Again!!?

                                                        Reaching the Atlantic Ocean in 2008
Six years ago we wrote a letter with a heading of "You're going to do what!!?" in which we explained our plans to ride our tandem bicycle across America from Seattle to the Atlantic Ocean.

 Our rear tire left the Pacific water on May 25, 2008 and on August 1 we dipped our front tire into the Atlantic. The 3600 miles we pedaled in between were filled with glorious days basking in God's creation,  difficult days of riding through various physical ailments, challenging days of high mountain passes and severe weather, and every  day knowing we were in the prayer of many and the care of God. 

(You can read all about that trip in the 2008 posts below.)

 

The purpose of the ride was to raise funds for scholarships  at Heritage Christian School in Bozeman.  Our desire is that all who would want their children to be educated at Heritage Christian School could afford to send their children to the school.  The first ride brought in about $12,000 to start the RAAM (Ride Across AMerica) Scholarship Endowment Fund from which 12 students have received more than $4,000 in tuition aid in the past five years.  The endowment fund maintains the principal amount and can use only the interest to provide scholarships.  The funds of this endowment are currently at about $16,000, and our plan is to continue to build this fund so that more students and families can be helped in the future. 

We've known since 2008 that we wanted to ride again, this time crossing America from south to north - Gulf of Mexico to Canada. Gerry's pursuit of a Masters degree and a few other events pushed the ride off until this summer of 2014. We are planning to leave Montana right after Heritage dismisses for the summer on May 23, drive our bike and trailer to a spot on the Gulf near Houston  and ride north to cross the Canadian border then back down to Bozeman. The estimated distance is about 2800 miles  and the estimated arrival back at Bozeman is in the middle of July.   

 Our plan for this ride is to have one half of the money raised go towards the RAAM Scholarship Endowment Fund that will continue to provide scholarships in the future.  The other half will go towards the general scholarship funds for the next school year.  Each year there are more needs for scholarship funds than are available and it is our desire that scholarship funds would be available for all who have a need and want to attend Heritage Christian School.  This is one way of allowing God to provide for as many people as possible.

It is encouraging to see the blessing that these scholarships have been to many families. One family wrote, "The scholarship goes a long way in assisting us financially. It is our prayer that the Lord will continue to bless those whom He is using to render this help and the Lord will continue to lift up Heritage Christian School." 

So once again, we are humbly asking... Would you like to partner with us and help us meet this need for scholarship funds by pledging support for the RAAM Scholarship Fund ride?  Every penny that you pledge will be added into the scholarship funds.  Expenses for this bicycle trip will not be paid by your scholarship fund donations or by Heritage Christian School.

We hope that you will follow our blog as we travel across the nation. Thank you for your consideration of this opportunity to serve others.

You can support this trip by contacting Heritage Christian School by clicking on the link on the right.