Waking the Bearshining a bright light in the eyes of hibernating young Russians

August 2007Fast FactsTwo mountain bike trips. 4 guys from the Sam Houston University Chi Alpha who worked their fingers into nubs. 30 guys total. Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists, Followers of Christ. Russians, Americans, Iranians, Syrians, Chechnyans, Balkars, Kabardins, Circassians, Kalmykians and other people groups I wouldn’t know about either, if I didn’t live here. 240 kilometers biked together, 12 meals shared, 3 nights under the stars, lots of campfires and conversations. Allah, Jesus, God, Mohammed, Buddha, Terrorism, Economies, Suffering, Dental School, Jesus, Women, Suffering, George Bush, Vladimr Putin, Jesus, Mohammed, Jesus... 3 flat van tires, numerous flat bike tires, 3 wipe outs, no major injuries. Stopped 7 times by the police, once by the Russian border patrol, no tickets and no bribes. Hours of purifying water a liter at a time for 30 guys, too much Top Ramen. Zero toilets. 4 check points. One nuclear radiation scare.

Props to Bike Buyers and Chi Alpha, Huntsville TexasThanks to those of you who bought bikes and to the SHU Chi Alpha these sweet trips happened and will con-tinue. Just the right amount of funds came in for us to buy/or fix up 10 quality mountain bikes. If you were one who gave, know that your gift made it happen, not a dollar more came in as excess. Our prayer is that the Lord will stretch your gas mileage as a reward for your willingness to invest during these tight times in that which pro-duces eternal dividends. Thanks for looking beyond today. To the Chi Alpha newly-radiated “fallout boys”, Will, Queck, Jake and the Gentle Giant Johnny. Props from “80’s guy” for giving your time, your own money, your own possessions, your hearts, your shins and calves, your bikes, your love, leaving your homes and making us home for 2 weeks. What you did counts for King and Kingdom. Let’s do it again, soon.

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Short Term in the Long RunOkay, this is cool. The students here loved the Chi Alpha guys. I mean these four guys: Will, with the hair that stood up straight, rain or shine, night or day and a willingness to ride at the back of the pack to help the stragglers. Queck, with the coolest and fastest camping equipment ever sold by REI and letting any joker test/try it. Jake, always ready to entertain with a back flip off of anything...bridge, waterfall, tree limb, old foundation, the ground...and who was always willing to get his hands in the dirty work of wrapping and bandag-ing the raw and bleeding parts of our Russian friends. And last, the leader Johnny, who is a hybrid of McGyver, Grizzly Adams and Johnny Knoxville with Christian charisma to boot. They made these young Russian students feel valued. So, here’s what’s so cool about it all; these students loved being loved. You could just see it in their eyes every time Johnny and the guys cooked a meal over the “Jet Boil”,

wrapped an ace bandage, refilled an empty water bottle with purified cool stream water and handed it back to thirsty hands. It was made clear that these guys found joy in serving because Christ had done a work in their lives and self was no longer the center of their world. So, how does Short Term Missions fit into the long run of things? Denis, an 18 year-old student whom I have written about in previous newsletters, the one who con-siders himself a “man of science”, an Atheist who is going to college for a year in San Angelo Texas. The Chi Alpha guys

have already connected us with the Chi Alpha on that campus who are now going to have the joy of loving on Denis for a year in Texas. Please pray with us that this is a life-changing year for Denis and for the Chi Alpha students in San Angelo who are going to do missions in their own backyard.

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Steve & Christine HayesMaddie, Cady, Aubrie & Brooklyn

email Russia@blepo.comblog http://hayeshere.blogspot.com

telephone 7-960-497-35-11Krasnodar, Russia

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