Vision Trip Schedule
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
Depart USA to St. Petersburg. (Due to time zones, you will arrive on Wednesday.)
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Afternoon: Arrive St. Petersburg. We will pick you up at airport and take you to your hotel to rest a while. Please be mindful that Russia is not a western “first world” nation, and it often lacks the comforts (& building codes, etc.) that we enjoy in the US. Those of us who work with HopeRussia either live in Russia today, or travel there quite often without serious complication. Nevertheless, it remains true that Americans travel to Russia at our own risk. Also, since only 5% of Russian citizens speak any English whatsoever―far fewer at a conversational level―it is imperative to stay with your group rather than striking out on your own.
Dinner at Chateau Cale Georgian Restaurant. Georgia is a former satellite of the USSR, and these people really know how to cook! Dining on Georgian dumplings and cheese-bread with accoutrements is a transformative experience.
After Dinner: Short Walk to Smolny (Besides some impressive Russian Orthodox architecture, this is the exact spot where Vladimir Lenin kicked off the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.)
Evening: Reception at Hotel Vera (Meet the three Purcell families who are serving in St. Petersburg: Blake and Cathy, son Graham and wife Sarah and son Lewis and wife Galya.)
Thursday, April 28, 2022
AM: Visit HopeRussia Theological Seminary Spring Intensive course. Meet the students. Through a translator, a few Americans and a few Russians will share their conversion testimony with the whole group.
PM for Women: See the original―and priceless―Faberge Eggs at the Faberge Museum with Cathy Purcell as your tour guide. These objects were produced as gifts for the families of the Czars. PM for Men: Tour the Russian Museum with HopeRussia founder Blake Purcell as your guide.
Dinner in small groups with Russian pastors and wives (translator at each table).
Friday, April 29, 2022
AM: Hear from HopeRussia graduate Ruslan Moroz, sharing how the Lord saved him, then led him out of the Russian mafia and into Presbyterian pastoral ministry. This will be followed by a report from Graham Purcell on today’s window of opportunity in Russia.
PM: Bilingual tour of the Hermitage Museum. With a translator, Americans will tour the museum along with the Russian pastors’ wives, while their husbands are in afternoon classes.
Saturday, April 30, 2022
AM: Women: Jewelry & Craft Exchange with Russian pastors’ wives, including a devotional message from Cathy Purcell. Men: Tour the Lavra Russian Orthodox Cathedral with Blake Purcell as guide.
Evening Option 1: Attend a Ballet. Russia and France are the two main regions accredited with the historical development of ballet. Ballet ticket price is not included in trip cost. Evening Option 2: Men, we can pass the hat and rent out a local Banya: a ridiculously-hot steam bath with a cold plunge pool right next to it. If enough men choose this option, we can invite the seminary students to come along as our guests. At the Banya, you can endure the sauna, wearing nothing but a (large) towel, while playing billiards and eating macho snacks, such as whole dried fish, sausages and cheese. Men, take a walk on the wild side at the Banya, the ultimate hard-core Russian cultural experience!
Sunday, May 1, 2022
Worship at one of the local graduates’ churches in the city, with translation into English.
Monday, May 2, through Wednesday, May 4, 2022
Schedule TBA
Thursday, May 5, 2022
Return to the USA. Due to weird science, the speed of the jet airplane, and the rotation of the Earth on its axis, the whole return trip happens in just one day. You’ll depart St. Petersburg early Thursday morning, and arrive home on Thursday afternoon, 7 to 11 time zones earlier than where you were that morning.