My Catechism training classes in Moscow coincided with the V-Day parade rehearsals, and the subway crowd was brightly colored with military uniforms. This kid looked tired as his mom was apparently taking him home after a long day of marching.
This is my first time in the Stavropol Region of Russia, and I am learning so much about its history and its present. The name of the city is very telling: it means “City of the Cross.” What a blessed location for Christian ministry! The local Diocese set me up for at least two teaching sessions each day and is graciously handling my lodging and transportation. At least, that was the plan.
The very first day required serious adjustments to my schedule due to a Governor’s order sending all school and university students home because of “unfavorable weather conditions.” Locals looked to the skies, interpreted this as a Ukrainian drone threat, and, of course,followed the order.
However, by the time we arrived at our first school, though the students were gone, over 70 teachers and staff gladly invited me into their conference room for a class on the “Historic Foundation of the Christian Faith.” They would never have found time for such a gathering in their busy school schedules if not for the “weather.”
I suspected something similar might happen to my afternoon class at the Technical College. Sure enough, the dean called to apologize for a change of plans. Instead of meeting one small group in a classroom, we met at the dormitory with all the students. Rather than sitting idle in their rooms due to canceled classes, they joined a conversation on the most important topics of life: its origin, its meaning, and its destiny.
On day two in Stavropol, it was raining but very warm. By then, my hosts had found plenty of audiences for me; we pivoted to schools and organizations under federal jurisdiction which aren’t required to follow local mandates. My evenings are equally busy meeting with pastors and ministers, both local and foreign, who have arrived in Stavropol for a celebration this week. I may even be able to include Baku, Azerbaijan, in my mid-summer teaching trip this year!
