sea to shining sea

I've been working a lot recently on the Sea-to-Sea Nicaragua trip that is planned for December 29 through January 8. Rather than do a lot of explaining here, you could go to the website I put together and from there get a better idea of what's happening.

I will mention briefly that the whole intention of the ride is to raise funds for Hurricane Felix relief along the northern border of Nicaragua, where the Miskito people lost not only all of their crops, but also all of their seed (among other losses including homes and livestock). Because we had been working in the area previous to the hurricane, we were in a good position to facilitate and organize appropriate relief efforts. We're working in conjunction with Acción Medica Cristiana and The Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) to help the people there get seeds, learn new agricultural techniques, and learn how to cultivate new varieties of plants. That in addition to the health training that was already in place.

I haven't done much fundraising of my own for this even, but each person who is involved in the ride is asked to raise $500 to cover the cost of the trip, as well as $1000 which will go towards relief efforts. The exciting thing is that for the second part, all of the donations are eligable for 4:1 matching by the Canadian goverment through CFGB. If you're interested in donating even 5, 25, 50 dollars or more, your contribution will multiply automatically. For example, a gift of $20, after being matched 4:1 yeilds $100. A gift of $100 yeilds $500. The fundraising goal of the entire event is $100,000 (20 riders raising $1000 + matching funds). Check the "donate" section of the website.

If you'd like to see the profiles page, you'll need a password. That password is "bike me" without a space. Please be selective in how you share this password with others. There is personal information on that page that should not be accessible by just anyone.

Prayer items:

-pray that all of the planning goes smoothly, and that we as organizers have wisdom and forsight in all areas
-pray that the Lord moves in the hearts of people to give so that we will reach our goal
-pray for a successful trip, and health along the way for everyone
-please also pray that the Lord uses those involved and the resources raised to spread his good news and draw others to himself