Reflections on Biking Across Korea

 

From September 6th – 10th I biked across Korea from the southeast city of Busan up to the northwest city of Seoul, which was over 500km (300+miles). I biked as a part of Ride Against Traffick, an event meant to bring greater awareness in regards to human trafficking, raise support for two organizations (including Oak Tree Project) that help protect/care for those susceptible to being trafficked, and light a fire among the participants for justice. The event did all three!

We had 40 riders participating with 16 support crew traveling along with us in 5 different vehicles. We had 9 countries represented among the riders and 13 churches/ministries represented among us. During our trip we stood out to onlookers/other bikers quite a bit because of how unified our group was and also how diverse we were. Different people would approach us and ask what we were about. One person who approached us was a pastor from Daegu. He was particularly stirred while hearing about our cause and said he now plans to preach about justice more. Many others were inspired as well and a number expressed their desire to ride with us next year.

The unity of the riders/support crew despite our different ethnicities and church backgrounds not only was inspirational during the ride but was also powerful at night when we would gather to pray. People were really stirred up! The trip really was a mission trip. The way we all bonded, the way we overcame some different mountains (literally), the way we kept positive with different unexpected situations (flat tires, wrong turns, schedules changing, etc.), and the way God moved during the ride really made it all special.

While I have posted some pictures below, they don’t do justice to how beautiful Korea is. I think that stood out to me the most during the ride. Korea is very mountainous with a lot of trees and rivers. Living in the metropolis of Seoul can often cause me to forget just how green and vibrant this nation is. God designed the land so beautifully. The Korean people are so special to have this peninsula and to be one race, having lived here for so long. It’s an amazing inheritance and I was reminded how great a call God has for the Korean people.

I definitely hope to do this ride again. I’m thankful to Pastor Peter Palma for continuing to organize now for the 3rd straight year. As of today (9/15) we were able to raise about $22,000 for the two causes (http://www.rideagainsttraffick.org/en/B2S2014). We hope to have a video soon recapping our trip. For now, pictures will have to do…

Here we are enjoying the view at a beach in Busan the evening before the ride. Korea is beautiful!

The riders split into different groups. We named our group the Freedom Riders (also known as the Freedom Flyers). Included in the group is Jee, one of my fellow staff with Jerusalem Ministry, and Jojo who grew up in the children’s home where Jee serves at.

Here I’m saying a prayer for us before we departed early one morning. We stayed at pensions (cabins) and small motels during our five day trip.

Korea is very mountainous! Some of the mountains weren’t that tall but were super steep and nearly impossible to bike up. This one particular mountain was a 5 kilometer climb (3 miles+). We got pretty high up! And right after this mountain was another that was 3.2 kilometers to the top. Yaaaaay.

This is a picture of our team at the top of the climb. Jee had to miss day 2 and day 3 because of a funeral and Jojo ended up moving to a slower group so they aren’t in this picture. Another rider, John, moved to our group on day 2 and finished the ride with us.

With my wonderful wife Sky, who served on the support crew

Peter, who founded Ride Against Traffick and directs it each year, with James who led the Freedom Riders team

During the ride about every 30km we had checkpoints where the support crew would meet us and serve us peanut butter sandwiches and granola bars. Some of the places were pretty desolate. Korea has a lot of land!

Heading out after a brief rest

On the last day we all wore our Ride Against Traffick jerseys (James delayed putting his on until later in the ride that day)

Upon arriving in Seoul were blessed to see a number of friends waiting to welcome us

At the finish line

Our team leader James along with Jee behind him crossing the finish line

With Sky after finishing

With one of our good friends who also serves as a mentor for Oak Tree Project, Kyungmee.

With Sky’s dad who also served on the support crew. He was quite an evangelist during the journey and blessed many people!

With all the riders and support crew (apologies that the picture didn’t catch everyone)

It’s not too late to support! If we reach $25,000 then we will have enough for two full scholarships for Oak Tree Project (a scholarship/mentoring program for orphans in Korea). Once again, here is the support site: http://www.rideagainsttraffick.org/en/B2S2014.

God bless!