As is usually the case for my summer trips, on this one I will cover a lot of ground across the vast territory of Russia. Due to the most severe sanitary restrictions in Moscow now, I will only be changing planes and trains there. As the schools and universities are out for summer break, I will devote my time to the audiences and venues often neglected during the busy academic year: churches, family camps, libraries, and museums; also prisons and military bases, etc. Those events are extremely hard to put into a nice sequence with a reasonable travel distance between them, and my route map reflects that. On some of the days I will be presenting at two or three different settings. Some other days will all be spent in the air, or on trains and buses. Most of my events on this trip will not be trainings of teachers and church leaders but outreach events to audiences from very different backgrounds and walks of life. I cannot thank my ministry partners in Siberia and in Central Russia enough for allowing me to present at their camps, conferences, and mission events.

Flying from the middle of Siberia back to Moscow, I was moving with the sun and arrived at Domodedovo Airport the same early morning time at which I took off from Novokuznetsk. That gave me just enough time for a quick shower at my friends’ apartment and off I went to the XXIX Educational Conference held in the huge auditorium right under the largest cathedral in the whole city – if not in the whole country – Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Which, of course, was almost empty this year because of quarantine restrictions. The presentations were broadcast to many hundreds of church communities and thousands of viewers all over Russia.

I am leaving for Russia tomorrow despite of all the «bad omens» following me for the last few days: one extracted (and still hurting!) tooth; two flat tires (in four days!); flight cancellation for my return from Siberia; and a dozen smaller ones. It must mean I am about to do something good, and that the forces of evil are not happy about it. Thanks to many prayers and especially thanks to the great reminder of the already being won which we celebrated last weekend – Orthodox Pascha! – I am very encouraged and feel empowered to make some inroads against the kingdom of darkness, and to extend the Kingdom of God and His light.

Due to the late Easter/Pascha this year, my trip falls at the end of the school year – the time for final projects, exams, and graduations. Only a couple of schools will let me meet their students and most of my audiences this time will be teachers, academia, church leaders, and clergy. Geographically, I will cross five of Russia’s eleven time zones to the city of Novokuznetsk in Central Siberia; and will also visit Yoshkar-Ola, Belgorod, and Tver to “follow-up” on the connections I made there during my February trip. Moscow is the only air hub in the country, and I will, therefore, be coming back there each time after going in those four different directions: East, North-East, North and South.

Three days in Moscow passed like one. Seeing and teaching to the same group of Kolomna Theological Seminary students whom I first met last October was very special. With my traveling schedule covering vast distances of Russia, I rarely see the same audience twice. This time my students met me as a good old friend and were not shy about asking personal and challenging questions. They wanted to see not only the historic and archeological evidence of the validity of the Bible, but also how it effected my own personal faith journey.