Last week, a man on a bicycle left Washington, D.C. He plans to arrive in Fort Collins, Colorado, by July 18. Our team is playing a small role in this journey.
He’s carrying all he thinks he’ll need, including camping gear and a bike repair kit. He plans to ride about 60 miles a day, day after day, for almost six weeks. (I’m impressed. I recently biked 60 miles in one day, and I had no interest in getting on my bike the next day.)
A couple weeks ago, I got an email asking if our team of writers and editors would help raise the profile of a little-known part of Cru. Dennis plans to bike almost 2,000 miles doing a kind of bike-a-thon to raise money. Along the way, he hopes to post online updates. But as he’d be on his own and not carrying a laptop, he would need help with those updates.
Unlike most Cru fundraising efforts, this one is asking Cru staff members to give. The part of Cru he’s already begun raising money for, the Ethnic Ministry Fund, provides matching funds to help those from different ethnicities reach their ministry locations. Staff members from minority cultures often find fundraising more challenging than those who are part of the majority.
Dennis, like many of us, sees this need as crucial to Cru’s long-term success. So, as he thought about riding a long distance, he decided he wanted to help meet this need.
For our team, this work will be a stretch. Typically, it takes a few months to prepare an issue of Cru Storylines, as it always did for the magazine. For this project, we need to work fast, doing several updates on a webpage for Cru staff members each week. We’re building a new set of skills that will help our future work.
That will be challenging, but that’s the easy part. Dennis is doing the hard part. If you’re somewhere between D.C. and Fort Collins over the next few weeks, keep an eye out for our Cru bike rider.
As you think of us, please pray for safety and health for Dennis as he travels and for the fund to benefit from his work. Pray for me and our team to effectively communicate the progress of Dennis’ ride. And pray for Anne Marie as she continues adjusting to her new role with the International School Project.
We’re grateful for your generosity, prayers and friendship.
— Mark, for the Winzes —