Finnish summer nights are bright and allow you to ride 24/7, but when the winter comes most of us lock the bikes in the basement and start dreaming of streets free of ice and summer that never ends. God has blessed us with many new, active members on the past year and God has given us the winter time to study the Bible and CMA member training material together. God brought us back to the foundation He has set, by reminding us to "preach the Gospel, the Gospel of blood of Jesus, to keep His Word and His Truth and our plans will flourish". He also told us to get rid of any manacles we have chosen to wear, that will only slow us down on His narrow road. What a wonderful message. I don't think any of us would like to have a truckload of stones strapped on the back seat when trying to follow our Savior through the last corner of Ahvenisto circuit or Laguna Seca raceway!

Our prayer now is that God will continue equip us to serve and get connected with the local riding groups, racing clubs and MCs and put us in a neutral position in the genre. Then there won't be any barriers for Good news when the time comes people will start looking for Christ. Although a small country, Finland has also many Christian clubs, like Gospel Riders, Sons of Abraham, MC Preachers, God's Squad CMC and Ambassadors for Jesus Christ. We are praying that God would deepen our relationship with our brothers and sisters so that we love each other and can be a blessing to each other.

We are also praying for the following summer. We have already planned and booked several events in Finland and southern Europe. In April we will have a CMA booth in motorcycle show in Jyväskylä, Finland and we'll give away biker bibles to the visitors and candy bars to their children because Christ loved us first! In May we'll have a group of about ten participate CMA Balkans Conference in Split, Croatia. But on our way there, we will visit Kosovo. Matti has planned a mission trip to Prishtine, the capital of Kosovo and his current home town Tirana, Albania. There are lot of muslims in those countries, so we are praying that God would open their eyes so that they would start seeking for Christ instead of man-made rules of prayer and fasting. God has also prepared some of our members to visit Finnish prisons regularly, seeking for lost sheep of our Father, allowing us all to be part of their prison ministry team in prayers. And because of their experience and ministry, we are hoping to be able to visit prisons in Kosovo during the trip to the Balkans.

In June 10th, Viki, one of our Iron Butt Association enthusiasts is planning to compete in the Scandinavian IBA rally, hosted in Kuopio, eastern Finland. Let's pray that he will shine the light of Jesus throughout the whole 24 hour competition and the preparations for the rally. In July, Imatra, small Finnish southeastern town will host International Road Racing Championship event that will double it's population for the race weekend. We are hoping to reach the visitors and local bikers with the Gospel.

Remember my comment about Finns who hide the bike for the winter? There's an exception, biker who doesn't care if it's 30 degrees plus or minus outside. That's our guy, Veli-Pekka. You want to have him in your riding group if you are planning a ride in arctic conditions. He has hosted several winter rallies and his active riding season starts when the water starts turning into ice. We are asking for your prayers for his winter rallies, like ABBM (Aurora Borealis Biker Meeting) and Finnish Winter War memorial run that reminds arctic bikers about God's protection for Finland during World War II.

We are also asking for your prayers for our brothers and sisters in CMA Latvia as they will be hosting EMC Rally (European Motorcyclists for Christ) event near Riga, Latvia in August. There will probably be lots of visitor from Finland too, since you can ride to Latvia in one day from Finland.

May God bless you!

Tero, CMA Finland, Jyväskylä chapter treasurer