Russia man builds church of snow for village without chapel

SOSNOVKA, Russia -- A village in Siberia that did not have a church until this winter is getting a lesson in faith and life’s ephemeral nature.
Sosnovka resident Alexander Batyokhtin spent nearly two months building a village church entirely out of snow. The structure will vanish with the season.
Batyokhtin worked on the chapel every day, even when temperatures plunged below minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit. He used 424 cubic feet of snow to make it.

Batyokhtin says the work wasn’t difficult. His biggest challenges were fashioning the altar and a cross for the roof.
“The main thing is to say a prayer and keep a fast for some time, then just go and do it,” he says.
Sosnovka administrator Yuriy Kirsh says the church “means a lot to our hearts and souls” despite being temporary.