Donald Miller and the Ride:Well Team Bike America

June 8th, Los Angeles, CA

Tomorrow morning at 5 A.M. (and perhaps after you started reading this sentence) the team will wake, pack, eat breakfast and hit the road by 6. This will mark our first official day on the Ride:Well Tour. After a couple days being briefed about Blood:Water and bike safety, I think we are ready. And yet, would you mind praying for us as we travel? Pray for safety, endurance, faith, and that God would give us a greater adventure than we could have possibly imagined. And pray as well that many thousands of people will hear about Blood:Water and the current need for wells in Africa. Pray that our pedal strokes will generate hope in whatever ways God would create from the effort.

I will try to introduce you to each member of the team as we travel. I wanted to open with Gregg Mwenda, for a couple reasons. The first reason is because I already have a few good pictures of him, (he’s a natural in front of a camera!) and the second is because Gregg traveled all the way from Kenya to do this ride with us. Gregg has never been to America, and so his introduction will be about 3300 miles of it at roughly 16 miles per hour. Can you imagine?

Greg lights up when he walks into a room, and so the rest of us do too. He is a person you love immediately. He has a soft British accent that sounds best when the room is quiet and he is praying. Just the other night, as we gathered around and prayed for our trip, Gregg softly spoke to us about our dreams, asking us to put into our minds those things we are dreaming about, and then guided us in giving our dreams to God, and guided us into understanding that fulfilling our dreams will give God glory. That was quite a moment for me. I’ve dreamed of crossing the country on a bike for a long time, and it was as though God was saying “Don, that dream was a gift from me. I made you to want to do this.” 

In introducing himself to our group, Gregg prepared a short speech as is the custom in parts of Africa. He read it off his computer and I thought it was beautifully written. Gregg’s speech captures the essence of our trip, the reason so many of us want to do this, and the beauty and joy of Africa. I asked Gregg if I could share his speech with you. So, with that, I will let Gregg introduce himself, and the Africa he loves, to you personally.

Gregg’s Speech:

Africa, a Land Alive With Possibilities

Africa is blessed with a wealth of nature’s gifts, from the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the rivers, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native continent. 
 
For thousands of years, the warmth and vibrancy of the tropical sun continues to nourish our bodies and souls. The crack and the rumble of the long rains thunders and amazing lightening continue to be a cause, both of fear and of hope. Children marvel with a moist sense of happiness, as they watch themselves grow within the phenomenon blooms and wild roses, a natural stage on which they act out the foolish theatre of childhood.
 
Verily, Africa is a Land Alive with happiness. But we also have our own share of poverty and disease. The challenges we face are many but we embrace them with dignity, and an enduring sense of hope. We are defined and inspired by the sun rise, for we believe that it sure must set – leaving a smile to all those who believe. Our women wake up with passion, to go fetch water in buckets 5 miles away, and with pride and dignity, they continue doing this for a lifetime. Our strong men spend days and days cultivating crops in the farms, scourged under sweltering heat of the tropics.  Without tiring, they do this for a lifetime, where each day comes fresh and agile, bringing with it all the happiness and endurance.
 
What unites us - It is the vibrancy and optimism and all embracing attitude that says regardless of the challenges that shape the millions of lives, there is always a way. Our lives among the thousands of communities are defined with a lot of contradiction and contrast yet we are all the one and the same, connecting in the bigger community of humanity. In the midst of poverty and disease, we always manage a smile and a hospitable welcome to any visitor. This is because of the journey we have traveled, and the distance we have covered. And only learning that through sharing the synergy and meager resources we all have, we can be truly make progress to`wards a better community. But above all, it is our confidence that tomorrow will dawn on a better brighter day.
 
It is because of the way we turn adversity into opportunity, and the way we respect our differences and thrive through diversity. It is because we are anxious to finding new ways of doing new things, always looking to push and expand boundaries, giving global innovations a distinct African relevance.  It is because we seek for opportunity and growth, and nurture it with a deep-seated sense of ownership and accountability. We believe in your friendship and partnership, for we trust that the good of one is the good of all.
 
This is just what I can say by word. Remarkable, you may think Africa to be, it is even bolder, even stronger through participation of people who are pro progress, people who celebrate diversity, people who seek out beauty and discover it. People inspired to build the pulse of a vibrant earth, people like YOU!
 
It feels good, to born in Africa! It feels good to be part of the process to improve the millions of lives there, it feels good to be in ride:well tour!
 
Gregg Mwendwa, 26, Blood Brother Generation- Kenya
RIDEWELL TEAM June 7, 2008. Elements church - Santa Monica, California