One of the participants last night at the Uspenie (Dormition) Orthodox Cathedral in Kharkov, Ukraine, responded to the FaithSearch Discovery event this way: “It was so unusual! Not a lecture or a class. Not even a sermon but like meeting with a good old friend who was sharing from the bottom of his heart! I cannot believe it actually took three full hours without even taking a break! I have attended many presentations and conferences but this one was absolutely different! Each word was supported and enforced by the image on the screen that will now stay in my memory forever. What an excellent addition to the Philosophy course I am taking at the Kharkov State University!

And what an excellent challenge for many of my non-Christian classmates—to test their beliefs and skepticism.”

I hope that my presentation at the History Department of the Kharkov State University two hours from now will call for similar reaction from the student audience.

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«Dear Oleg Vladislavovich, I want to thank you for your presentation at our Teachers’ Conference in Ryazan this morning. I teach History in school. I have a Master’s Degree in World Religions. I have been attending church for several years. It was today, however, that my faith suddenly “came alive”. Not just a wishful thinking, not just a philosophy, not just a good habit but as living trust in the living God. Thank you for so generously sharing with us your time, your knowledge and your experience. Respectfully, M.”

It was definitely worth my travelling across the world to receive this one note at the end of my presentation! Even more exciting—to hear the same and similar responses from dozens of teachers and student-teachers who came from all over Ryazan Region for their annual training Conference!

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«Dear Oleg Vladislavovich, I want to thank you for your presentation at our Teachers’ Conference in Ryazan this morning. I teach History in school. I have a Master’s Degree in World Religions. I have been attending church for several years. It was today, however, that my faith suddenly “came alive”. Not just a wishful thinking, not just a philosophy, not just a good habit but as living trust in the living God. Thank you for so generously sharing with us your time, your knowledge and your experience. Respectfully, M.”

It was definitely worth my travelling across the world to receive this one note at the end of my presentation! Even more exciting—to hear the same and similar responses from dozens of teachers and student-teachers who came from all over Ryazan Region for their annual training Conference!

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Only a few short hours and I will be back home in MN! Amsterdam airport provided a nice brief transition time to begin an adjusting process–back to normal life. No more sleeping in overnight trains or busses; no more running around unfamiliar cities in search of unknown places; no need to always remember to introduce yourself several times a day to dozens and hundred of complete strangers…

Which task this time around was not as simple as it might seem. For some of my audiences (like churches, Bible schools, regional Christian Teachers’ Associations, etc.) I was known as an American missionary of FaithSearch International presenting the “FaithSearch Discovery” event.

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The scenery behind the train window gracefully flows left to right as I am nearing the city many people in the world know as Stalingrad. It was just as cold and the snow was blowing over the vast fields and Volga River valley back in 1943, when the Nazi armies were stopped right here and turned back. I look forward to meeting with the churches’ and teachers’ audiences of this heroic city (now called Volgograd) in the next three days.

Back in Chelyabinsk, Asbest, Ufa, Samara and Toliatti, over the last several days, my teaching schedule was so intensive that I can hardly remember how I was actually transferring from one event to another. Which actually means that these local pastors, missionaries, and university administrators were taking a good care of me–meeting me at the train station, driving me from one location to another, feeding me, giving me time to rest and setting me up for the next presentation. All I remember are their faces, their smiles and their excitement about what they were to see and hear: the Gospel with Evidence.

Well, there were also teaching times for myself when I was humbled and once again reminded of the love our great God has for each and every person…
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