Three days in Omsk, four in Yekaterinburg and seven in Moscow! I taught in universities, presented at teachers’ conferences, shared in home churches and gave interviews to newspapers, TV and radio stations. I changed trains, airplanes and host families. And I submitted, re-submitted and re-re-submitted my PhD paperwork (thesis, abstract, review, presentation, review response, resolution draft, etc., etc., etc.) to the Board too many times to remember. I am three days away from the defense day and only have a few spare minutes to make this brief entry.

This trip has already been one week longer than all my usual teaching tours and it was very nice to have stayed in Americans’ homes for several days! It almost felt like was back in the States and could actually relax and “lower my guards” at the end of the day after sometimes rather stressful days and even weeks of walking completely unknown streets, meeting with and talking to complete strangers and eating completely unreliable food.

Please continue to hold me in your prayers! And my family in MN and ND!

PS. Teachers in Yekaterinburg complained that the three-hour FaithSearch Discovery event was too short. I heard the same laments on Friday from Catechism teachers in Moscow …after four hours of teaching and Q&A that finished at 11 pm. People seem to be completely loosing the track of time once the Spirit begins to move in their minds and hearts! Luckily they can download the whole presentation from our website and go through it again at their own pace.

My seven days in Krasnoyarsk passed like one never-ending 168-hour-long day. It started with a five hour redeye flight over four time zones from Moscow, and a press-conference in the city government office right off the plane. It ended today with a church conference that lasted until 30 minutes before my train to Omsk. Two presentations per day was my average, and midnight was my usual time back at the “base” from the last one. [Read more…]

My seven days in Krasnoyarsk passed like one never-ending 168-hour-long day. It started with a five hour redeye flight over four time zones from Moscow, and a press-conference in the city government office right off the plane. It ended today with a church conference that lasted until 30 minutes before my train to Omsk. Two presentations per day was my average, and midnight was my usual time back at the “base” from the last one. [Read more…]

I did two FaithSearch Discovery presentations so far. One to a group of lay leaders at the Pentecostal Euro-Asian Seminary; and another one to a class of sophomore students at National State University of Social Sciences. I cannot say which of the two I enjoyed more, but the secular school was definitely more difficult and challenging.

It is one thing to train believers in how to present the Gospel clearly and logically, which they already trust and are already very willing to share with others. It is quite different to get a non-believing audience even interested in hearing about a subject that is so remote from and irrelevant to their young lives as …religion! Why would they even allow this Russian-American guy to take over our philosophy class time! It is a secular school after all–not a church! I could almost read this written on their grim faces when their Dean introduced me to the group and left the room. I am so glad he did because that’s when real fun began… [Read more…]

This time around, my three weeks of  home-stay between trips felt almost like a “layover” between the flights. I am on the road again–and this time for longer than I have been in most of my travels. This teaching trip will be very different. First of all, it will not all be teaching. At least one third of my time in Russia I will be on the other side of the educational process. [Read more…]