I live in Moscow — a city that never stops watching itself in mirrors of power and pride. From the golden domes of ancient cathedrals to the cold marble of government halls, Moscow feels like the soul of Russia itself — beautiful, complicated, and haunted by its past. In winter, the streets shimmer with ice; in summer, the city bursts into color and conversation. Beneath its grandeur, though, lies a quiet ache — a search for meaning in a world built on control and fear.

Moscow is a city of contrasts. The rich drive past beggars on Red Square; cathedrals stand beside Soviet-era monuments; faith and cynicism share the same breath. Many here still carry the weight of history — the unspoken pain of repression, the disillusionment that followed the fall of the Soviet Union, the silence that comes from being watched too closely. People have learned to survive, to smile, to keep their questions hidden deep inside.

For followers of Jesus, this is holy ground — but it’s also hard ground. Faith is permitted but not celebrated; truth can cost you your job, your safety, even your freedom. Yet the Church here is alive — small groups meeting in apartments, prayers whispered in metro tunnels, quiet worship rising above the noise of the city. God is moving, not through loud revivals but through patient endurance — one changed heart at a time.

I believe Moscow’s story is not yet finished. The same city that has shaped empires will one day become a place of awakening — where repentance will echo louder than propaganda, and where the light of Christ will shine through the frost of fear.

• Bid vir bekering en nederigheid onder Rusland se leiers, dat Wladimir Poetin en diegene in gesagsposisies die vrees van die Here sou teëkom en hulle tot geregtigheid sou bekeer. (Spreuke 21:1)

• Bid vir vrymoedigheid en volharding vir gelowiges in Moskou, dat hulle Christus met moed en deernis sou deel ten spyte van toesig en vervolging. (Handelinge 4:29–31)

• Bid vir verlossing van misleiding en vrees, dat die gees van beheer en propaganda gebreek sou word en die waarheid van die Evangelie sou deurskyn. (Johannes 8:32)

• Bid vir eenheid en herlewing in die Russiese Kerk, dat gelowiges oor denominasies heen as een Liggaam saam sou staan en vir hul nasie sou voorbid. (Efesiërs 4:3–6)

• Bid vir 'n geestelike ontwaking in Moskou, dat hierdie setel van politieke en kulturele mag 'n plek sou word waar die naam van Jesus bo alles verhef word. (Habakuk 3:2)