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…]

Thank you for the Surprised by Faith book, Oleg. I gave away my copy from your year 2007 visit to a friend and am so happy to have it again. By the way, that friend was a non-believer with lots of personal issues and spiritual [questions]. I met that young lady again six months later and could hardly recognize her in this very social person who was now literally shining from within. “My transformation started with the book that you had given me back then,” – my friend explained. “Not only it made me think more clearly about one’s convictions but it also set me for the task of sharing my faith with others.” –the testimony of a public school teacher in Petrozavodsk

My three days in Karelia were packed! I spoke two times on each day and my audience varied from public school teachers to clergy and from high-schoolers to church-goers… Each time I had to adjust the presentation according not only to the age, preparedness, and spiritual openness of the even participants; but also to the timing, lighting, and other external conditions of the site. Praise the Lord for digital technology that allows the same message be presented with integrity and clarity for such different audiences by adjusting it just a few touches of a keyboard!

I am back in Minnesota now and getting ready for my next trip back to Russia in mid-March. Yes, the rest-n’-recovery time will be very short now–I have to be back there in time for my PhD defense day.

Many thanks to all of you who prayed for my trip. I will be writing a full report shortly. Please let me know if you were not receiving it in the past but would like to ([email protected])

Today was the day of finals for my Open Education Institute class of public school teachers–a rare opportunity for me to test how well my material and training was actually understood by the audience. We spent four sessions on the FaithSearch Discovery during the last two weeks which allowed me to go into much detail and discussion over the most important points. Today, I was so nervous! It almost felt like I was there to be tested–not they. Will they fail me? Or will I pass… as their teacher? Praise God, most of them did actually very well and everybody passed the exam. Me included. [Read more…]

Today was the day of finals for my Open Education Institute class of public school teachers–a rare opportunity for me to test how well my material and training was actually understood by the audience. We spent four sessions on the FaithSearch Discovery during the last two weeks which allowed me to go into much detail and discussion over the most important points. Today, I was so nervous! It almost felt like I was there to be tested–not they. Will they fail me? Or will I pass… as their teacher? Praise God, most of them did actually very well and everybody passed the exam. Me included. [Read more…]

No water in the lavatory? The “blue screen of death” on the monitors for the whole nine-hour flight? I am not surprised when little things like that happen on a flight to Russia. We live in a fallen world and some parts of it simply has a tendency to “fall” more often. Seriously, the flight was fine and even allowed me an extra chance to review my PhD abstract which was due on the next morning. Unfortunately, they returned it to me with “some minor remarks” and I had to spend a good part of this weekend working on it again. My next due date is Monday, 11 am. Please pray it to be the very last one. [Read more…]