I am half-way through my trip and, honestly, nearly two-thirds through my energy bank. Luckily the next week is not going to be as extensive with events and travel as was the last one. I truly enjoyed doing two (or more) teaching events per day in different locations and for different audiences. Meeting new people and sharing my faith with them is what actually energizes me! It was travelling from place to place by all possible means of transportation (including long walks on icy sidewalks) that was sometimes rather exhausting. Besides, I only once had a chance to sleep two nights in a row in the same bed (or a night train) and at this point looking forward to my four-night’s stay at Kursk Evangelical Trinity Seminary dorm where I will continue and complete video recording of my of lecture courses on the “Arguments for the Existence of God” and “Intro to Christian Education.”

The weather in St. Petersburg these days is authentically Dostoyevsky style. Short and gloomy daylight hours combined with chilling and wet winds blowing from the Baltic Sea make one want to stay indoors with a cup of hot tea rather than crossing the city on public transportation. I truly admire my seminary students and my public-school teachers who bravely overcome all the elements in order to be in my classroom for a couple of hours of presentation and discussion on the topic of Christian Faith and Biblical History!

My six days of video recording and preaching in Kursk will be remembered by the background sound of air-raid sirens which went off multiple times every day and nearly every night. I was probably the only one, however, who paid any attention to them. Life was just going on as usual on the streets of the city. My camera crew didn’t even stop recording my lectures when explosions were heard in the distance. “We’ll just edit it out,” said the sound guy.

All-in-all we recorded eighteen academic hours of classes, plus a few short devotional messages they will offer to audiences in Russia and other countries (with subtitles).

Transitioning from a week of family vacation in Northern Italy to ministry in Russia went smoothly. I didn’t even have to change my attire as the first few days in Moscow met me with the same nice weather and big-city dress code.

As usual, most of my events in September are held in churches, social gatherings, and media outlets. Schools, universities, and seminaries are still finalizing their schedules and will start inviting me again later in the school year. I did, however, teach two classes yesterday at Kolomna Theological Seminary where my courses have already become a regular part of the curriculum in Missions and Apologetics. An online class at Belgorod Seminary on the Arguments of the Existence of God in the afternoon made my day very full.

“This (historic evidence for Christian faith) was exactly what our youth needed to hear and to see today. Frankly, their parents seem to have enjoyed it just as much. Thank you for making this long trip to Izhevsk this summer. We’ll be counting on you for the next year family camp with your “63 Arguments for the Existence of God” – these were the last words I heard earlier today from the camp leader as I was leaving it for the airport. My clothes still smelling of campfire and my memories still full of the remarks and inquiries from the presentation I finished this morning, I am now waiting for my first flight (out of four) on my way back to Minnesota.