know your life is exciting and eventful when “time flies like an arrow.”
I started my ministry in Russia even before I crossed its boarder. During a long layover in Istanbul, I did an hour-long, live broadcast on the St. Petersburg-based Radio Maria. I was seated in a coffee shop about 300 feet from the famous Hagia Sofia, speaking on the topic of Christian Education in Russian public school and universities. I was happy to find a good Internet connection in this very cozy and quiet place… until the muezzin from the Blue Mosque (about a five-minute walk) started calling people to prayer. I can only imagine what my radio listeners were thinking before I had a chance to apologize for and to explain those unexpected background noises.
Speaking of the border, I did my first COVID test right at Pulkovo airport upon my arrival in Russia. I received a negative result (praise the Lord!) within 24 hours. I will have another one done next Monday at Kolomna Seminary, according to their requirement for all visiting professors. Yes, it has been a rather challenging task to keep social distancing and follow all other sanitary measures while traveling across and between crowded cities. I have to say that most of my live teaching venues were very safe and very understanding when I refused their hugs and handshakes.
Crowded public transportation, however, is an entirely different story. One has to make the best of it by facing the wall or the doors while, of course, wearing a mask and glasses and sanitizing one’s hands every time after touching the handle bars, ticket machine buttons, railings, etc. The Moscow and St. Petersburg subway systems are an excellent way to get around the city, but I am using taxi if the traffic and time allow for it.
As always, my classes, presentations, and trainings have a 10% “attrition rate” – some of them are being cancelled at the last moment by some organizational and miscommunication reasons. And, as always, 20% more events come up right on the spot. “If only you have spare time, please, meet with our new students or visit our newly opened church!” This time, however, nobody is cancelling the events but, instead, converting them to an online format. I have also recorded a series of three-to-five-minute long video clips answering the questions my ministry partners collected from their audiences. Learning new tricks for an old dog like myself is challenging and lots of fun!
Among the highlights of my first week in St. Petersburg, I have to mention the Narodniy Universitet (People’s University) audiences of public school teachers and parents. They came to our late-night session after their daytime work and yet were very engaged and energetic in learning the “Biblical Principles of Education.” For some of them, it was their first opportunity to hear the presentation of the Christian faith in its practical and everyday application to their family and professional lives.
My most memorable Moscow based audience so far was the church in the very center of the city called the Nativity of the Theotokos in Kulishki and their Ossetian (also known as “Alan”) community, which originally came from the Northern Caucasus region of Russia. Their respect, welcoming, and hospitality can only be second to the quality (and the amount!) of their traditional food which they served before and after my long presentation. I travelled to and taught in their native land a couple of times before in my ministry, which added even more appreciation and helped to build trust between us. Ossetians are known to express their thought and feelings very directly and spontaneously. As such, my presentation was often interrupted by the enthusiastic voices and gestures from the audiences. I will never forget their eyes filled with joy and gratitude for the evidence Christ left for Himself in history!
A quick stop in the city of Tver on my way from St. Petersburg to Moscow turned into a back-to-back series of presentations before a wide variety of audiences. Twenty-five minutes after my early morning arrival in Tver on a bullet-train (“Sapsan”) I was already teaching an online class to my Belgorod Seminary Graduate students from the basement of the Orthodox Church right on the train terminal square. A thirty-minute break was just enough to reset my presentation equipment for a live audience presentation for their youth group (which was also broadcast online). My third presentation on that long day took place in an evangelical church across town, but not before a brief tour in the historic part of this beautiful city and a pizza lunch (which was actually closer to the supper time). A couple of slices were also given to me for the road – which was a late night train to Moscow. Three cities in one day!
