{"id":1966,"date":"2008-06-09T21:56:29","date_gmt":"2008-06-09T21:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=1966"},"modified":"2010-12-22T12:24:38","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T17:24:38","slug":"6343","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/06\/09\/6343\/","title":{"rendered":"Dead Skunks and 30 Tires Later, Bikers Still Going"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, NV (June 9, 2008) \u2013 Two weeks after leaving San Francisco on a cross-country bicycle trip to raise awareness among Evangelical Covenant Churches about social justice and funding for two ministries, six riders from North Park University are getting their own continuing education, conquering physical fatigue, overcoming numerous flat tires, and deriving spiritual lessons from dead skunks.
\n
\nCovenant News Service spoke with three of the riders on Friday as they rested outside of Austin, Nevada, on the Bob Scott Summit at 7,100 feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like more people are getting interested in issues of justice,\u201d said Eric Landin, one of the trip organizers. Churches that start local ministries of compassion and mercy begin to develop a broader view of justice, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been good for me to ask questions of people who have been struggling with this for some time,\u201d said Emily Johnson. The discussions continue among the riders. \u201cWe just keep learning more about what each other thinks about justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to Landin and Johnson, other participants are Matt Enquist, Andrea Buchanan, Marcus Simmons and Dylan Maysick. Four members of the group attend Covenant congregations: Enquist attends Libertyville Covenant in Libertyville, Illinois; Buchanan attends Prairie Hills Covenant Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Landin attends Zion Covenant Church in Jamestown, New York; and Johnson attends Bethany Covenant Church in Minneapolis. Simmons is from Longview, Texas, and Maysick is from Grand Rapids, Michigan.<\/p>\n

The group began their journey on May 24 from Redwood City, California, outside San Francisco. They already have traveled through California and are making their way through Nevada. They will continue through Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York before concluding in Quincy, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Most of the riders had never done long trips. \u201cI\u2019m still sore, but it\u2019s getting better,\u201d said Simmons. On the group\u2019s blog<\/a>, he wrote after the first day: \u201cIT WAS HARD! IT HURT! I WANTED TO CRY!\u201d<\/p>\n

The group has been getting painful lessons on geography. \u201cWe didn\u2019t realize how mountainous Nevada was,\u201d said Landin. \u201cWe\u2019re doing better in the mountains than we were, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group is learning that cartographers differ on the terrain. \u201cMatt and I have different maps,\u201d Johnson said. Although a sign at the top of Bob Scott Summit states it is 7,200 feet, her map reads 7,100 feet and his reads 7,600 feet. At that altitude, 500 feet makes a big difference, Johnson noted.<\/p>\n

They also are developing their mechanical skills. \u201cWe\u2019re really good at changing tires,\u201d Landin said. They have changed more than 30 already. \u201cThere is so much trash on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group also is gaining spiritual insight in some unexpected ways. On the blog, Johnson wrote that passing several dead skunks on the way led her to consider whom she considers a \u201csmelly nuisance?\u201d<\/p>\n

The students are raising money for Spark Ventures<\/a> and Acirfa Bikes<\/a>. Spark Ventures offers unique ways of sponsoring children in Zambia. Rich Johnson, director of University Ministries at North Park University, is a co-founder. Acirfa is a nonprofit operation providing jobs at a bicycle assembly plant as well as low-cost bicycles in Zambia. Vaughn Spethmann, a member of Clairemont Covenant Church in San Diego, California, is one of the co-founders.<\/p>\n

To read a previously published story on the trip, please see North Park Bikers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, NV (June 9, 2008) \u2013 Two weeks after leaving San Francisco on a cross-country bicycle trip to raise awareness among Evangelical Covenant Churches about social justice and funding for two ministries, six riders from North Park University are getting their own continuing education, conquering physical fatigue, overcoming numerous flat tires, and deriving spiritual lessons from dead skunks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDead Skunks and 30 Tires Later, Bikers Still Going - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/06\/09\/6343\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dead Skunks and 30 Tires Later, Bikers Still Going - 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