samwise the brave

its been a incredible couple of days.  sorry for the silence here, but there just wasn’t enough time to get it all done….and  the need for sleep and recovery was shall we say…very necessary.

marshall, ar to newport ar

on tuesday we set out from marshall, ar on what would be our first century ride.  it actually was about 102 miles to the church in new port.

there was a sobering moment at 2:42 pm cst as we hit the 162 mile mark…we had traveled one mile for each life that was lost in joplin, mo.

riding along side pastor aaron has added so much more to this effort.  hearing stories of how he is continuing to process through what no seminary training can ever prepare a person for.  his resolve and leadership are a huge encouragement to each one of us on the team.

if you want to know more about the team, please jump over  here to the venture expedition blog. the age range of the 13 members is 22 to 65.  the sense of our common mission/purpose has leveraged  all of our energies.  there have been some hard moments, even for those that are experienced cyclists…but together we’re pushing through it.  i love the encouragement that we are able to offer each other.

day 4 - newport, ar to olive branch, ms

we also ended up doing another 100 mile ride on day 4…it was 95 miles when we got to life fellowship in olive branch, ms…and 4 of us…steve, jay, jeff and myself decided another 5 miles plus would be worth the effort just to log a back to back century ride.  the 2nd century was much easier…as the topography from newport, ar to olive branch, ms was much more enjoyable.  plus the goal of memphis bbq after the student ministry at life fellowship UP .  it was great to connect back home with the EVO students hanging at the outpost.

today, day 5 (thursday

Ride Day 2 - 75 miles

we headed out of branson about  8:45 am headed towards our day’s destination about 75 miles down the road at marshall, ar.  it was an incredibly beautiful fall morning.  a little chilly, but a great day for a ride.  was real thrilled about heading down I-65, but that’s what it was.  for three of us, aaron brown-pastor at st paul’s joplin, mo, brad godwin-catalyst dallas and myself it would be the longest ride we’ve made at one time.  all three of us aren’t cyclists and have been training about as long.  tomorrow will be a milestone too, for the three of us as well as a few others as we’ve got about 101 miles to ride.  a couple of step hills, but fortunately an easier day.  for avid cyclists an 100 mile ride is called a “century” and will be fun to have that accomplishment together as a team for the Present:Hope Tour

today i found myself thinking alot about those folks who pushed through the horrors of those days in april and may when towns like tuscaloosa and joplin were forever change.

the sign in front of joplin high school

on image that i’ve got in my mind is a picture from the sign in front of the Joplin High School.  When we went on the ride on Saturday, we came in from the west and rode around the front of the school on the north side.  it was an interesting sight to see how the students had renamed their school by dropping a couple of letters and adding others to rename it: Hope.  That seems to be the going thread.  no matter what may come our way in life our response to it is everything.  when we met with the survivors of the joplin disaster, one of the folks we talked to with is Jason.  he lost his bride of a couple of decades.  Jason was very clear that though he didn’t completely understand what happen…he said he was numb…he knew this much: LIFE wins!  those words have been rolling around my head especially today as we were rolling down the road.

there was lots of great conversation and encouragement as we pushed along today.  the hills were killers.  even on our experienced riders like Gunnar Johnson (a pastor from dallas, tx) said it was an particularly hard day.  we climbed over 4,300 ft.  (yeah!)

yet i loved this quote from another rider, Nina Kee…

ok…for tuesday….the question we’re working through on the ride is “What wrecks you?” (hopefully that has nothing to do with accidents!) what things take your joy and what is your response?  i’m praying that it might be like that from Jason at St Paul’s UMC in joplin...make sure “life wins!” its that idea of wrecking why i’m part of this team. having seen the destruction in Pleasant Grove in june and this past saturday in joplin first hand…i had to do something.   grateful to those that invested to make it so.  this is work….hard work…but knowing that we are leveraging awareness for those impacted by the tornadoes is so worth it.

on another note, the team has raised in excess of $45,000 for the rebuilding effort.  there’s still more to be done.  if you’re interested in helping leverage our friends at convoy of hope…click on their name.

its going to be a bit warmer today..when we leave out around 7 am…its going to be 51 with a higher later in the day of 77.  please keep praying…and leave a comment…your engagement is a huge encouragement to me and the team.  blessings!

9.25.01 - Ride Day 1- Joplin/Springfield to Branson

and so this adventure truly begins. the team split up with some staying in joplin to ride out from St Paul UMC with Pastor Aaron Brown and the rest of us left from Springfield with a team of 8 young men who are on a team of cyclists sponosored by Convoy of Hope.  both teams enjoyed a amazing of worship with these two congregations and huge encouragement as we shared during the service and then were prayed over for safety and protection.

the trip from springfield to branson is about 45 miles.  over incredibly hilly terrain.  for me it was the largest hills

hope community church - springfield, mo worship service

i have encountered yet.  So i was glad (in one sense) that our morning devotion had focused our minds on the idea of wrestling.  i’ll admit there were times when there was a deep seated fear that i wasn’t going to be able to do this.  that sense was leveraged by the fact that the last 25 miles of our ride was straight down the berm of I-65 with the movement of traffic of cars – trucks -buses doing at least 70.  crazy thing i’ve  done yet.

our hosts for the nite in branson is first baptist church.  had the great opportunity to hang with Pastor Mark his students (looking forward to when we launch our student ministry on 10.13)

hanigng with pastor mark and the students at the well- first baptist church - branson, mo

today’s theme is “what is in you?” asking those deep questions about how we’re wired and what talents we can bring to bare to impact the world we live in? today’s prayer focus on for those that are pushing through the mental struggles of having lived through the horrors of those tornadoes.
we’re doing about 75 miles today into akransas. gonna be a cold one…its just 46 degrees right now.