From July 1-7, with the blessing of the rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy (SPbDA), Bishop Siluan of Peterhof and with the assistance of the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage, a trip of foreign students of the theological school to Tomsk took place.
Foreign students of SPbDA who attended the I All-Russian Student Conference with international участием "On the sanctity of the Church in different languages", expressed gratitude to the Foundation for organizing the trip and for the opportunity to visit Tomsk and attend the events of the forum, and also thanked the Tomsk Theological Seminary for the reception.
The Tomsk Conference was the first international forum that brought together international students from the Moscow and St. Petersburg Theological Academies and Tomsk Theological Seminary (TDS). The event was organized by TDS and the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage.
According to Ivan Ivanov, a methodologist at the International department of SPbDA, extracurricular activities help to solve one of the most important problems that foreign students face during their first stay in a new educational and cultural environment – loneliness. "It often happens that students who come to study from different countries and continents cannot immediately find a common language, and as a result, many foreign students find themselves in a state of depression, which reduces their educational motivation," Ivan Ivanov explained.
One of the solutions to this problem, according to him, is to hold joint events that unite students in one educational team. Russian Russian Orthodox students can talk about the full and harmonious development of their personality and the creation of a positive image of Russian culture in the eyes of foreign students thanks to the work of the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage and the organization of a space for dialogue between foreign students who study at theological schools of the Russian Orthodox Church. The warm words of my students and their burning eyes during such events speak for themselves about the importance of such activities," said the methodologist of the international department of the Academy.
Below are some reviews from international students of SPbDA who shared their impressions of the trip to Tomsk * (editor's note – the spelling and punctuation of the authors have been changed)*.
"I would like to thank the Foundation for supporting our trip to this wonderful, beautiful and historically ancient city of Tomsk for an international religious conference, which was held in different languages. We thank God that our trip was very amazing and safe, we visited various old churches, we had time to tour the city with beautiful wooden houses. Our trip was amazing and safe. We are deeply grateful to all the people who organized this trip. We prayed, studied, enjoyed, played, and sang different songs in different languages, and it really was a blessed trip for all of us. Thank you so much for your support and care. May the Lord bless us all," Archimandrite Zachariah (Mulingua) from Tanzania left such a warm review of the trip to Tomsk.
Dmitry Zafindrasedi, a student at SPbDA from Madagascar, also expressed gratitude to the Foundation: "First of all, I thank God for everything He has given me. Secondly, I do not know how to thank our Foundation, because they gave me many opportunities to discover new things and gave me a chance to visit the beautiful city of Tomsk. It was very interesting for me because I had the opportunity to learn about the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, discover beautiful and historical places and, above all, I had the opportunity to visit the feast of the Holy Elder Theodore of Tomsk, which was very interesting. Thank you so much for your grace and generosity! I hope that our relationship will always be wonderful and kind."
Efstafiy Ramarason, a student at SPbDA from Madagascar, also shared his impressions of the conference: "Our trip to Tomsk was wonderful. We were able to get to know local seminarians, as well as other students from Moscow. We were also able to get acquainted with the nature of Tomsk in a camp called "Tabernacle". Finally, we took a tour of the wonderful city, visiting local historical sites. Thanks to the Foundation for giving us the opportunity to make this unforgettable trip."
In our previous article, you can read reviews of foreign students of the Moscow Theological Academy академии about a trip to Tomsk.
Photos provided by the International Department of SPbDA