What a contrast! In only one week, I had to adjust from the very Western and very traditionally Christian audiences of Finland, St. Petersburg, and Kaliningrad, to the looks, sounds, and characters of predominantly and historically Eastern and Muslim areas of …let’s call it “Southern Russia.” My hosts there were very careful in never mentioning exact locations of where we were going and where I was presenting. I am sorry but for that same reason, my photos from that part of the trip will also be very limited and very general in nature.

Speaking of which, nature was very kind to me throughout this whole trip, except for one time in St. Petersburg, when I had most of the day to myself. I decided to visit the city of Kronshtadt for its reputation as a great Baltic resort and an historic attraction. I am glad they also had some wonderful museums and a gorgeous cathedral there to keep me safe from being frozen by the Boreas of the Baltics. Praise God that all my other days in St. Pete being booked with events and visits!

An hour-long flight to Kaliningrad was not supposed to be much of an adventure. I have already learned not to buy tickets on the Russian made Yak-42 aircraft, after it broke half way down the runway last year. It turns out that even a good old Boeing 737-800 may take a couple of attempts and an extra hour of circling around the airport to land in the stormy Baltic winds. Thank you for all of your praying for me in that late hour (by Minnesota time)! Thank you, captain Kirill, for showing us Kaliningrad’s impressive surroundings and bringing us to the ground safely! This extra “quiet time” of fervent prayer to the Lord was granted to me once again while attempting to land in Moscow on my way to Rostov-na-Donu.

That city is now being mentioned rather frequently in the news for being the closest (65 kilometers) big Russian city to the war zone in Eastern Ukraine. My hosts there arrived to meet me at the airport straight from the city train station where they were ministering (delivering food, warm clothes, and medications) to 400 new refugees that same morning. The number grew to 480 by the end of the day as another transport arrived from the conflict area. They drove me for five hours South of the city immediately after I was done with my program in Rostov.

…And we drove for another four hours on the next morning to where the base of the Muslim-focused ministry is located. On day one, they made me present my FaithSearch Discovery material to a group of experts – Christian ministers from different “Stans” and Muslim communities. Their questions, critique, and commentaries prepared me well for the next three days of presentations to some very mixed audiences of believers, non-believers, other-believers, and anti-believers on our trips to and from the areas this ministry serves in. Each trip was very carefully planned and prayed for. For each trip, I was given very specific instructions and guidance: what to say, how to say it, and what not to say there. I cannot thank them enough for taking such a good care of me and of the people they minister to. Every time we were approaching a road checkpoint, the prayer was said and I can testify how powerful it was: a trooper would suddenly turn around to attend to something else when our car was passing through the gates. We did not worry for carrying or doing anything illegal or dangerous, but each stop could have caused a delay in our travel and presentation schedule. There was always a sigh of relief when the hosts opened the gates for us arriving safely and on time. I learned, on the other hand, not to be bothered by my presentation never beginning on time: my audience was gathering one-by-one, so as not to attract their neighbors’ attention. Trusting God and trusting His faithful servants – two great lessons I came back with from …Southern Russia.

I am in Moscow now – teaching and presenting every day on the radio, in schools, universities, churches, and teachers’ training centers and thanking you for continuing to uphold me while I travel and my family back home in your prayers.

What a contrast! In only one week, I had to adjust from the very Western and very traditionally Christian audiences of Finland, St. Petersburg, and Kaliningrad, to the looks, sounds, and characters of predominantly and historically Eastern and Muslim areas of …let’s call it “Southern Russia.” My hosts there were very careful in never mentioning exact locations of where we were going and where I was presenting. I am sorry but for that same reason, my photos from that part of the trip will also be very limited and very general in nature.

Speaking of which, nature was very kind to me throughout this whole trip, except for one time in St. Petersburg, when I had most of the day to myself. I decided to visit the city of Kronshtadt for its reputation as a great Baltic resort and an historic attraction. I am glad they also had some wonderful museums and a gorgeous cathedral there to keep me safe from being frozen by the Boreas of the Baltics. Praise God that all my other days in St. Pete being booked with events and visits!

An hour-long flight to Kaliningrad was not supposed to be much of an adventure. I have already learned not to buy tickets on the Russian made Yak-42 aircraft, after it broke half way down the runway last year. It turns out that even a good old Boeing 737-800 may take a couple of attempts and an extra hour of circling around the airport to land in the stormy Baltic winds. Thank you for all of your praying for me in that late hour (by Minnesota time)! Thank you, captain Kirill, for showing us Kaliningrad’s impressive surroundings and bringing us to the ground safely! This extra “quiet time” of fervent prayer to the Lord was granted to me once again while attempting to land in Moscow on my way to Rostov-na-Donu.

That city is now being mentioned rather frequently in the news for being the closest (65 kilometers) big Russian city to the war zone in Eastern Ukraine. My hosts there arrived to meet me at the airport straight from the city train station where they were ministering (delivering food, warm clothes, and medications) to 400 new refugees that same morning. The number grew to 480 by the end of the day as another transport arrived from the conflict area. They drove me for five hours South of the city immediately after I was done with my program in Rostov.

…And we drove for another four hours on the next morning to where the base of the Muslim-focused ministry is located. On day one, they made me present my FaithSearch Discovery material to a group of experts – Christian ministers from different “Stans” and Muslim communities. Their questions, critique, and commentaries prepared me well for the next three days of presentations to some very mixed audiences of believers, non-believers, other-believers, and anti-believers on our trips to and from the areas this ministry serves in. Each trip was very carefully planned and prayed for. For each trip, I was given very specific instructions and guidance: what to say, how to say it, and what not to say there. I cannot thank them enough for taking such a good care of me and of the people they minister to. Every time we were approaching a road checkpoint, the prayer was said and I can testify how powerful it was: a trooper would suddenly turn around to attend to something else when our car was passing through the gates. We did not worry for carrying or doing anything illegal or dangerous, but each stop could have caused a delay in our travel and presentation schedule. There was always a sigh of relief when the hosts opened the gates for us arriving safely and on time. I learned, on the other hand, not to be bothered by my presentation never beginning on time: my audience was gathering one-by-one, so as not to attract their neighbors’ attention. Trusting God and trusting His faithful servants – two great lessons I came back with from …Southern Russia.

I am in Moscow now – teaching and presenting every day on the radio, in schools, universities, churches, and teachers’ training centers and thanking you for continuing to uphold me while I travel and my family back home in your prayers.

Goodbye Finland! Hello Russia! The trees and the snow piles streaming left to right through my window haven’t changed at all once my train crossed the border, but something tells me that this is a completely different world. Oh, yes, there is a metal fence now running along the railroad trails. And the three ladies in border guard uniforms checking our passports are not smiling as were the three ladies in border guard uniforms just fifteen minutes ago. Those were also accompanied by a smiling (or it seemed that way) dog. When the officer accidentally dropped my papers on the floor and kneeled to pick it up the dog was here to happily lick all over her face which made all of us smile. No dogs any more, no smiles, serious business. I am glad they are mentally preparing me for the mood and the picture I will encounter only an hour later when I arrive to St. Petersburg. Right off the train, I will rush to my first presentation to the teachers of Viborgskiy School District two subway stops away from Filnlyandskiy train terminal. I will then have to figure out where I want to stay this night, as my host family just sent me a note that they got some kind of a stomach flu in the last two days. Hopefully, they feel better by now. My backup lodging option has not returned my E-mails yet, so…

Back in Finland, my ministry time was very extensive and very challenging. All but one presentation were held in English, and my audiences ranged from Finish sixth-graders to international seminary students. I did two events per day except for the day of my arrival when it was only (!) one – right off the plane. I actually liked it that way. It kept me so busy and so tired that I didn’t miss sightseeing in Helsinki that much. Those two brief occasions when I walked the city center made me really want to come there again in a warmer season. My feet got wet from snow slush and my hands and ears got cold from the freezing Baltic breeze. It reminded me of my childhood impression of St. Petersburg where we would always travel with parents during the winter break. I absolutely hated that city until much later when I came to visit it in July – it was a completely different St. Petersburg! So beautiful, so comfortable, so inviting! I guess, some of these childhood memories are about to meet me in less than an hour…

Goodbye Finland! Hello Russia! The trees and the snow piles streaming left to right through my window haven’t changed at all once my train crossed the border, but something tells me that this is a completely different world. Oh, yes, there is a metal fence now running along the railroad trails. And the three ladies in border guard uniforms checking our passports are not smiling as were the three ladies in border guard uniforms just fifteen minutes ago. Those were also accompanied by a smiling (or it seemed that way) dog. When the officer accidentally dropped my papers on the floor and kneeled to pick it up the dog was here to happily lick all over her face which made all of us smile. No dogs any more, no smiles, serious business. I am glad they are mentally preparing me for the mood and the picture I will encounter only an hour later when I arrive to St. Petersburg. Right off the train, I will rush to my first presentation to the teachers of Viborgskiy School District two subway stops away from Filnlyandskiy train terminal. I will then have to figure out where I want to stay this night, as my host family just sent me a note that they got some kind of a stomach flu in the last two days. Hopefully, they feel better by now. My backup lodging option has not returned my E-mails yet, so…

Back in Finland, my ministry time was very extensive and very challenging. All but one presentation were held in English, and my audiences ranged from Finish sixth-graders to international seminary students. I did two events per day except for the day of my arrival when it was only (!) one – right off the plane. I actually liked it that way. It kept me so busy and so tired that I didn’t miss sightseeing in Helsinki that much. Those two brief occasions when I walked the city center made me really want to come there again in a warmer season. My feet got wet from snow slush and my hands and ears got cold from the freezing Baltic breeze. It reminded me of my childhood impression of St. Petersburg where we would always travel with parents during the winter break. I absolutely hated that city until much later when I came to visit it in July – it was a completely different St. Petersburg! So beautiful, so comfortable, so inviting! I guess, some of these childhood memories are about to meet me in less than an hour…

How in the world have I ended up going to Finland? I just cannot say “no” to a child when her mom wrote to me:

“Christina is in the sixth grade and they have a class on Religion. Christina has had conversations with several of her classmates about God and faith.  Many of them have asked her things like, ‘Doesn’t science prove that God doesn’t exist?’ and so on, even though they have chosen to be in the ‘Christian’ religion class.  I asked the teacher about you visiting the class as a guest speaker.  She has agreed to the idea.”

Seriously, my four days in Helsinki had already been booked with events and presentations arranged by an American missionary couple I met earlier in Russia. That one particular morning just “happened” to be free.

After teaching and sharing in both Russian-speaking and English-speaking audiences in Finland, I will travel to St. Petersburg for four days of teachers’ conferences and university lectures there, and then I’m off to Kaliningrad for mostly Orthodox Church trainings and outreaches. My initial plan for this trip also included a visit to Karelia, which would have been a logical extension of the Northern Russia route if you look on the map. Apparently, the Holy Spirit’s geography is different from ours as I kept receiving persistent calls from ministries and churches in Northern Caucasus to partner with them in their outreaches in the predominantly Muslim regions of the country. I have been preparing for this opportunity in the course of the whole last year!

The final week of this trip will be one of trainings and outreaches in Moscow with a quick one-day travel to Bryansk.

As always, I will be focusing on my three target audiences: teachers, students and clergy/lay leaders in Evangelical, Orthodox, and secular settings. Please pray for me as I travel and for my family back in MN, ND, and UT.