MENNONITE YOUNG ADULTS ‘ON THE WAY’ BY BICYCLE TO PARAGUAY GLOBAL ASSEMBLY: GROUP TO RAISE FUNDS FOR GLOBAL YOUTH NETWORK
November 5, 2008 | posted by Lars under press
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MENNONITE YOUNG ADULTS ‘ON THE WAY’ BY BICYCLE TO PARAGUAY GLOBAL ASSEMBLY:
GROUP TO RAISE FUNDS FOR GLOBAL YOUTH NETWORK
November 4, 2008—As a part of BikeMovement Americas 2009, several Anabaptist young adults will bike from Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA to the Global Youth Summit and Mennonite World Conference Assembly in Asunción, Paraguay, from January to July 2009. Throughout the two-wheeled pilgrimage the group will seek to learn from and serve those they encounter, and to connect with Anabaptist congregations and service workers along their approximately 7,000 mile route through the American continents. “We hope that our journey will encourage and add to an intercultural conversation about discerning and living Christ’s call with integrity,” says project co-coordinator Lars Åkerson, of Harrisonburg, Virginia.
As they travel, the group will update an interactive, dynamic website to creatively document conversations, stories, and photos of their experiences as an invitation for broader conversation and dialogue. Persons are welcomed to join the self-supported touring group for sections of the ride—whether for a couple of miles or a couple of days. “Biking together is a great way to build relationships, and it’s exciting to have the opportunity,” comments project co-coordinator Jonathan Spicher, a Lancaster, Pennsylvania native and a student at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. A map of the group’s route, which passes through the southeastern United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay, is available on their website: http://americas.bikemovement.org
Beginning in January 2009, the group hopes to arrive in Asunción six months later in time for the fifteenth Mennonite World Conference Assembly and second Global Youth Summit, July 10-19, 2009. The youth summit’s focus is “Service: Live the Difference,” while the Anabaptist assembly at large will “Come together in the way of Jesus Christ,” with Philippians 2:1-11 as the theme text. More than 220 young adults from 28 countries gathered for the first Global Youth Summit along with nearly 7,000 who attended the general assembly in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in 2003.
Working with AMIGOS (the world conference youth committee) BikeMovement Americas hopes to raise $30,000 in the months leading up to the ride to help emerging young leaders from around the world attend the summit in Paraguay. Over the past three years, AMIGOS has raised over $75,000 toward this goal, but $30,000 remains to meet its goal for providing grants.
Details about how contributions can be made toward either AMIGOS or the BikeMovement Americas riders are available on the website at http://americas.bikemovement.org/give.
http://www.americas.bikemovement.org
download the press release: .doc
One Response to “MENNONITE YOUNG ADULTS ‘ON THE WAY’ BY BICYCLE TO PARAGUAY GLOBAL ASSEMBLY: GROUP TO RAISE FUNDS FOR GLOBAL YOUTH NETWORK”
• On Jan 13, 2009 christina wrote:
I read about the big venture in the MB Herald: I am so glad for those who can go for it. I cycled across Canada and from Vancouver to San Diego both with a group - and I will never forget these experiences.
Cycling these distances is over for me, but I can and will pray for the venture and the participants.
I hope in days to come you will publish details so that even from a couch be can feel to be with it.
Christina