Minus two, plus three – that has been my ratio so far between canceled and newly-arranged events. As always, the cancellations were due to the schedule mix-ups like, “Sorry, we didn’t realize this Friday to be November 26^th!” or “We canceled it because you did not confirm it again last week.” The Lord, however, does not want my time in Russia to be wasted and opens new doors of opportunity almost every day. I got to teach two classes instead of one on Wednesday, Saturday, and on-coming Monday.

It will be snowing on the day I leave Minnesota, but most of the places I am traveling to in Russia this time have already been under snow for weeks.

I will, however, catch a taste of the wet and gloomy, “Dostoyevsky style” of late fall in St. Petersburg, before moving to the all-white and frosty Central Siberia and Northern Urals. I am still trying to avoid Moscow with its tight quarantine restrictions. I will only be changing trains and planes in this, the only transportation hub for the whole country. Most of my audiences in the middle of the fall semester will naturally be students and teachers in public schools and state universities.

I will be teaching on two new topics this year, while the country is celebrating the 350^th Anniversary of Peter the Great: “Religious and Secular in Public Education” and “Social Liberty vs. Freedom in Christ.” I will make sure the clear message of the Gospel is presented in both of them to my academic and professional audiences. About half of my events will take place in, or will be set up by, churches and seminaries – Orthodox and Evangelical. Or, at least, this is how the schedule looks as of 36 hours before departure.

My prayer is that the Lord will honor my efforts to set them all up… and also to correct my plans where necessary according to His divine providence. I will as always, covet your prayers.

A major cancellation of the whole city-segment of my trip arrived on a very short notice. I was not going to Nizhniy Novgorod because three things happened on the same week: the local university dean passed away; the provost of the seminary resigned; and my host/facilitator got stuck 2,000 miles away on a family vacation with a broken car. Once again, I was reminded that in Russia your arrangements and schedules only hold as long as the people you set them up with.

Three extra days in St. Petersburg were not too difficult to fill thanks to the local ministry partners and, because most of the schools were open for in-person classes. An International Academy with students from fifteen different countries allowed me to teach a lesson on the Validity of the Bible in their IT department’s graphic design class. After a great discussion on the subject matter we had in class, each of them will also have to develop their own design of the PowerPoint® presentation of the topic. I am looking forward to applying some of their ideas in my future events!

As always, the last days of the trip were most intense in teaching and travel. I had to literally run from one to another of my teachers’ conferences in different ends of Samara and in St. Petersburg. I was truly blessed by their interest in and in their response to the material, which keeps arriving to me in their E-mails and their facilitators’ feedback. Nearly one third of my next trip to Russia is already filled with follow-up events in and around the cities I taught in this time.

Almost ten days in one city! Not just any city – in Saint-Petersburg! It does not happen very often on my trips that I am able to book myself for such a long time in the same area. I was truly blessed with the most beautiful weather – not a drop of rain! The Dostoevsky-style of gloomy, wet, and windy Saint-Petersburg-in-the-fall weather has not arrived yet and I have been enjoying my long walks to my event locations instead of hiding away on the subway or in cabs.

Can one travel in Russia for three weeks without ever crossing a single time zone line? While planning my next teaching trip I attempted to do exactly that: by traveling along the meridians from North to South and back. I actually tried to concentrate on the two most populated areas – around Moscow and St. Petersburg – with only one quick trip down the Volga River to Nizhniy Novgorod and Samara. Yes, technically I will peak into the next time zone for a couple of days before flying back to Severnaya Stolitsa a.k.a. St. Petersburg.