Russia (MNN) — 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.
