My May trips have to fit between the “mayskie prazdniki” (days-off, from May 1 through May 9) when most of the people are working in their gardens or dachas (cabins), and the schools’ finals when my student audience are totally incapable of receiving any new information. This year, I had to also wait for after the Holy Week when my Orthodox church audiences are still too tired from celebrating Pascha. I will be leaving for three weeks of ministry in Russia and Belarus tomorrow afternoon, and will start by teaching a class at Moscow Baptist Theological Seminary, twelve hours after arriving to my Moscow living quarters. I will, however, not be staying there for more than one night at a time as most of my ministry will be happening elsewhere: one week – in Southern Siberia; the next week – in Belarus; and the rest of the trip – between Bryansk and Moscow regions.
As always, my teaching events will be happening in a variety of settings and audiences, ranging from public school classes to grad schools lecturing; from clergy trainings to secular audiences’ conferences; and from capital cities to villages and small towns. Geographically, it will also cover a lot of ground: I will travel four time zones to the east of Moscow (which is, by the way, not even halfway through Siberia) – to the city of Mariinsk; and by an overnight train to the west of Moscow – to Minsk, Belarus. A brief visit to Bryansk (100 mi from the Ukrainian border) will enable me to teach at their Diocese Catechism Training and to minister at the drug rehab center run by the local Baptist church. Two (or three) radio and TV broadcasts on local and national channels will give our ministry more exposure and recognition for future trips and teaching opportunities. Most of my teaching will be devoted to the “Historic Foundations of Christian Faith” (a.k.a. FaithSearch Discovery) with a good measure of classes on “Intro to Christian Pedagogy” and “Intro to Missions” adapted to different age and educational groups.
