I am half-way through my trip and, honestly, nearly two-thirds through my energy bank. Luckily the next week is not going to be as extensive with events and travel as was the last one. I truly enjoyed doing two (or more) teaching events per day in different locations and for different audiences. Meeting new people and sharing my faith with them is what actually energizes me! It was travelling from place to place by all possible means of transportation (including long walks on icy sidewalks) that was sometimes rather exhausting. Besides, I only once had a chance to sleep two nights in a row in the same bed (or a night train) and at this point looking forward to my four-night’s stay at Kursk Evangelical Trinity Seminary dorm where I will continue and complete video recording of my of lecture courses on the “Arguments for the Existence of God” and “Intro to Christian Education.”
It is still dark outside the window of my early train which is now taking me back to Moscow from Dubna, a.k.a. the Science-City, built around the nuclear collider and all sorts of research institutes and laboratories. Indeed, these people value knowledge and know how to study! A local priest, also a Theoretical Physics professor, packed my two days with events and presentations to a whole variety of audiences including university students, schoolteachers, clergy, youth, and general public. My brief visit here last summer to meet with an old friend and to establish first contacts with locals truly paid off! “Please, make sure we are included in your next teaching schedule,” were the farewell words of Fr. Pavel last night.
That sounded very much like, “We’ll see you soon again, right?”, said by the St. Petersburg Diocese Missions Department Chair Fr. Nikolay just a couple of days before! It seems, my February of 2025 teaching trip schedule begins to fill up already.
