I am writing this note on an early morning commuter train to my last event location – Regional Teachers’ Continuing Training Center in the city of Kashira 100 km south of Moscow. I just realized that I could have missed this one on my last round of “confirmation” calls/e-mails. Hope they are still expecting me.

I have already been presenting at this place twice before in the last couple of years, each time attracting more and more History Teachers from wider and wider geographical area and spiritual strata: believers and non-believers, atheists and priests, non-Christians and agnostics. I can’t wait to see whom the Lord will bring to my classroom this morning.

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One more overnight train and I am in Poltava, covered with snow and freezing cold. Seems like the further south I travel the cooler it gets! I’m afraid that by the time I make my way from the Baltics to the Black Sea shores next week it will all be frozen over! Is that what they mean by “global warming”?

My last two days in Kiev presented me with a long awaited opportunity–to teach at the Ioninskiy (Jonah’s) Monastery. They have been known to attract scores of students and youth for their Thursday night gathering to speak very openly and vividly on the most burning topics of the day–politics, mass culture, sex, family, drugs, etc. Fr. Iosaf expressed his honest concerns: “Will they be that interested in subjects that are 2,000 years old? Should we be ready to help you with prepared questions if the audience starts to tune out?” Two hours later he was laughing at himself and his worries. Judging by the questions from the audience, they very much enjoyed examining the historic evidence for the New Testament Gospel, and loved digging into the foundation of the Christian faith and applying it to their lives.

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I might have sliced my trip schedule too thin–I am having one or two presentations every day and no time to keep keep up with my travel blog…

I did my first presentation in Kaunas: full classroom with many extra chairs brought in–half high-schoolers, half teachers, half (third half?) parish members and clergy. “It was very powerful! We felt like one community united by one truth of Christ. These facts and this evidence will stay in our memory for a long time thanks for your very skillful and creative presentation. And your CDs are the most generous gift we ever received in our hands,” said a Teacher-Parishioner.  [Read more…]

Does the Lord usually call those who are equipped, or does He equip those whom He has called? Either way, I feel ready for my next teaching trip. As my kids like to say – “super-prepared.” Here are some specific examples of this equipping and preparation:

• A new Mini HP laptop, weighing less than three pounds, was just donated to the Russian Ministry. It is perfect for the amount of travel I am going to do.
• In God’s perfect timing, a new print of the FaithSearch Discovery CDs in four languages (English, Russian, Ukrainian and Latvian) arrived from the printer this morning. The teachers and pedagogy students will now be able to use them in their classrooms right away.

My schedule is filled with teaching opportunities every day of the trip, allowing time only for the overnight trains which take me from one place to another. I am leaving on Monday after Thanksgiving and will be back before Christmas. Please keep my family and me in your prayers!

Thanks.
Oleg Voskresensky