How in the world have I ended up going to Finland? I just cannot say “no” to a child when her mom wrote to me:

“Christina is in the sixth grade and they have a class on Religion. Christina has had conversations with several of her classmates about God and faith.  Many of them have asked her things like, ‘Doesn’t science prove that God doesn’t exist?’ and so on, even though they have chosen to be in the ‘Christian’ religion class.  I asked the teacher about you visiting the class as a guest speaker.  She has agreed to the idea.”

Seriously, my four days in Helsinki had already been booked with events and presentations arranged by an American missionary couple I met earlier in Russia. That one particular morning just “happened” to be free.

After teaching and sharing in both Russian-speaking and English-speaking audiences in Finland, I will travel to St. Petersburg for four days of teachers’ conferences and university lectures there, and then I’m off to Kaliningrad for mostly Orthodox Church trainings and outreaches. My initial plan for this trip also included a visit to Karelia, which would have been a logical extension of the Northern Russia route if you look on the map. Apparently, the Holy Spirit’s geography is different from ours as I kept receiving persistent calls from ministries and churches in Northern Caucasus to partner with them in their outreaches in the predominantly Muslim regions of the country. I have been preparing for this opportunity in the course of the whole last year!

The final week of this trip will be one of trainings and outreaches in Moscow with a quick one-day travel to Bryansk.

As always, I will be focusing on my three target audiences: teachers, students and clergy/lay leaders in Evangelical, Orthodox, and secular settings. Please pray for me as I travel and for my family back in MN, ND, and UT.

“Do you mean that I will have to read the Gospel story again – now, as a real historic account? At my age of 67, I have read it probably thirty times and heard it read in church probably hundreds of times but nobody ever suggested to me to take it as a historically valid document! It completely changes the whole picture!” – said a white-headed gentlemen looking rather disappointed by my whole approach to the matters of Christian faith.

“Facts? Evidence? How dare you, a theologian and a philologist, to even talk about these things? We, the scientists, deal with facts, evidence and logic while theology should stick to myths, miracles and intuitions!” – exclaimed another event participant, also noticeably irritated by the whole concept of the “Rational and Historic Foundation of Christian Faith.”

Luckily, these were the only two unhappy people at the FaithSearch Discovery in the Losev Public Library in the very heart of Moscow, on Arbat Street. A dozen of the library regulars and a half-dozen guests showed up at the late evening event – mostly old Moscow intelligentsia and faculty from the nearby Moscow State University. Most of them have apparently never heard of the Bible as a valid historic record, while having always considered themselves to be learned, well-read, and open-minded people. It was only due to their exquisite politeness that they didn’t interrupt me during the presentation and patiently waited for the end of it to express their feelings – both positive and… not so positive. The discussion naturally continued on the doorsteps of the library after it was closed, but some important questions have still not been answered.

That rather small group presentation was preceded by a full day of training at Kolomna Theological Seminary, and a Teachers’ Conference there and in Kashira, and was followed by 100+ teachers’ training in Tula, and a 200+ audience of the three-day long course at the Bible Institute of the Word of Life Evangelical Church. This was my fourth year of teaching there and every time I look forward to my last forty-five minutes – the Q&A session. Their questions are always so challenging and so encouraging!

The Russian leg of the mission is now accomplished and I am leaving for Bulgaria tomorrow morning.

“Do you mean that I will have to read the Gospel story again – now, as a real historic account? At my age of 67, I have read it probably thirty times and heard it read in church probably hundreds of times but nobody ever suggested to me to take it as a historically valid document! It completely changes the whole picture!” – said a white-headed gentlemen looking rather disappointed by my whole approach to the matters of Christian faith.

“Facts? Evidence? How dare you, a theologian and a philologist, to even talk about these things? We, the scientists, deal with facts, evidence and logic while theology should stick to myths, miracles and intuitions!” – exclaimed another event participant, also noticeably irritated by the whole concept of the “Rational and Historic Foundation of Christian Faith.”

Luckily, these were the only two unhappy people at the FaithSearch Discovery in the Losev Public Library in the very heart of Moscow, on Arbat Street. A dozen of the library regulars and a half-dozen guests showed up at the late evening event – mostly old Moscow intelligentsia and faculty from the nearby Moscow State University. Most of them have apparently never heard of the Bible as a valid historic record, while having always considered themselves to be learned, well-read, and open-minded people. It was only due to their exquisite politeness that they didn’t interrupt me during the presentation and patiently waited for the end of it to express their feelings – both positive and… not so positive. The discussion naturally continued on the doorsteps of the library after it was closed, but some important questions have still not been answered.

That rather small group presentation was preceded by a full day of training at Kolomna Theological Seminary, and a Teachers’ Conference there and in Kashira, and was followed by 100+ teachers’ training in Tula, and a 200+ audience of the three-day long course at the Bible Institute of the Word of Life Evangelical Church. This was my fourth year of teaching there and every time I look forward to my last forty-five minutes – the Q&A session. Their questions are always so challenging and so encouraging!

The Russian leg of the mission is now accomplished and I am leaving for Bulgaria tomorrow morning.

Seven cities and towns in six days: Yekaterinburg, Kachkanar, Serov, Krasnoturyinsk, Severourals, Karpinsk, Nizhniy Tagil, back to Yekaterinburg and off to Moscow! Not much sleep or sightseeing but lots of events, meeting new people, sharing my own faith story and hearing theirs.

Each city was priding itself about something special. One has open gold mines where this precious metal is being simply collected from the three feet depth! Another one puts the legendary T-34 tank on the pedestal – the very last one manufactured here during the WWII. Another yet, exhibits the first steam-engine in Russia, etc., etc. Every other one claims to have Aleksandr Popov – the inventor of radio (beat Marconi  by one year!) – to have been born there. And each one has “the deepest man-made hole in the world” – a open mine pit that makes your knees shake when you stand on its edge. Apparently, most of the Periodic Table of the Elements is being dug out of the ground there and some of it you can see, smell, and taste for yourself. The color of snow in the cities varies depending on what the main plant or mine produces there: in some it is green for coper, in some it is grey for aluminum, in some – pink or orange for who knows what… People’s faces are literally shining with gold – little sparkles suddenly twinkle on a child’s check or an old lady’s eye lashes. No matter if you order tea or coffee, a distinctly metal flavor would be added to it at no charge.

For this last eight days I was sleeping on a different pillow each night staying in people’s homes and apartments. Each morning began by saying goodbye to a host family with whom I had spent the long night before sharing my life and faith story. Most of the day was spent in the car driving me to another city driven by a local pastor or a lay minister, again, hearing their faith stories and trying to encourage them in their life and ministry. The roads were not as bad as I feared – praise God, they didn’t have any major snowfalls for the last couple of weeks. We would arrive and go straight to the church in another city or town, just in time for me to set up my laptop and projector before the event. Usually they would give me an hour-and-a-half for the presentation, and then stay for full three hours with the Q&A and teatime after I finished. The host family would usually not participate, and would patiently wait for me by the door, knowing that I would be all theirs for the late-night talk. In many places, there was no Internet connection and no valid excuse for me not to stay up with them until 2 am.

“I have been a minister in this church for twenty years and I’ve never seen or heard the evidence for Christ presented so clearly and so logically”– shared one pastor to another as they passing me – “Make sure you have your church packed tonight.”

I will most probably be back in the Northern Urals some time later this year, as the word gets out to other cities and to secular audiences in the region – colleges, teachers’ conferences, public schools, etc. Hope, it happens in a little warmer time…

Back in Moscow, I am presenting here every day for this last leg of my travel. Thank you for all your prayers.

Seven cities and towns in six days: Yekaterinburg, Kachkanar, Serov, Krasnoturyinsk, Severourals, Karpinsk, Nizhniy Tagil, back to Yekaterinburg and off to Moscow! Not much sleep or sightseeing but lots of events, meeting new people, sharing my own faith story and hearing theirs.

Each city was priding itself about something special. One has open gold mines where this precious metal is being simply collected from the three feet depth! Another one puts the legendary T-34 tank on the pedestal – the very last one manufactured here during the WWII. Another yet, exhibits the first steam-engine in Russia, etc., etc. Every other one claims to have Aleksandr Popov – the inventor of radio (beat Marconi  by one year!) – to have been born there. And each one has “the deepest man-made hole in the world” – a open mine pit that makes your knees shake when you stand on its edge. Apparently, most of the Periodic Table of the Elements is being dug out of the ground there and some of it you can see, smell, and taste for yourself. The color of snow in the cities varies depending on what the main plant or mine produces there: in some it is green for coper, in some it is grey for aluminum, in some – pink or orange for who knows what… People’s faces are literally shining with gold – little sparkles suddenly twinkle on a child’s check or an old lady’s eye lashes. No matter if you order tea or coffee, a distinctly metal flavor would be added to it at no charge.

For this last eight days I was sleeping on a different pillow each night staying in people’s homes and apartments. Each morning began by saying goodbye to a host family with whom I had spent the long night before sharing my life and faith story. Most of the day was spent in the car driving me to another city driven by a local pastor or a lay minister, again, hearing their faith stories and trying to encourage them in their life and ministry. The roads were not as bad as I feared – praise God, they didn’t have any major snowfalls for the last couple of weeks. We would arrive and go straight to the church in another city or town, just in time for me to set up my laptop and projector before the event. Usually they would give me an hour-and-a-half for the presentation, and then stay for full three hours with the Q&A and teatime after I finished. The host family would usually not participate, and would patiently wait for me by the door, knowing that I would be all theirs for the late-night talk. In many places, there was no Internet connection and no valid excuse for me not to stay up with them until 2 am.

“I have been a minister in this church for twenty years and I’ve never seen or heard the evidence for Christ presented so clearly and so logically”– shared one pastor to another as they passing me – “Make sure you have your church packed tonight.”

I will most probably be back in the Northern Urals some time later this year, as the word gets out to other cities and to secular audiences in the region – colleges, teachers’ conferences, public schools, etc. Hope, it happens in a little warmer time…

Back in Moscow, I am presenting here every day for this last leg of my travel. Thank you for all your prayers.