Day 18: REST DAY

Miles on the pavement: 0

REST DAY Activities:
As expected, we did a whole lotta nothing. And that was great. It was a real treat for sure.
I did actually go on a 35 minute run. Yeah, that was actually pretty painful. Not sure what I was thinking on that one. But, it was good to get out. The best part of the day, however, was having the opportunity to jet over the border to WA to catch a little shade next to the Columbia River at a park. Great downtime.

Here is our rest day video of the day CLICK HERE

Tomorrow's Ride: 105 (Umatilla to The Dalles)
# of days left on HR 2010: 4
# of miles: about 290 miles
# of beds that I've slept in the past 17 days: 14

Here are some thoughts about HR2010 that I've been wanting to share.

WHY ARE YOU HELPING PEOPLE IN A FAR AWAY PLACE WHEN THERE'S PEOPLE WHO NEED HELP HERE IN THE U.S.?

This is a question that I’ve heard from time to time, and I wanted to touch on it briefly. I was recently in a discussion with a family member who asked me when I was going to do something to help people out in the United States. Still, after three Hunger Rides, clarification was needed for this person as to why I would be concerned about a group of people living in another country 3000+ miles away. I remember riding my bike through Kansas on the 06’ trip and a lady in the diner we were eating at said, “we shouldn’t help people overseas until all the people in the U.S. are helped.” I remember being so awestruck at the ignorance of that statement that I sat there confused and silent. I was unable to respond in the moment. So, how should we respond to this question?
To put it another way, why would my school, Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch,CO, take 15+ students thousands of miles away for the past two summers when there are people just a few miles down the road that need help? Well, the reality is that anywhere you go, in all of our respective communities, there are people in who are poor, sick, and in great need. For the follower of Jesus Christ, I think the critical question to be answered is, “How does God want me to look at the world we live in….whether that be in Denver, Memphis, Milwaukee or Nairobi, Kampala or Addis Ababa?” I think the short answer, stemming from 1 Cor 12, Matt 28:18 and Acts 1:8 is that we are to have His (Christ) eyes, His ears and we are to be His hands and His feet. I should seek to have God’s heart and see the world that He does. Unfortunately, I myself am an idiot most of the time and I do not do this. It’s pretty hard. Lots of distractions. A good friend of mine from high school had this for a senior quote “We are never so empty when we are full of self.” Wow. It's funny how that quote has stayed in my head some 14 years later. How many times have I lived that out and felt that weight, consequences emptiness of that statement. That’s why I’m grateful for the Holy Spirit, who enlightens me to my selfishness, enables me to escape the futility of that black hole and empowers me to be the hands and feet of Christ. The truth is that Christ no longer physically lives on this earth as he did 2,000 years ago, but His presence is felt and His kingdom made known as He indwells those who are His followers as they seek to be His body and be salt and light. God is here among us. Most importantly, from those passages we learn that God’s heart is for the whole gospel to be taken to the ends of the earth. All nations. All people groups. Everywhere on this earth. Meeting all forms of poverty –physical, spiritual, relational…that’s the whole gospel. It’s amazing to me how the very first people that Christ takes the gospel to in Luke 4 is not the religious, the upper class or even the most intelligent. He first brings the gospel to the poor. We learn from the beginning of Christ's ministry how much God values, loves and cares for those who, in many cases, do not have a voice for themselves. Richard Sterns, in his book "The Hole in our Gospel" notes how times have greatly changed in the past few decades. To paraphrase his words, he makes the point that we now have greater AWARENESS of what’s really happening in developing countries like Uganda and Kenya-two places that Valor has traveled to these past couple years. And he notes how we have greater ACCESS & ABILITY (i.e. I can fly to Africa in about 28 hours…. I could not have done that several decades ago.) than we’ve ever had before. Put very simply, we have a greater responsibility more than ever before to be concerned of what’s going on in far away places. There are numerous occasions in scripture where we are commanded to love, serve, and be of help to the poor. In fact, that’s the main point on Sterns book. He says that if you were to take the couple thousand passages of scriptures that have to do with the poor out of your Bible, you would have a huge hole!
So, back to the question. What should we do?
Well, when we talk of physical poverty in the U.S. in relation to physical poverty overseas, we are talking about two very different realities. It's of some value to note that EVEN THE POOREST PEOPLE IN THE U.S. ARE IN THE TOP 20% OF THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. That’s pretty crazy if you think about it. But what exactly does that mean?
I think that there are people who obviously do need help in the U.S., and we should seek to be aware and be committed to action to help these people. In the same token, certainly God calls people to different missions in different places.
As far as Hunger Ride 2010 goes, we were made aware last summer of a very big need in a community that Valor has more or less adopted for the time being in Uganda. The need is for people to have access to medical care in a very remote area of Uganda that most people have not heard of called Tikoling. Most people in Tikoling have to walk hours up to 6 hours to get medical treatment. Our hope is that in a few months, maybe by the end of this year, they would no longer have to walk that far. Our hope is that common colds, sicknesses and diseases could be treated in their own community. Mothers could receive pre and post natal treatments. Babies could have the opportunity to grow up healthy. Families would stay strong. We wanted to respond to this call. At the end of the day, that's what this bike trip is really about. Hopefully this ride has now made you aware. The reality is, as a good friend of mine once said, the very most that we can give, whether that be of our time or resources, in light of what Christ has done for us, is really the least that we can do. In light of what Christ has done for me, the least that I could do is spend part of my summer riding a bike to make people aware of the needs of Tikoling. Man, HE's blessed my socks off.

My hope is that you may have been encouraged or challenged to do one or more of the following.....

1. Become more AWARE about needs in developing countries around the world.
2. Become more familiar with quality organizations like Food for the Hungry (www.fh.org) and the work that they are doing around the world and take the initiative to partner with their work!
2. GIVE of your time and/or resources as God leads you.
3. GO to Africa or a developing country and give of your time and energy.
4. Be TRANSFORMED and live a life that Christ calls us to live.