Thank you

I'm going to be posting several blogs over the next day or two to let you know what happened in the last couple days of the trip. So please continue to check for updates. To summarize, though, all twelve riders finished strong in Bar Harbor on Friday afternoon around 5:30 after 60 days on the road. It was a slightly sad parting after dinner, knowing that in all liklihood we won't see each other all together again on thsi side of Heaven, but there is the hope of the reunion on that glorious day.

I want to thank you all for your support along the way. It has come in so many ways... Prayer and financial support as well as host families and churches, those who have sent notes of encouragement. Thank you. This trip has been a success in supporting the ministry of YFC because of you. I'll be sending out emails to those who are on my list asking for your mailing address, but if you could send those to me, I'd really like to send everyone a quick note to say thank you.

In Christ,
Mike

mcsc2c@gmail.com

Still alive

Hello all. Our sag wagon driver, Emma, has a laptop that we found wireless with at one of our stops, so i just wanted to quickly post a note that I am still alive, i just haven't had internet any of the evenings since my last post.

I'll post soon.

prayer request

Just a quick request. Tomorrow is going to be a 90+ mile day and it looks like it's going to be raining all day long. 80% chance of rain. So, please pray for our safety. Thank you all!

Mike
mcsc2c@gmail.com

A long day and a lot of fun

Yesterday, as I mentioned, was a 120 miles day, which is tied for our longest day of the trip. This one felt a lot longer though because it was hilly with up to 13 percent grade at points. You know what though? It was a really fun day. Dan and I rode together for the first half of the day. We got to 70 miles, for lunch around 1:00, and Stuart was about 20 miles behind. He had been riding with Fiona who had 3 flat tires. She was brought up to the front with the van, but Stuart wanted to ride all the miles, which, I can completely understand. Dan suggested that he and I wait for Stuart to catch up and ride the last 50 miles with him. So we talked to Bryan and did that. With about 30 miles to go, my chain started to fall apart. So we took 30 minutes to take a second link out of my basically brand new chain. But it's still working…

The three of use ended up not getting into Newcomb until 7:25. It was definitely a great opportunity to ride with the guys and really neat to ride that late into the evening, when the sun was starting to set and the air was cooler.

Through the situation with my chain, though, we found some great application for Ecclesiastes 4:12. Although an assailant may overpower one person, two can withstand him. Moreover, a three-stranded cord is not quickly broken.

When I realized my chain was having trouble I had stopped to take a picture and was a bit behind Stuart and Dan. I set my bike down and looked at it thinking I'd be able to just push the rivet back into the link. But, I found that wasn't going to work. So, I flagged down a vehicle and asked the gentleman to drive up and have the guys come back to help me. Between the three of us, we had the tools and the knowledge that was necessary to get the job done.

Tomorrow, the team will be leaving NY, headed to Rochester, VT. Until then we are enjoying our day of rest, watching the Olympics, napping, cleaning bikes and enjoying the company of our hosts.

What started out as more or less an average day for us, quickly turned into a day with a lot of rain. As I've mentioned before, the team has seen very little rain for the whole trip up to this point, only about 20 minutes! So, none of us really had the experience to ride today. At least I didn't...
I started out with just my jersey, shorts and jacket, thinking that the rain would probably only last 20 minutes at most. Well, by the end of a 20 minute torential downpour with no end in sight I was starting to get cold, and by the time we caught up to the sag wagon about 15 miels down the road I was just cold; not really thinking about much else. At that point I was worried about how the day was going to turn out...

Dan loaned me a pair of leg warmers, and I put on a long sleeve shirt and my full fingered gloves. That made all the difference. We had a couple more instances of heavy rain throughout the day, and pretty much a constant light rain at minimum until lunch. After lunch, the rain let up for the last leg of our ride into Redfield, NY.

By the way, the second picture is actually of Dan. I was halfway across the mud when he suggested taking pictures, so I took his and he took mine. I haven't gotten the pic from him, yet...

Tomorrow we have a long 120 mile day from Redfield to Newcomb, NY. It looks like its going to get pretty hilly, but the weather should besunny with the wind pushing us along more or less. We'd really appreciate your prayers for the ride tomorrow and for the continued work of YFC around the world.

Today (Thursday) was a nice day. Our route took us along the Erie Canal for several miles in the Rochester, NY area. It was really interesting to see two bodies of water intersect. I understand a Y where two rivers come together, but the canal intersected the river, just like the intersection of two roads. I saw that on the map and I was really interested to see how it was going to work. The only thing I could think was a bridge for the canal to go over the river, but I suppose that would have been a bit impractical. I'm not entirely out of my mind though… I have seen that done, where an irrigation ditch is bridged over another one.

Anyways, up until lunch time I rode with Jonny and Fiona again. They're still doing quite well. Just chugging along like the rest of us. Though, unlike the rest of us, they're not yet sure of how they are going to get from Maine to their next destination (Florida) next weekend… I think they should bike… It was a lot of fun to bike with them again. I've been riding mostly with Dan and Stuart since my Achilles heels have been feeling better (that seems like so long ago!).

This evening, it worked out for me to be able to see my uncle and aunt, who live in Rochester. They drove out to my host family, picked me up and took me out to dinner. It was great to spend some time with them. I've seen them a couple times in the past 4 years since I've been at school, but only briefly, for an afternoon or something. Before that, the last time I spent any large amount of time with my uncle was 10 years ago, before my family moved to Germany.

I also got to spend some time with the host family. We talked and played Catch Phrase for a while before it hit 10:00 and I called it a night to write my post and get some sleep. Tomorrow, we're headed to Redfield, NY, and by Monday we will be in Vermont.

2 days and 2 states

Between Monday and Tuesday of this week, we crossed borders into my 11th and 12th states for the trip (PA and NY). Pretty exciting to get through the massive state of Pennsylvania so quickly! PA, actually surprised me a bit, at least on Tuesday. There were hundreds of vineyards. I was talking to Stuart and Dan, trying to decide what the grapes might be used for. We thought maybe grape juice or grapes for eating, but we nixed the wine possibility, because who has ever heard of Pennsylvania wine?? Well, it turns out we were mistake, there were quite a few local wineries. Anyways. On to New York.
So, along with every other state welcome sign we've come to we were excited to see it. Dan offered to take the pic for me, which was great, but what you dont' see in this picture is the next moment where I'm laying on the ground after my attempt to start moving after the picture. Feet clipped in, gears set too high and grass just don't come together very well for bikers. But on the other hand, I did find out that the grass under that sign is incredibly soft. I really just wanted to lay there for a while.
Last night we stayed at a christian camp in Angola, NY. They weren't able to provide us with food, so for breakfast and dinner we went to the Mustard Seed restaurant. The lady who owns the place (just recently opened) offered to open back up after she normally closes for us to have dinner and cooked a great buffet breakfast for the team. It was really a blessing for her and her team to take care of us, and on top of that it was just a lot of fun.

Niagara and beyond

Well it has been several says since I've had internet to post, and quite honstely, I've been pretty tired each day by the time I've had any time to write posts that I could put up later. So, for now, I'll post today's and if, as I look back over a few of the pictures my memory is jogged about anything, I'll write a short post or two to fill in the blanks.

Today, most of the group rode from Angola to Medina, NY via Ontario, but Arek didn't have a visa to get into Canada, so I offered to ride with him. We still got to stop and see the falls, and even had the opportunity to talk to Jane and Bob, two of the people that work with Joshua Revolution, a ministry that works through confrences to reach young people for Christ. Jane heard about our trip as we were leaving from Anacortes, has been praying for us since and was looking forward to any opportunity she might have to support us. They were both a huge blessing to us on our ride today, since we were riding unsupported. They provided us with a lunch and Bob took the time to give us a quick tour of the falls. What a beautiful place!

Here is just a quick pick of the Niagara River that I took. Arek and I got to ride along a really nice bike path for a while between Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Unfortunately, the path didnt' go the whole, way. God was watching out for us, though. We almost went the wrong way when we got to the end of the bike path, and out of nowhere came Loyd and Marie (our advanced team) who pointed us in the right direction.

Danger

I had a conversation with a lady this evening about danger. I was telling her about the ministries we are supporting and she asked if areas like Serbia and Cairo are dangerous. It really got me thinking about how Christians should respond to danger.

At the time, I immediately thought of Jim Elliot and his quote, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." What a profound statement! Jim Elliot gave his life, that which he could not keep, in order to gain eternity, that which cannot be lost. And in so doing, allowed God to work through those events to bring entire tribe in S. America to Christ. Gaining eternity for those people. (If you haven't seen the documentary, Beyond the Gates of Splendor, i strongly recommend it)

Was it dangerous for Jim and his friends to go to this tribe and attempt to build relationships with them and share the gospel? yes. it was incredibly dangerous. But, was it worth it? YES!

I have no desire to recklessly throw my life away. There are a lot of things that I would still like to do before I'm ushered into the presence of Christ for eternity. But those people who are living in dangerous situations still deserve the opportunity to hear the Gospel and trust Christ as Lord. I think of the Iraqis, the Chinese, the N. Koreans, those in Darfur... The list goes on and on.

Though, I've also been thinking that as much as those people need to be reached, the body of Christ cannot be made up of hands and feet. There must be arms and legs that enable the hands and feet, the eyes that have the vision for the work, etc.

My challenge to you today and for the next weeks, months and years is to prayerfully consider where your place is in the body.

Romans 10:14-15 -- How are they to call on the one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in the one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How timely is the arrival of those who proclaim the good news."

We took a wrong turn and....

You know the old saying "I took a wrong turn and ended up in.... [insert some random place]. Well that's how we felt on Friday as were were biking. First we were in Florida, then Texas was across the river, Grand Rapids... And my personal favorite...
Evidently the beach along the river in Heidelberg has been translpanted to Lake Erie, justwest of Cleveland! who knew? I guess Indiana isn't the only place that's confused. :)
We also passed one of the Campbell's soup plants on Friday. That was kinda neat. I wonder how many cans of soup come out of that facility in a 24 hour period. It's got to be an unbelievable number. And the amount of raw good from tomatoes to spices to chicken that goes in! wow. But, this picture has a bit of personal signifigance to me... This is where Dan and I stopped on Friday to fix the first break down that my bike has had the entire trip. Still no flat tire, but the chain I had put on just 30 miles earlier had a rivet falling out, which locked up the gears. Thankfully it didn't just fall out... Of course I didn't think to take a picture of it.

We ended up just taking the link out of the chain, so my chain is a little shorter than it should be, but it works just fine.
We also had yet another amazing near miss of rain. About 25 miles outside of Gibsonburg, OH we noticed a pretty big thunder head building and moving towards us. As we continued straight east and then slightly north, the storm's northern edge just followed us. Just enough to keep us in the shade but not enough to rain. How unbelievably blessed are we?

PS I've added a bunch of new pictures to the second photo album on the right, as well as a link to John Duncan's trip blog. He has rejoined us for the last two weeks of the trip!

Tar

No, we did not run into tar again... if we had, we would have found a different route. I just wanted to post the picture of my tire as it was covered by tar. The picture really doesn't do justice to how much tar was on my bike. I actually still have a decent bit on there, but nothing that affects the performance, so I figure I'll just wait until I get it out of the box at school. It'll be in pieces and I can give it a proper cleaning, then.

another day; another state

Well friends, between sending a few emails, dinner and talking to my host family, it's probalby already later than i should be up. But I wanted to just post a quick note to let you all know about today's progress. We are now in the great state of Ohio. Which is exciting. Almost like being back at school, but i'm still 2 weeks away from that...

Alright, it's now past 10:00 and we're meeting at the YFC camp to start biking at 7. I'll try to write more tomorrow, plus i have a few pictures that I still want to post for you (like the tar picture i promised but still haven't gotten from Dan).

Goodnight.
Mike
mcsc2c@gmail.com

PS as much as I poked fun at Indiana in my post yesterday, I did really enjoy my two nights there. Thanks!

just confused

Well as we were biking our (almost) 100 miles today i ran into several situations where i had to stop and consider for a moment. Like the time that we came to Denver. I had to ask myself if we'd made a wrong turn. Then there was Chile and Peru. I hope those people realize they're living in Indiana. :)
Then I came upon this sign right next to a corn field. First of all, who plants crows?? And second, i'm pretty sure the bible states that you reap what you sow. If in fact they planted crows there, there should be crows coming up... not corn. ah well, Indiana has been a fun state. Alas, tomorrow we move on yet again; this time to Ohio. And I'm just now getting used to the idea of actually being in Indiana. My mind has been stuck in Illinois.

Blessings!
Mike

mcsc2c@gmail.com

Hot and Humid and into Indiana

Well today was hot and steamy; the first really hot and humid day that we have had. (there was a small herd of cows standing in some water to cool themselves). Though, it felt good to work up a good sweat. The picture here is of Nikki from Cornell (where we were yesterday). Though, I messed up last night and called her Cindy (woops). She very graciously donated $5 for the YFC ministry. It's amazing how the giving spirit of Christ has been exemplified through young children investing in ministry. Thank you Nikki! And thank you to everyone who has invested in the ministry to military teens, both financially through prayer and by supporting us in our trek.
We are now in Indiana. (though the only evidence was a change in the road condition and the license plates) Again, I'm amazed at how quickly the last couple states have passed by. I'm at a loss for what else to write today. Is there anything in particular that you all like to hear about?

Mike
Mcsc2c@gmail.com

Tar, gasoline and hospitality

Todays 83-ish mile day was moving along quite nicely until right after lunch when the route mapped out for us took us onto a gavel covered tar road for about 10 miles. Dan and I were out front, having left early from lunch, and biked 3 miles on that road accumulating what probably came out to a pound of rocks and tar on each tire plus whatever splattered on the bike. Dan got a couple pictures of the bikes at the end of our 3 miles (I'll try to get copies and post them tomorrow). The guys directly behind us were smarter and only went a half mile in before realizing the situation and turning around. The rest of the team at the back ended up not even having to deal with it, and just going around completely.

I ended up getting to the church at about 4 and spent the next 2 and a half hours cleaning bikes. I ended up learning something new in the process: gasoline is an excellent cleaning agent for getting tar removed from pretty much anything. From bike tires to frames to skin. I'll have to keep that tidbit filed away for the future. Though it's getting expensive....

The hospitality of our hosts in the cleaning process was just astounding, though. The found old t-shirts for us to use as rags, gasoline to clean with, soap and water to rinse everything off with, a hose (and spigot). They offered several time to run and get other cleaners and this that and the other thing. Then, after all that cleaning, we of course smelled like gasoline and they still sat with us for dinner! Thanks to all those who were part of the team that got our bike cleaned, provided food, spent time with us, etc. I have really appreciated it!

In Illinois

One more quick post for today. The team is pretty excited to have finally made it to Illinois. We've got all of our 'big' states behind us. Its amazing to think that we only have 19 days left until we arrive in Bar Harbor. Just a couple days in IL, a couple in IN and OH. A few in NY one in both NH and VT and a couple in ME and we're done.

It's been so nice biking, there's nothing to worry about, you just get up in the morning, eat, bike, eat lunch, bike some more, eat dinner, give a presentation, have the opportunity to talk to hosts, go to bed, wake up and start over. Getting back to school is going to be a big change.

Providence

I've mentioned a couple times how we have been unbelieveably blessed with the weather and lack of injury on our trip. It has now been 41 days since we left Anacortes and still, other than the 10 minutes of a thunderstorm that we biked througha few weeks ago on our way to Tokio, we haven't had any bad weather.

Its interesting though, I mentioned the other day that we are below our average on number of miles traveled so far and at times I have honestly been bothered by that. But, I realize now that per usual everything is part of God's plan. I can't even imagine the amount of prayer that has gone into this trip.

Had we been closer to the average than we have been, it could be that we would have been in this area when the 100+mph winds hit on Monday throughout the day. It would have made biking impossible and dangerous even to be in the area. Dan and I found this truck not far from Kewanee almost a week after the storm!
But by the Providence of God we are here now and not then.

You know you're a biker when...

I just thought you all might be amussed by this... You know you are a biker when you have tan lines on your fingers from wearing fingerless gloves. You can even tell which fingers I have wrapped underneath the handlebars on a regular basis. We all have really well defined tan lines on our legs and arms as well from our shirts and spandex shorts. Some of the guys even have tan lines on the sides of their faces from the helmet strap and a couple guys who are either loosing hair or have really short hair have tan lines where the sun has come through the holes in the helmet.

I'm looking forward to getting back to school with these lines. :)

Today was a great day. We had the opportunity, for about 15 miles of our ride, to join along side some of the 10,000+ Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI). It was a lot of fun to talk to some of the riders. I talked toa couple guys that were there with Military cycling teams. (Air Force and Army).
I also had the chance to talk to a guy who was there with the Livestrong Foundation. It was neat to hear about some of their experiences. I think i'd really like to do the ride sometime in the coming years. Of course I handed out a couple cards, but I only had three with me after handing a bunch out last night...

As we got close to being done with our 75 mile ride, we came to an area where the road was closed due to recent flooding in the area and then 100 mile straight winds that brought down a bunch of trees. Dan, Staurt and I started on the detour while the other stood at the corner trying to figure out the directions. Well, it turned out that the bridge that was out cor cars was passable with bikes. So, Dan, Stuart and I ended up doing an extra 18 miles. Life goes one. We were pretty tired by the end, but we all made it.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

Mike
mcsc2c@gmail.com

Wind, Exhaustion and Christian Fellowship

The wind was really blowing through Iowa today. You might be able to get an idea by how much some of these stems are bent over. It's hard to get a picture of the wind. It really took it out of me. Actually, today was just a rough day for me in general.

I woke up this morning and for the first time didn't really have a desire to get on my bike. I was just tired. I stopped a couple times to read through some psalms, in order to remind myself of God's promise for provision. We only had 46 miles to bike, but I really needed that to get me through.

Even so, as I got about 10 miles out, all I could do was ask for God to sustain me. About 2 miles outside of Central City I saw a Baptist Community Church and a man (presumably the pastor) mowing the lawn. I had a burden to stop, give him a card and talk to him for a few minutes. I pulled over and considered for a minute,but really just wasn't in the mood to talk. So I decided to keep going. Over the the next 100 yards, the burden just kept growing to go talk to the gentleman. So I turned around and had the opportunity to talk to Bob and his daughter. I mentioned what we are doing, the projects we're supporting, but in reality, Bob was ministering to me. I can't tell you how much of a ministry it was to me to just talk to a Christian brother along the route. Bob, if you have the chance to read this, thank you.

Mike
mcsc2c@gmail.com

Iowa, flat?

Today was a pretty tough day! It was our first day in Iowa, and I never expected the number of hills that we saw today! Everybody talks about Iowa as being flat (or at least that's how I've always pictured it). We biked about 96 miles with something like 4000 feet of climbing. It was interesting though, because the hills weren't like the mountains we've crossed so far. Just a long gradual (more or less) up hill. They were short and steep. Several were 9 percent grade.

We did have fun today, though. Arek and I were singing Disney songs through several hills. It may not have made the hills easier, but definitely more fun. :)

This evening we are staying in the small town of Edgewood, IA, and had the opportunity to visit with two church congregations. We shared a meal with the first and gave our presentation at the second. There was a lot of interest in our trip and the ministries we're supporting from the congregations. We set it up more like a panel ended up having a lot of really good questions. It was great to interact a bit more with our hosts than to just tell them what we're doing and call it a night. Which, is what i need to do... I'm exhausted.

22 July - to Brownsville, MN

Today actually turned out to be closer to 100 miles for me, when all was said and done… Arek, Paul L. and I took a detour off the route to make it into Wisconsin. We figured we'd take the opportunity to add one more state to our number visited. We met back up with the group in Winona. Evidently the bridge there has just been reopened recently. Good thing! Afterwards, I kind of headed off in the front leaving a little early from lunch and I didn't stay more than a 3 min at the rest stop. I was just enjoying the ride through the hills of Southern Minnesota and worshipping with some music on my mp3 player.

Before too long I found myself cruising down a really nice hill in and out of the turns at around 35 or 40 mph. it was just great. When I got to the bottom, I checked my map to see how much further I had to go before I reached Brownsville. Unfortunately, I had just added about 2 and a half miles to my trip. So I turned around and went back up the hill. Unfortunate about having to climb back up, but it really was a nice ride. And the view from the top of the ridge, overlooking the Mississippi River valley was just gorgeous. The pictures don't do it justice.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support.

21 Jul - To Lake City

I'm writing this after the fact for Monday's ride. It was a pretty short ride, just 50 miles or so to Lake City, MN. The whole team was in pretty early, which gave us the opportunity to enjoy a boat ride and water skiing on Lake Pepin/Mississippi River. I'd never been water skiing before, so that was a treat for me. In addition my girlfriend was able to come visit me for the evening. After dinner we were able to share our presentation with the folks that were there.

The hosts I stayed with last night were a young couple, Amy works with a youth ministry in the town. They were a lot of fun. When I walked into the house I got shot with a marshmallow out of a blow tube. Yeah, it was a good day. Fun, relaxing. Got us ready for today's 90+ mile day.

Oh, yeah... On the way to Lake City we crossed a 9 mile long 'construction zone' where the road surface had bee torn up leaving a road almost as bad as gravel. At the end, where the pavement restarted, there was a sign to warn us of the "BUMP" They should have had a sign at the beginning that said "Bump - Next 9 Miles"! I'd uplad the picture, but I'm borrowing but I'm having trouble getting the pics to go from the computer I'm borrowing.

Weekend #5

It is hard to believe that weekend number 5 has now come and gone. (I'm not posting this until Tuesday). The weekend has been wonderful, yet again. I've spent time relaxing around the house, got to talk to a friend on her birthday for a while, went out to see a movie.

Church this morning was interesting for me. We were at St. John's Lutheran, here in Northfield, and I'm not used to the way that a Lutheran service is held, with so many different congregational responses and songs that were sung in response to things. So of course I was flipping through the bulletin and the hymnal most of the service, trying to keep up. The message was on Jacob and his dream of the ladder from heaven.

Also, I wanted to give you an update from the post I made on the 13th (http://mcsc2c.blogspot.com/2008/07/acts-189-10.html). I'm not going to go into details in case the person I'm referring to reads this blog, but I did have the chance a couple times to witness to people in my host families and a guy a met on the road one day. Basically the question arises, why are you doing this ride and of course my answer is, ultimately so that teens around the world have to opportunity to receive Christ as Savior. "Well, what does that mean?"

It means that you have recognized Christ as Lord and that only through his sacrifice do you have any chance at forgiveness of sins. It means that the Holy Spirit has begun to work in your life to make you like Christ. All of which will be evidenced by a burden on your heart to do the things that Christ did. It means that you no longer have an acquaintanceship with him, but a relationship through which you want to please him.

For those of you who have 'significant others' (I don't particularly like that term, but it prevents me from listing all the different possibilities of relationship status), this might help you understand what I mean: When there is someone you love, you do things simply in order to please that person. Not to win points so that you can have some advantage later, or so that the 'love' is returned (that is in fact only loving yourself), but simply because you want to please that person. Love and relationships are a two way street, I understand that. But ultimate love is done without thought of the return benefits.

Christ loved us in the ultimate way, by giving his life in payment for our sins even before we loved him. Without requirement for us to love him in return. Remember what DC Talk said, "Luv is a verb." So, today's challenge is simply to love.

What are we doing?

This post is specifically for anyone who is new to this blog. I handed out over 500 cards at Sonshine on Wednesday and Thursday, telling each person about what Youth for Christ (YFC) is doing in Europe, Middle East and North Africa. I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you all, and maybe reiterate for those who have been following along, what I'm doing, and why I'm doing it.

First off, I'd like to recommend that you check out my video, which will give you the basics: video

Now, Let me tell you a little about myself and what my team and I are doing. My father is a civilian working for the US Army in Germany. I spent 7^th-12^th grade going to school on base there with mostly with military teens. During the summer after 9^th grade, I trusted Christ as my savior through the work a military youth ministry.

Most people aren't familiar with military teen life. Everybody already talks about how hard it is to be a teen already. Military teens move every three years. I graduated from HS with a guy who moved 14 times in 12 years! In addition they are fatherless (or motherless) for up to 15 months at a time. There just isn't any real sense of stability for the kids. They learn to make friends quickly (since they're always moving), but they don't let anyone get extremely close to them for fear of being hurt. It's just a tough life to live.

In an opportunity to support the ministry that YFC has to these teens I am biking across the US from Washington State to Maine with a group of 10 other riders talking to churches and families about this ministry as well as five community centers that they are trying to build throughout their Europe, Middle East and North Africa region. 75% of the money that is raised will go towards military youth ministries and 25% will go to support of the five other projects.

If you are interested in more information, I'd encourage you to check out these websites:
www.mcym.org – Military Community Youth Ministries
www.yfcbikeride.org/sponsorship.htm - Links to more information about each of the community centers
www.yfcbikeride.org - The main bike ride page

If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please visit my support page and pray for us, the teens that these funds will be used to minister to and the ministry of Youth for Christ: www.firstgiving.com/michaelscott

God Bless!
Mike Scott
mcsc2c@gmail.com

PS I'm going to leave this post up here for a few days to give new readers the opportunity to read more about what we are doing and who I am supporting. I'll post updates for the next few days later.

HI everybody, I'm sure I'll have a few more readers starting this weekend. I was at SonShine festival in Willmar Minnesota yesterday and the day before and handed out 538 cards to tell people about what YFC is doing, and why we are biking across the country. Right now I need to get going, we're supposed to be on our way to Glencoe right now... My plan is to write a post to tell all of my new readers more specifically about the ministries that I am supporting and how you can be praying for us. If you have any questions, please email me at mcsc2c@gmail.com

A not so rainy day

I woke up this morning at 5:10 to the sound of pouring rain outside of my room. My alarm wasn't set for another hour, so I went back to sleep, but started preparing myself for a 65 mile ride in the rain. At our daily morning meeting, Mark (the guy who re-routed our path through Minnesota) gave us a shorter route.

Supposedly the wind was going to be going against us the whole way. We got under way around 8:30 and moved to the south. At the time it had stopped raining. By the end of the 56 miles I hadn't seen a drop of rain and the wind was at our backs for about half the ride. It turned into an absolutely beautiful day!

So, now we are half way by time. today was day number 30. We've still got a few days befoerr we get halfway by miles. This evening and tomorrow we're hosted at Bryan's church in New London and we'll be going to the Sonshine music festival this evening and tomorrow to talk to whoever is there and interested in what we're doing.

The festival is a huge Christian music festival, going several days with tons of bands. Supposedly there will be about 25,000 people that come through over the next few days. Should be a great opportunity to talk to a lot of people about YFC. And maybe even share the gospel with people. Please be praying for opportunities. Thanks!

Well, we certainly are in the land of 10,000 lakes. Today, as we were riding from Pelican Rapids to Alexandria, MN, it seemed like there was a new lake every quarter mile. Most of them were pretty small, probably more ponds than lakes, but all the same, there was a lot of water around. Interesting though, I still have yet to see a single mosquito since we crossed in MN. So I'm thankful for that, and the road today. We were on a bike path for about 35 miles of our 75 miles. It was an amazing ride. Really great to get away from traffic. Be able to ride anywhere on the pavement. It was smooth. Just great. Thank you Minnesota.
I don't know how many of you have been to my fundraising page lately (http://www.firstgiving.com/michaelscott), but I am really glad to announce that donnations have continued to come in to support the work of YFC towards military teens in Europe. To date, just over $10,300 has been raised! It is so amazing to see God bring in money for to reach those kids! Between the financial support of friends and family around the world as well as some of the folks that I have met in the past few weeks, I have been really encouraged to see how much people see the need in this mission field.

I also want to again thank everyone who has offered words of encouragement as we've been traveling. I have really appreciated it!
Also, as a side note, just in case you were unaware.... Alexandria, MN is the birthplace of America. I'm not exactly sure how that works, but the shield on the viking statue proclaims it proudly. Evidently there was a runestone found in the area that supposedly dates back to the 14th Century. Indicating that Vikings were here in the 13oos, well before Columbus discovered the Americas. There is some debate about it, but who am I to say....

4 States down

This morning we left North Dakota and are now moving through the lake land known as Minnesota. Interestingly though, everyone always talks about how bad the mosquitos are here... I don't think i've seen a single one all day long. That's been a nice change.

We finished our 50 miles today by abour 12:30 and spent the afternoon relaxing in the park near the church in town. The town is a great place. Really laid back and quiet, with plenty to do.

I guess I really don't have much to say today... Tomorrow, we're headed to Alexandria, MN. About 75 miles. I'm glad we're doing more than 50 or so, though. If we are going to average 83 for the trip and we've only been doing 60s and 50s the last couple days, we're going to have to make those miles up later on....

Thanks for your prayers!

Acts 18:9-10

Dear friends, I was reading this morning in Acts. Really just skimming several passages in the book as as a reminder of how God has grown his church and just the marvelous way that he works. I came across 18:9-10 and wanted to share it with you: “The Lord said to Paul by a vision in the night, ‘Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent, 10 because I am with you and no one will assault you to harm you because I have many people in this city.’”

For me personally it is an encouragement and reminder that I can and should be speaking boldly about the faithfulness of Christ and his redeeming work. I know many times I've had opportunities to share the gospel slip by because I was afraid. Not even for my life or safety, as Paul might have been, but simply for my appearance and reputation. As the Lord says to Paul, though, there is no reason to be fearful!

What damage could possibly happen to my reputation that would negate the Holy Spirit saving someone because I was willing to share with them? And beyond that what does my earthly reputation matter when compared to my faithfulness to my Lord? As I'm sure many of you have heard Jim Elliot's quote, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

I guess I write this, as a challenge to myself and to anyone who might read this. Christ did not allow the fears he had of the cross to keep him from doing the things that he knew would please the Father. Pray for the opportunity this week to share your faith with a friend or even a random person that you meet in the grocery store checkout line and when the Lord provides that opportunity don't keep your mouth shut in fear but open it in praise of your Father in Heaven.

To Fargo and start weekend 4

It seems like just yesterday I was writing the post for last weekend. Time has just been flying by this week! Today wasn't anything too special, I suppose. The wind was coming out of the West again, which was really nice for our SW trip. The first 14 miles or so were spent cruising along up over 20 mph with harly any pedaling. Though there was a bit more work involved when we turned south and had the cross wind.

We got into Fargo around noon and just relaxed in Lindenwood park (picture) until about 6:00 when we had dinner. Bryan's family surprised him in Fargo. That made up for the prank that was pulled on him yesterday... I took some time to play frisbee with Bryan's two sons (11 and 9, I think) and Jonny and Fioina. And just layed on the grass for about an hour relaxing and listening to music. It was a great afternoon.

This evening, I'm staying with a young couple from the Dakotas. The husband has a great testimony. He was an addict from the age of 9 to 19 when Christ got ahold of him and turned his life around. Since then he's been working (more or less) in ministry to teens. I spent a little while talking to them this evening, then came in here to go to bed and started writing blogs instead... Now it really is time for bed.

11 July - To Page, ND

I've got a couple stories for today, but first take a look at this picture. Do you see any river?!? The 'river' is not even 5 feet across. How is that a river?

Anyways, story of the day. Right around the time that I stopped to take this picture, Bryan (our team leader) and I rolled up towards the support van to see a Sheriff parked behind with Emma, the driver standing at the back end of it with her hands up against the car. Generally not a good sign. As we pulled up, Arek and Becky told Bryan that he needed to go talk to the officer.

As Bryan walked over, the officer asked if he knew her. He said, "yes, this is Emma Duncan." "Does she have a valid license?" "I think so..... Emma, do you?" "Yeah."

The cop turns back to Bryan and says, "Well, her license isn't showing up as valid in our system. I'm going to have to take her into jail in Fargo. Bond will be posted at $600."
At that point, Emma had to say stop because she couldn't hold back the laughter any longer!! The Sheriff had pulled up behind the van to see what we were doing. We ended up having a great conversation with him.

This was the message on the board outside the church that is sponsoring us. Very short and to the point reminder of why we're here, I think. Though, as Stuart basically put it, life can't be focused on what we can do for God. He doesn't need us. We should simply focus on pleasing him. Though, having said that, it is a hard thing to understand the difference. That's where we need the wisdom that he provides.
I'm staying with a family who runs a crop dusting business in the area. They've got two hangars worth of airplanes, plus a P-51D (WWII fighter) that the dad rebuilt and is housed at a museum in Fargo. How cool is that. Instead of driving on family vacations, they take the family plane. But the mom said the kids still ask, "Are we there, yet?" I guess some things never change.
The family had this sign outside in their garden. I thought it was pretty good.

I think that's it for today. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement everybody!