HISTORY
Swedes moved into the region in the early days, Peter the Great defeated the Swedes and captured the outposts at the mouth of the Neva River in May 1703.  He founded the Peter and Paul Fortress and named the city Sankt Pieter Burkh after his patron saint. The Swedish prisoners of war and the local peasants became the forced laborers who were used to build the city. Architects and artisans were also invited from all over the Europe to help do the planning and design. In 1712, Peter the Great made the place his capital, and with his reformed mind, he accumulated and moved the Russian's resource into this city to compete on the equal term with the West.  This successfully turned the nation into the most powerful state of the day.

For the following century, under the rule of Empress Elizabeth, Catherine the Great and Alexander I. St. Petersburg became one of the grandest of Europe's capitals. Notable was Catherine the Great, born on 2 May 1729 to a German prince of Anhaltzerbst.  At 15, she was married to Peter III, and after Peter's assassination in 1762 she became ruler of Russia. Catherine's love of culture and extraordinary generosity pushed Russia to be further westernized. Her vast collection of paintings and architectural commissioning brought various European architecture styles into St. Petersburg on a grand scale.

Alexander I, Catherine's favorite grandson, took over the reign after Catherine's death in 1796.  He defeated Napoleon's Grand Army of more than half a million in 1812: the Russian troop pursued them all the way to France, and Alexander rode on a white horse triumphantly on the march into Paris. Nicholas I took the throne after Alexander's unexpected death in 1825. Nicholas's son Alexander II- “the Great Reformer” put an end to the Crimean War in 1855 and started the reform which engaged it on all levels of society. During this period of time, Russia expanded its territory into Central Asia and East Asia, built a port in the Far East side of Pacific coast named Vladivostok, and sold the “worthless” land of Alaskan Territory to the US for $7.2 million in 1867.

In 1904, Japan attacked Russian Pacific navy station Port Arthur, which resulted in the Russo-Japanese War.   It was humiliating and devastating to the Russians. The Russian navy was nearly eliminated, on top of this, Tsar Nicholas II used the traditional human wave strategy for engaging in military offences: the butchering of young Russians in the battlefields.  This caused a huge political upraising in St. Petersburg that was the beginning of a series of revolutions. Afterwards, millions of lives were lost in the unpopular war of WWI.  The troops returning from the frontline were morally deprived, and brought along with it a breaking down in the chain of command.  The 1917 Revolution then started.  This, combined with the workers' strike in the city, forced the Nicholas II to give up the throne. The Tsar, his wife and 5 children were later murdered and buried in a mass grave.   The city was renamed Leningrad after Vladimir Lenin's death in 1924. 

Nazi Germany attacked the USSR in 1941, and in two and a half months, the German troop reached Leningrad. Hitler hated this city because it was the birthplace of Bolshevism, the communist party, and therefore he swore to wipe the city flat. The shelling, starvation and diseases in the "900-day Siege" caused nearly one million deaths. Russian Troops coming down from Siberia rescued the city on January 27, 1944. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster in April 1986, fueled the fire of political restructure, Gorbachev's Perestroika (reform) policy precipitated the fall of the once mighty Soviet Union. With the independence of the satellite states in the Eastern Europe in1989, it also brought down the Soviet Union. The city renamed St. Petersburg voted by its residents in June 1991.

CULTURE
Exposed to the Gulf of Finland, the winter temperature is about 10F, and the summer averages 75F. It comes with long days in the summer with only 3-4 hours of nighttime darkness, and in the winter, the city appears to be constantly in dusk.  The charming waterways and the breathtaking cityscape make St. Petersburg a city unlike any other in Europe. Near two hundred years as the Russia's state capital, the city often takes the visitors by surprise by its wealth of cultural treasure, including the colossal monuments and grand beauty of the structures.

The ballet was introduced to Russia in the 17th century; it combined with Russian folk and peasant dances to form a unique Russian style ballet. St. Petersburg's Imperial School of Ballet is one of the world's most reputable dance schools.  Anna Pavlova was born in St. Petersburg in 1881, after graduating at 18, she first danced at the famous Mariinsky Theatre.  In the next 10 years, she became the most exciting performer in choreographed productions the world ever seen. She danced in Paris in 1909 and stunned the world by her light-as-air grace. She traveled around the world in early 20th century with the well-known "The Dying Swan" which was especially written for her. She was also credited for bringing ballet to the U.S.

Classic Russian music is made up of the choir of mixed folk song and Orthodox Church chants. Peter the Great and Catherine the Great brought in Western classical music and held weekly concerts to entertain the nobles.  This made St. Petersburg the birthplace of the Russian opera. "A life for the Tsar" and "Queen of Spades" --famous plays that were performed in the 19th century--both merged the Russian traditions with western influences.

In the summer of 2003, the 300^th anniversary of the birth of St. Petersburg will be celebrated.  A series of festivals, concerts, sports, special events and merry-making on a large scale will go for the entire year. President Vladmir Putin who was originally from St. Petersburg will be personally overseeing the completion of the restoration of the city with billions of dollars, and lead the most enthusiastically celebrated birthday ever.

OUR MISSION
The collapse of Soviet Union in 1990 without bloodshed was a blessing to the millions of Russian people, and a direct answer to prayers of many Christians in the world. After the cold war, Russia is still a proud but despairing nation, the government is facing a daunting task to pull the nation's economy back to a stable level. Now, the Bible is widely available and the Gospel can be freely preached, but there are millions of unreached people through out the regions.  Continual prayer for this nation is critical to maintaining a democratic government and to keep the freedom of religion flowing.

We will form several teams to work with many churches in the city of St. Petersburg area, and teach English to the Russian students of various ages. Please come with your love and prayerful hearts, and join us to reach out to the new generation of Russians!

Full country name: Russian Federation
Area: 17 million sq km (6,563,706 sq mi)
Population: 147 million (growth rate -0.3%)
Capital city: Moscow (pop 9 million)
People: 81% Russian, 4% Tatar, 3% Ukrainian and numerous ethnic minorities
Language: Russian
Religion: Russian Orthodox, Islam, Animist
Government: Federation
President: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin
Free market reform has not been kind to Russia. Production and investment are in diabolical decline due to uncertainty induced by both the pace of change and the suspicions born of endemic and insidious corruption. Some 40 million people languish below the poverty line.
GDP: US$600 billion
GDP per head:US$4000
Annual growth: -5%
Inflation: 84%
Major industries: Oil, coal, iron ore, timber
Major trading partners: EU (esp. Germany), Belarus, Ukraine, USA

Note: Basic Russian language will be taught by our Russian teacher, the course will be included in the total 20 hours of mission training.

Source: Lonely Planet & St. Petersburg