Prayer Requested

My wife Sky and I have quite a bit lined up in the next month. Next Monday we will begin moving to an apartment in Dangsan. Then that Friday we will be driving down to Busan (the complete opposite side of South Korea) and on the next day I will begin the four day journey of biking across Korea to Seoul with Ride Against Traffick (about 125km/77miles a day). Sky, her mom, and her dad will be driving along as a part of the support team. Then on Saturday, October 17th, my orphanage ministry staff and I will be helping oversee a 5K/10K/half marathon called Oak Tree Run on behalf of our scholarship program for Korea’s orphans. Amidst all that I’ll also be coaching my orphanage’s basketball team in the Seoul orphanage basketball tournament (October 10th).

Your prayers would be greatly appreciated for Ride Against Traffick. The purpose of the ride is to create more awareness about sex trafficking, to pray across Korea as we bike, and to raise funds for programs that are fighting/preventing sex trafficking. Last year we were able to raise about $20,000 total, with half of it going to Oak Tree Project (our scholarship/mentoring program for orphans) and half of it going to House of Hope. Oak Tree Project helps prevent trafficking by providing orphans with both scholarships and mentors to keep them from having to sell their bodies for money. House of Hope and Hope Be Restored help provide refuge, counseling, and rehabilitation for women who have been victims of trafficking or abuse.

This ride is not just intense physically, but also spiritually. Please pray for all the riders (about 20) to be healthy and strong during the ride. Please pray for all our bikes to be protected and to not break or be stolen (this has happened). Please pray for great weather, for unity, and for God’s Spirit to tangibly move across Korea as we bike and pray. Pray that awareness of sex trafficking will grow through this event. If you feel your heart stir as you pray for Ride Against Traffick, I want to suggest sponsoring the ride financially. Here is my personal fundraiser for the ride: http://www.rideagainsttraffick.org/en/fundraisers/John-Michael-Beckers-Ride-Across-K

Your prayers would also be greatly appreciated for Oak Tree Run. We are joining with another organized race that is on behalf of underprivileged children in Korea. They’ve agreed that for those that sign up through Oak Tree Project, 100% of the registration fees will go towards our scholarship program. That is huge! Last year we were able to raise over $20,000 from our race just from sponsors alone, but this year we will also be collecting the registration fee. We need to raise a minimum of $90,000 just to be able to offer scholarships for our 15 returning students next year, but our goal is to raise $180,000 and expand our program to 30 scholarship recipients. Last year we had about 275 runners participate. This year our hope is 1,000.

Please pray for Oak Tree Run that the event will get a lot of exposure and that schools, businesses, churches, and other groups will all participate. Please pray that we will have wisdom in promoting the event and that many will be drawn to it, whether to run or to sponsor (or both!). Please pray for 1,000 runners and for $90,000 to be raised. The event will be on October 17. I wrote a blog last week of stories of Korean orphans to share why Oak Tree Project is so needed: https://www.comequicklyministries.org/blog/stories-of-koreas-orphans/.

If you feel stirred while praying for Oak Tree Run then please considering giving, from wherever you are in the world: http://give.oaktreeproject.com/en/fundraisers/Sky-and-John-Michael. 100% of donations go directly to the scholarships for the orphans.

Last, I rarely mention this in my blog, but I have been serving in Korea as a missionary since 2005 and have always lived off of support, including after Sky and I married in 2011. I send out a prayer update to my prayer supporters twice a month. If you would like to receive these e-mails (they’re shorter than this blog), then please e-mail me at comequickly@gmail.com. If you’re interested in supporting us personally, please e-mail me at that same address and I’ll send you the information you need.

Thank you for reading through all this and thank you especially for your prayers! If Oak Tree Run interests you then please find out more at www.oaktreeproject.com or on Facebook: “Oak Tree Run.” God bless!