Crazy Faith - a Ride for Christian Education

Earlier this year I joined the Christian Education Ministry Committee at Westend Christian Reformed Church.  At the second meeting I attended, we discussed ideas for fundraisers for this upcoming school year (2013-2014).  We discussed which of the old standbys we would continue with and whether there was anything new and fresh we could try.  If you talk to my wife, Michelle, she will tell you that every now and then I come up with some pretty crazy ideas.  Most of these involve cycling.

Guess what?  I had a crazy idea!  Here is my idea...What if I did a bike ride where I asked the congregation to pledge money on a per mile basis?  What if I picked some crazy-long amount of time, like say 12 hours?  Would this work?  Would the congregation respond positively?  Can I even ride that long?

When an ideas like this gets floating around my head, I can’t really get settled until I go and do it.  So I’m going to do it!  Saturday September 21st will be the first Crazy Faith - A Ride for Christian Education.  The basics are:

• I will ride my bike from 7 am until 7 pm
• During that time, I will attempt to cover as many miles as I can
• A GPS bike computer will track and record my ride
• My mileage estimate is 130-150 miles total (I've never done this before so I don’t really know; honestly I’m just hoping to make it 12 hours)
• The day will start with a ride that visits all of the schools that the Christian Ed Ministry currently contributes to.
• Following the initial tour of Christian Schools, I will be doing ~25 mile loops that will begin and end at Westend.
• During August, you will find a pledge form in your mailboxes asking for a $/mile pledge.  Please fill out the form and put it in Mike & Michelle Terrell’s box
• You will have the option of a flat donation
• Michelle & I will be pledging $2/mile
• All the funds raised will go toward helping church families pay for a Christian education for their children
• I will heartily welcome others who want to join me for an hour or two (or three or four!).  Find me if you are interested.
• I will ride rain or shine (Hooray for fenders!)
• I've created a Facebook event and Facebook page where I will post updates during the day
• On Sunday the 22nd, I’ll give a brief review of the day
• Why Crazy Faith?  Because it’s pretty crazy and I will need faith in God to make it successful!
• Any questions should go to Mike Terrell (mikeptocs@gmail.com)

Can you pledge 50 cents/mile?  Maybe a $1/mile?  Go crazy and pledge $5/mile!  I have faith in you!