Urgent Prayer Request from Moscow

As is the case with any school, ETSM must periodically deal with various government agencies in the licensing process of the seminary with the appropriate federal offices. We must get periodic approvals from various departments (e.g., health department, fire department, etc.) in order to keep our seminary open.

This coming Tuesday, August 21, ETSM will have a visit from the sanitation department. (Actually, the visit will take place during Monday evening in the USA time zones.). The visit will be led by Mrs. Tatiana Sergeevna, who just last week began a conversation with our Provost Ilya Okhotnikov with the following words, “I remember you. I still don’t like you (from the last visit)…Why are you poising our young people? You are not Russian Orthodox!” Although Ilya did his best to disarm the situation, it still set the tone for the remainder of the conversation.

Ilya negotiated further with her. She agreed to visit the seminary on August 21, Tuesday for an inspection. As it turns out, she has enough clout in her department and can say either “I close your building down” or “I will certify your building.”

So we at ETSM request for your prayers and those of your churches and prayer groups. Please pray for Tatiana Sergeevna. May God turn her heart toward us so that she will not do something against us, but rather do all the paper work the way we need for the licensing process.