Fall in St. Petersburg

It has been TOO long since my last update!

As September has faded into October, the leaves have changed and it is quite beautiful in city parks and at parks and palaces in the suburbs of Pushkin, Pavlovsk, and Peterhoff.

I am finally settled in my own flat and have taken on a roommate.  Nate is working with orphans as well as beginning some inductive Bible study training in churches.  He also teaches a couple of Conversational English classes at Motorola here in St. Petersburg.

I am attending a Vineyard Church on a regular basis.  The church has an American pastor.  His wife is Russian.  I am also part of a small group at Vineyard.  I attend an English speaking small group with a few Americans, Aussies and one Russian on Thursday nights.

The new flat is cozy.  I live on the fifth floor and have a nice view of Grazhdansky Prospekt, (a busy street below).  That flat is near a bus stop and about a 12-15 minute walk to one Metro station a 20-22 minute walk to another.  Check out my photo stream to see the flat and much more.

I have been quite busy purchasing household supplies and things such as a microwave oven, groceries and a clothes drying rack.  Most people have a small front-loading washer for clothes, but few have a dryer.  We air dry clothes on a rack.

A normal weekday in St. Petersburg consists of a 12-15 minute walk or a short bus ride and a 45 minute commute on the Metro to the University.  I teach one, two, three, or four classes depending on the day. I then walk and commute on the Metro home in the afternoon.

I do not teach on Wednesdays, but spend several hours planning my two lessons for the next week and am busy grading quizzes, journal assignments, etc. when I am not teaching.

One of the recent journal topics that I assigned to students was to write about someone that they would like to meet.  One student wrote that she would like to meet God and ask Him about the vastness of the Universe and how He created it.  WOW!  I added a response in her journal asking if she would like to have some discussion about God.  I am praying that she is curious.

A God Thing

I have been trying to locate a couple of Russian friends that I met through Children’s HopeChest during two trips to the Holuy orphanage.  Sasha and Deema were translators for our group and both now live in St. Petersburg.  I have not been able to contact either of them.

Before I explain, you should understand that St. Petersburg’s population is almost five million people including the suburbs.  Many of these people ride the Metro every day.  There are four Metro lines in St. Petersburg and about sixty Metro stops.

Last Thursday night I was taking the Metro to our Bible study.  While approaching the escalator at the Primorskaya Metro Station, someone called out – “Allen!  Allen!.”  I turned to find Deema looking at me with a confused and surprised expression.  He did not know that I am living in St. Petersburg.

The “amazing conincidence” was no coincidence at all.  I beleive that God ordered our steps so that we would meet that evening.  It was a God thing and another confirmation that I am exactly where God wants me to be at this time.