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.