One more overnight train and I am in Poltava, covered with snow and freezing cold. Seems like the further south I travel the cooler it gets! I’m afraid that by the time I make my way from the Baltics to the Black Sea shores next week it will all be frozen over! Is that what they mean by “global warming”?
My last two days in Kiev presented me with a long awaited opportunity–to teach at the Ioninskiy (Jonah’s) Monastery. They have been known to attract scores of students and youth for their Thursday night gathering to speak very openly and vividly on the most burning topics of the day–politics, mass culture, sex, family, drugs, etc. Fr. Iosaf expressed his honest concerns: “Will they be that interested in subjects that are 2,000 years old? Should we be ready to help you with prepared questions if the audience starts to tune out?” Two hours later he was laughing at himself and his worries. Judging by the questions from the audience, they very much enjoyed examining the historic evidence for the New Testament Gospel, and loved digging into the foundation of the Christian faith and applying it to their lives.
