I am on the flight from Astana back to Almaty to transfer to Istanbul, to Paris and to MSP, with four to five hours layovers on each stop.

Counting back, the last two days in Northern Kazakhstan were the coldest (up to -20 C) and the most ministry-intensive. Three presentations yesterday kept me busy and plenty warm at the Shanyrak Evangelical Church, during an online class at Belgorod Seminary (from my cell) and at the Uspenskiy Cathedral Educational Center in the evening. Not seeing much of the city is totally fine with me, knowing that both churches want me back again soon for a longer and expanded training sessions at some nicer part of the year.

Crossing the “continental divide” four times in one day is my all-times record! I left Europe in the morning and took a picture of the border to Asia at around noon time… only to cross another one twenty minutes later. The first one turned out to date back to the year 1838, whereas the second was recent and more geographically accurate. Locals only accept the old marker and my driver categorically rejected the idea of stopping at the second one for pictures. Later that evening we passed them again in reverse order on our way back to Yekaterinburg.

Quick stats:

• 16 hours (three flights) in the air
• 11 time zones away from home
• 4 countries on 3 continents
• 6 presentations on the first 2 days
• 68 heartbeats/min

I just realized that I traveled from the northwestern border of Russia to its southeastern edge—in less than a week! Vyborg lies only about twenty miles from the Finnish border, while Vladivostok sits across the sea from Japan.

This time, I was welcomed by the Catholic Church community in Vladivostok for the Russia’s Far East Regional Continuing Catechism Formation Conference, and also spoke to a group of international students from the Far Eastern Federal University. It truly felt as though I had circled half the globe, with participants in my audience representing nearly every continent, culture, race, language, and background.

The road to St. Petersburg took much longer than expected. Each of the connecting legs—two flights and a bus—was delayed anywhere from one to four hours. Thankfully, I was able to return my train ticket and catch a last-minute flight. In God’s perfect timing, I began my first presentation at a youth conference at St. Peter Orthodox Church merely two hours after completing a two-day journey from Minnesota. From then on, each day brought a new group of students in a different setting: the State Pedagogical University, St. Petersburg Bible College, public schools, and more. Each audience presented unique challenges for sharing the Gospel with evidence (also known as “FaithSearch Discovery”), requiring adjustments for age group, educational background, and academic context. I am never bored by teaching the same material, because every group—and every individual—is unique, special, and worthy of my full respect and attention to their personality, interests, and expectations.