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.
Yet another overnight travel brought me to the port city of Odessa–where there was not a sign of snow or frost. I am staying with a family of the local Orthodox Priest in a two bedroom apartment. There are six of us around the dinner table. Actually, his wife just went to the hospital to deliver their third child. I better move out by the time she gets back…
Fr. Aleksander is known around Odessa as one of a few from the clergy who is actively working with people who are HIV-positive–both as a trained psychologist and as a pastor. My presentation in his Resource Center was very intense and emotional. “I was watching them and listened very carefully to their questions. I cannot give you their names for privacy reasons but I can name at least a dozen people who were shocked by your presentation to their very core. Thank you for giving them hope. Even more–for giving them assurance. I look forward to leading them on the path of discipleship and further spiritual growth.”
Later the same day, I had a chance to visit with Fr. Dmitriy from the Odessa Orthodox Transfiguration Cathedral. He proudly showed me their Sunday School classrooms and materials. “I am so thankful to you for presenting the FaithSearch Discovery material to us three years ago and for presenting me with the Surprised by Faith book. I have shared it with dozens of people and unfortunately one of them forgot to return it to me. I have also been systematically using your FaithSearch Discovery materials in my Sunday School curriculum… as much as I was able to reconstruct them from the book and from memory. I cannot thank you enough for presenting me today with the CD containing the whole original presentation–both in Russian and in English! May the Lord bless you and your powerful and very important ministry!”
He has, Fr. Dmitriy, He has. And you, my friend, are part of that blessing!
