rewarming leftovers...

I used to not be much of a challenge or adventure guy. I was always the spectator on the sidelines. All that got changed a couple of years ago when God called me to this crazy thing that was very far from anything I would ever do...or even consider. It was called THE RIDEWELL BIKE TOUR. Yeah, a bicycle tour across America. Did you hear that "across Ameica" part? Me God? You're kidding, God? Right? No He wasn't and it happened and I did it and my life was forever changed over the course of a summer one pedal stroke at a time. Well...as they say,"Here we go again". Yes it's true. I am going on another amazing bike ride this summer, only in a different direction literally and figuratively.I am not going across the US, I am going from south to north. I will be biking THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD BIKE TOUR from Mobile Alabama to Buffalo New York, a total of about 1808 miles.
The Underground Railroad Tour starts in one of the dominate slave ports in American history and follows the "Freedom Trail" by tracing the rivers and routes of freedom seekers from the deep south to the free land in the north.
The team will stop in churches and communities en route to raise support and enlist "Freedom Partners" for International Justice Mission, a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice system
This hisorically important route witnessed countless numbers of slaves following landmarks and signs and being helped by "conductors" on their way to freedom. However, even more important that the sheer historical significance and the thousands of people that will be made aware of the issues of Human Trafficking/Modern Slavery, there is a bigger reason I am doing this epic ride. In Isaiah 61:1 it says,
" The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners..."
It's pretty clear to me that as a follower of Christ that I under a mandate to do exactly what it says in Isaiah 61:1. I love the "proclaim freedom for the captives" part. To proclaim something means to declare publicly, typically insistently, proudly, or defiantly and to praise or glorify openly or publicly. I can't keep from thinking how much things have changed in the never ending struggle against oppression and slavery and yet they haven't changed at all. We have a long way to go and there is always hope. Our goal on this ride is not only increasing awareness but to restore hope and the belief that things can be changed by joining our voices together in the call for social justice. I urge you to join us in any manner possible to support this cause. One of the most important ways you an support us is to pray. In James 5:16 it says, "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results". I know that it works and witnessed it many times on THE RIDEWELL BIKE TOUR where prayer moved some mighty big mountains. So, the challenging road lies ahead and I can hardly wait to see what's going to happen this summer...God is going to be busy...real busy.