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Dear Pastors and Friends,

Warm greetings from the Slobodians! Recently I had the opportunity to visit Oleg, one of our church planters in St. Petersburg. This was on the way back to the US after being in Belarus. Since brother Oleg speaks English fluently, we did not need to interpret for him as he shares a word about his ministry.

St. Petersburg is a huge city with a lot of history. This is the city Russian Czar Peter the Great made the capitol of the Russian Empire. When World War I broke out in 1914, the Russians changed the name to Petrograd because they thought St. Petersburg sounded too German. In 1917 the Bolsheviks seized control of Russia and introduced Communism. In 1924 they changed the name to Leningrad to honor Lenin. In 1991 after the Soviet Union collapsed, the name was changed back the original and it has been St. Petersburg ever since.

Besides many beautiful historic buildings St. Petersburg is known for its dreary weather with an average of only 17 days of sunlight a year. Praise God for brother Oleg and his family who are bringing the glorious light of the Gospel to this needy place.

In Christ,

Sam & Amy Slobodian