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Russia-This summer, Mayerbek Kusov will do something he never thought he would do: travel to Grozny, Chechnya, to help run an evangelistic summer camp with Russian Ministries.Almost four years ago, some of Kusov's friends and his youngest sister Fatima died when Chechen Muslim terrorists attacked School No.1 in Beslan, Russia, and killed over 300 people.Kusov and his friends wanted nothing more than revenge on the Chechens."This is part of our tradition, a sort of law-blood should be repaid with enemy's blood," he explains.But Kusov was in for a surprise when he attended a concert and discussion at the youth ministry center Russian Ministries opened in Beslan after the school tragedy. He learned that Marina and Allen, two Next Generation leaders, were going to Chechnya to minister to the people suffering from the warfare there."I was stunned as they told us that forgiving one's enemies was a lot more difficult but more noble than taking revenge and living only to make plans on how to repay enemies with the same evil," said Kusov. "My Christian friends did go on a mission to Chechnya, but it was not the mission my other friends and I always planned for-a mission to kill Chechen children since they killed children in our school."Marina and Allen organized a summer camp for children in Chechnya. At first the Chechens feared that the youth from Beslan had come to harm them, Kusov said, but they were astonished when they realized that the Christians had come only to share love and kindness with them.Kusov continued visiting Marina and Allen, and his conversations with them deepened.Eventually, he gave his life to Christ. Now, Kusov himself is going to Chechnya to share the forgiveness of Christ with his enemies."God's love is powerful! His love is more powerful than evil!" he says.As in the days of Noah...
