“It was like a wall was removed in front of me and now I have room to grow and a path to follow. Please consider yourself invited to speak at our City Youth Center next time you are back in Russia,”  wrote a young man after attending a FaithSearch Discovery event in Ivanovo, 250 kilometers northeast of Moscow.

Their House of Nationalities city hall was not quite full, at which the hosting church expressed their disappointment. I was, on the other hand, very happy I didn’t have to use a microphone: the natural voice usually sounds more relaxing and inviting and brings more questions at the end. Ivanovo is known to be the first city in Russia to accept the Soviet power 100 years ago, but the people never ceased seeking the truth of God there. I was happy to destroy some walls of prejudice and barriers of ignorance for them. [Read more…]

It was intense: eight class sessions per day, four days in a row. All I could do between sessions was to eat, sleep, and make a quick walk around the building to catch some fresh air. Oh, yes, I had to also keep in touch with my event hosts to confirm, to cancel, to change, and to correct my future presentations. So far not one of them was deleted from my schedule, and two more added on my very first day in St. Petersburg.

Staying in a seminary dorm definitely has its advantages – it costs less than a hotel and it provides valuable contacts for future ministry. The only disadvantage is, of course, that these young men and women do not ever feel like going to bed and are willing to continue our theological conversations way past midnight. Luckily, I was teaching in two different seminaries and had a chance to catch some sleep on the overnight train between the two cities. [Read more…]

First of all, I want to thank everybody who answered my call for saving this trip when I found myself short of funds. May the Lord bless you for your generous and timely response!

More about timing: Most of my events on this trip were tied to certain conferences and retreats. As a result, I had very little flexibility in choosing my dates and routes. That said, some of my ministry partners felt at liberty to suddenly change their dates when they “discovered” that some of them “unexpectedly” fell during Passion Week before Easter. As a result, I will spend quite a bit more time traveling back and forth between Moscow and St. Petersburg on those overnight trains. On the other hand, I’ll be saving money on lodging and giving my host families in both cities a little break while I sleep on the train!

Apart from the “two capitals,” I will also be teaching in smaller cities within a 300 km radius around them – Gatchina, Ivanovo, Vladimir, and Dmitrov. Those events will include all three of my “target audiences”: secular school teachers, lay leaders (and clergy), and the general public—in about equal proportions. I am looking forward to helping them celebrate the Easter holiday as a remembrance of the real historical event, supported by evidence and delivered to us in the most reliable of ancient documents—the Bible, the Word of God!

Four different presentations right off the overnight train from Moscow! I consider it a personal record. I started with two classes for 5^th-graders on the validity of the Bible. It was fun and learning time. Fun for them and learning time for me – I forgot how much they are different from the 4^th-graders and I had to quickly adjust my material to live up to their expectations. My last class in that school was for the 9^th grade and that was again the whole different ball game – their critical thinking and interest in challenging every thing the teacher says kept me on my toes through the whole session.

My next audience (in the opposite end of the city) was only a few years older – cadets of the Military Medical Academy. But, again, what a difference in the way they listen and in the questions they ask. Some of them have already served in the army and even had combat experience. Thankfully, I was introduced to them by their chaplain-priest (also a Neurology professor) for whom they apparently had great respect and was able to build trust and to develop their interest in the FaithSearch Discovery material based on that very flattering introduction: “This is an elective course but I want you to take is as seriously as you can. You will need it when everything else you learn in this building may shake and even fail.”

At 6 pm I met my last audience on that long day – catechism teachers at the St. Petersburg Diocese Department of Christian Education. This was probably the easiest audience of all as they already knew most of the apologetics material in my presentation and all I needed to do was to show them and to train them in how it can be used in different settings – Evangelism outreaches, Bible classes, Sunday schools, missions projects, etc.

I am so glad my other days in St. Petersburg were not as crazy and I even had a chance to watch my first rugby game in a company of a minister from Wales, an Americas, a New Zealander, and another Russian guy. We (?) lost to England but in the meantime also had a chance to share our faith experiences and to develop some plans of doing ministry together.

I am taking a train for Moscow tonight and looking forward to my last three days of lessons, presentations, interviews and trainings there. From experience, they tend to pile up towards the end of the trip and I may still beat my own personal record.

“Am I the only person now in my whole town who knows this?” – asked me a public school teacher from a small place near Uglich after the FaithSearch Discovery presentation at their Regional Teachers Conference – “I have been attending my church for many years, read lots of good Christian books and heard many good sermons but not one of them, not even once ever mentioned the historic and archeological evidence for Christ. Who am I to be responsible for making it known to every person in my small town? This is not what I came for to this annual conference but, sure, I am glad I did.”

“You probably do not remember me but I attended your presentation back in November in Yaroslavl Diocese” – said a young priest during the break at the training in Rostov Velikiy – “I came here today again to, first, make sure I remember your presentation well but also to see my fellow-priests’ eyes and faces when they hear it and see it for the first time. It is so exciting to have your personal faith experience confirmed by the evidence of archeological science and history!”

These and many other responses to the presentations in both secular and Church settings around the Yaroslavl Region made my days. This area of Russia is especially rich with most dramatic events in the country’s history and the audiences’ appreciation of the historic evidence and artifacts shows in the excitement of their responses. And, of course, I receive a special treatment and earn extra trust when I mention that my mom served in the anti-aircraft unit defending the electric station in their city (Uglich) during the Second World War.

I will be teaching here for two more days before moving to St. Petersburg and cannot have enough of sunshine before the usually gloomy “capital of the North”.