My schedule is so full, my travel is so hectic, and the internet connection is so poor (sanctions!) that I just can’t keep up with my blog this time. Sorry about that.

Well, to be honest, I am absolutely happy with the way things are going.
I had two to three events every day in St. Petersburg and in Samara during the first two week of the trip and the response of my audiences was totally amazing! Almost every day, I heard somebody saying: “I have been waiting for this [historic evidence for faith] all my life!” or “This is what all our Bible College classes should be like and all about.”
Yes, St. Petersburg “Dostoyevsky style” – gloomy, wet and windy – was depressing. Yes, my two-hour flight from Samara to Moscow and then a red-eye four-and-a-half-hour flight back and across to Gorno-Altaysk with a three-hour delay were exhausting. But the Lord was providing me with just enough energy to stand in front of my three-hour-long class right off the plane in Biysk and then to travel back to my room in Gorno-Altaysk 100 kilometers away on Russian roads.

Again, I am loving every minute of it and looking forward to my next presentation tomorrow morning for the teachers gathered from all over the Altay Region (almost the size of Minnesota).

Planning this trip was easy. I simply rescheduled most of the events from my April-May trip which had to be canceled. I am so thankful to my ministry friends and partners who were willing to work with me on setting it up all over again! Many of them were very disappointed by my decision back then, when I said that the need for the Gospel is not less but greater during the unrest and turmoil. I totally agree.

The Catholic Youth Conference “octave” (eight days) in Ussuriysk exceeded all my expectations and nearly drowned my energy resources. At first, they had only asked me to be their keynote speaker with one or two teaching sessions per day. And, of course, to lead the small group discussion session on each day’s topic. And, if I don’t mind, please also teach a Bible Class in the afternoon. And, to fill in for the leader of one of the three Creative Groups, who was responsible for the final overview article on the Conference in their diocese’ newspaper.

The whole trip from Minnesota to Vladivostok went very smoothly, including the most worrisome part of it – the border crossing. My bus was only delayed by an hour-and-a-half which is considered to be “on time” by the Russian standards I am very familiar with. In fact, most of my first week went by “Russian style”: uncertainty, delays, endless “confirmations,” and last-minute cancelations.