The Great Outdoors

I am very privileged in that sometimes I get to do really fun things as a part of my job.  Just over a week ago I had one of those experiences.  Some of the guys in our church here have been using outdoor ministry activities like hiking and biking trips to do outreach and to challenge Christians to grow in their faith.  We have been talking for a while about trying to expand on that to possibly use activities like fishing, hunting and rafting as well.  So four of us from the church, and a friend of mine, headed out on a trial rafting/fishing/hunting trip, to see if this would be within our capabilities and to evaluate what, if anything, else might be needed.  

Directly after the church camp on Baikal we drove to a nearby village where one of the guys, Denis's, parents live.  We enjoyed a nice banya (Russian sauna) complete with a couple of 100 yard jogs down to the river to cool off in the middle, and the great hospitality of Denis's parents including some great fresh strawberries and vegetables from their garden.

The next morning we all piled into Denis's car and drove over 70 miles on dirt roads all stuffed in.  The car is small and we ended up taking out the back seat to have a little more room.  We were cramped and the roads were bumpy, but the weather was beautiful and we were all happy and excited about getting to the river to start our trip.

Here is a picture of the car.  The five of us and Denis's dad were piled in the car and all of our gear and the rafts were piled in the trailer.  Thankfully we stopped a few times to stretch our legs and get a break from the back of the car.

When we got to our launch site we cooked up a lunch and fed Denis's dad who graciously dropped us off and headed back for home with the car.  Please continue to pray for him as he has strong doubts that there is any life after death.  

After eating lunch, inflating the rafts, and arranging all our gear we gathered up and hit the river.  

The weather on that first day was ideal.  We did a little fishing on our way, but because we ended up starting further up river that we had originally planned (we ended up floating a total of over 50 miles) we decided to do more floating than fishing.  It was pretty fun too, as the first day we went through a number of rapids.  The only problem is that we didn't have our stuff packed the best and almost everything got wet.  Most of it wasn't a big deal, but the water did get into some of our food that we thought was sealed okay so we ended up throwing away some wet noodles and other things.  It also ended up being a bit expensive for me as I had my cell phone and car alarm in my pocket and they both got ruined.  I was worried that our new camera was ruined as the ziplock bag protecting it got a hole in it and some moisture got in, but thankfully it is working great after drying out.

We were in some beautiful areas of wilderness, and it was fun to get away from the city for a while.  There were a few logging camps and quite a bit of logging activity in the area which reminded me of growing up in Darrington.  

Here we are at a temporary bridge that was put up for a logging operation.  This was already the second day and the weather began to turn cooler and cloudy.  We pushed it hard this day, and didn't do a lot of fishing as we went because we had a goal of getting to a place down the river where Denis had fished before and where he knew of some old tree stands he hoped to use for hunting.  When we got there the fish weren't biting and the tree stands had fallen apart, but we had a great time floating the river anyhow.  

One of the best parts of this trip was having my friend Grisha along.  He and I shared a raft while all the others had their own.  I met him years ago when I was first in Ulan-Ude and we were both single.  Now we are both married and have children.  He has had connections to church over the years, but has never really dedicated himself to following Jesus.  We ended up having some great conversations about life and fatherhood and our childhoods and family and friends and I shared my testimony with him in a new way.  I hope that his heart will be ready to fully follow Jesus soon.

After the first 1 1/2 days of rushing down the river the plan was to take it slower and do more fishing for the next two days, but the weather turned on us and we had some pretty strong rain bursts that we went through, so we decided to cut the trip short and push our way down stream quickly again on the third day.  This was the best day for seeing wildlife though as we saw a small siberian roe deer before the rain started and a bunch of ducks with their ducklings too.  The crazy thing with seeing the deer was that I turned around and told Grisha that that was the first deer I'd seen in Russia, and he replied, "me too!"  There is a distinct lack of wildlife anywhere near civilization here in Siberia.

Here are the guys all ready to go on the third morning.  We feel like we learned a bit on this trip and are ready to do more with using these outdoor activities to develop relationships and create opportunities to share the good news of our Creator with guys here in Siberia.  In the midst of this wild land getting out into nature is so highly valued and enjoyed so we are happy to continue to see how we can use this draw to help people see the wonderful Designer of it all.