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Ride Raises $7,000 for 'Bikes for Congo' Project
By Dennis Carlson
ST. PAUL, MN (August 19, 2004) - Eleven bicyclists earlier this month
completed a three-day 230-mile bike ride at the steps of the Minnesota
state capital building, raising more than $7,000 for the "Bikes for
Congo" project.
Each cyclist was asked to raise at least $250 - the cost of one bicycle
- in pledges for the event. The ride began at the Covenant church in
Biwabik on the Iron Range of northern Minnesota and ended with dinner
at Elim Covenant in St. Paul. In Biwabik (top photo), pastor Jeffrey
Jones greeted the group before their overnight stay. "The City of
Biwabik helped us with their sleeping pads," Jones said, noting the
group was able to shower and enjoy breakfast (prepared by Biwabik
volunteers) before heading to Mahtowa. The 90-mile first day finished at
Covenant Park Bible Camp south of Duluth, where pastor Don Johnson of
Salem Covenant in New Brighton greeted riders and thanked them for their
effort (Salem is spearheading the overall Bikes for Congo project).
"They were tired and sun-burned, but excited about the project," said
Johnson. "They are helping in a big way." Salem Covenant had championed
a parallel bike project for Congo 10 years ago. Bicycles used in Congo
not only fall victim to wear and tear brought about by a terribly
deteriorated road system, but they also are targets for thieves
operating amidst the chaos of looting that has been prevalent during
recent years of civil war. Peace and order have returned to the
northwestern area of Congo where the Covenant works, so at the request
of the former president of the Covenant Church of Congo, Gbuda Luyada,
Salem reactivated the bikes project. With funds raised from this ride,
Salem is well past the half way mark towards reaching its goal of
$25,000 to purchase 100 new bikes. The bikes will actually be purchased
in Kinshasa not only to avoid the cost of shipping, but also to help the
Congo national economy and assure a convenient source for spare parts.
The second day took the group nearly 80 miles to the south where Harris
Covenant Church and youth pastor J.J. Johnson welcomed them for an
overnight stay (lower photo). Former Congo missionaries from the church,
Ken and Adina Wicklund, shared their experiences in Congo following
dinner. Nearly half of the overall ride utilized a series of Minnesota's
extensive bike-trail system - the last day's 60-mile ride followed the
Gateway Trail from rural Stillwater into downtown St. Paul.
Riders came from Covenant churches in Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
It was an inter-generational event with two riders in their twenties and
thirties, three in their forties and four in their fifties. A father-son
team rode as did school teachers, a truck driver, a lawyer, a
businessman, a pastor and a missionary. Youth pastor Paul Langmade of
International Falls, Minnesota, organized this particular ride after
seeing information about the "Bikes for Congo" project posted on a
bulletin board at Salem Covenant while attending a youth pastors
training event there earlier this year. "Hopefully this ride can
encourage others to organize similar events where they can help raise
funds for needed mission projects like this," said Langmade. Covenant
missionary Dennis Carlson also participated in the ride. Carlson served
in Congo (then Zaire) when the first bicycles were dedicated in 1996 at
the Congo Covenant Church headquarters in Gemena. "I know personally
many of the pastors who will be benefiting from this much-needed
project," Carlson encouraged the riders. "The support shown by the
Covenant churches in Biwabik, Harris and Elim, St. Paul and Covenant
Park Bible Camp, in helping host this group has been tremendous," he
added.
During the second day of riding, the group encountered another cyclist
and invited him to join the group for lunch after riding together for a
couple of hours. Before leaving, he pulled out his checkbook and made a
contribution to the project. At the same lunch stop in Hinckley,
Minnesota, the group also made friends with an older man who at one time
was a state horseshoe pitching champion – he also contributed to the
cause. At the end of the same day, they met another individual who said
he knew a Methodist missionary in Congo - he made a generous cash
contribution on the spot. On the last day, the group met 77-year-old
Bernie who was stuck along the shoulder of the road with a flat bike
tire and no patch kit. Within minutes of some quick repair work, the
group had Bernie up and rolling again. "We really had great fellowship
along the way with devotional times each morning and evening," Carlson
noted. "Plus, some of these guys were natural evangelists and Good
Samaritans as well."
To learn more about the Bikes for Congo project, contact Johnson at
Salem Covenant by email at djohnson@salemcov.org or by telephone at
651-633-9615, extension 13.
(Editor's note: Dennis Carlson is a Covenant missionary in Oaxaca,
Mexico, who is on home assignment in Minnesota.)
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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