Do you have big plans for 2018? I know that I certainly do.
I can no longer put off the urgency of what I’ll be doing by saying, ‘next year’.
This is where reality bites. Later this year I hope to be cycling right across Australia.
The Ride for Compassion Coast to Coast will be a huge event that will make a major impact for children living in extreme poverty.
The ride will start on Saturday the 15th of September. We will arrive at Compassion’s head office in Newcastle, NSW on Tuesday the 16th of October, having cycled over 4300 km. There’ll be 28 riding days and 4 rest days. The average riding distance for those riding days will be just over 150 km. Our longest days will be just under 200 km.
I have quite some experience with the ride aspect of the trip having cycled across Australia five times previously but knowing that this time will be in support of Compassion is an extra thrill for me. That previous experience doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. Far from it.
So far, I’ve cycled across Australia in my twenties, thirties, and forties. This year I’ll be in my mid-fifties. The distances will feel longer. The training will be harder. The aches will last longer.
So, what’s getting me back on my bike after all these years?
For just over four years I’ve been working for Compassion, a Christian international holistic child development organisation.
I’ve visited Compassion’s work in 7 of the 25 developing countries we serve and I’ve met many children living in extreme poverty who are being released from poverty in Jesus’ name. I recall the faces of children like little Ammanuel in Ethiopia as his mother stood in the small room with its dirt floor that is their home.
She told me through her tears that neither of them would still be alive today if it weren’t for Compassion. That story and many others like it compel me to do whatever I can to bring hope to more children.
If you’d like to support my ride you can do so in two ways.
You can sponsor a child living in poverty. By using that link your sponsorship will count towards my fundraising goal while releasing a child from poverty in Jesus’ name.
Sponsorship gives kids safe places to play, the chance to see a doctor when they’re sick, education, and the opportunity to discover Jesus’ incredible love for them.
Sponsor a child. Give them a brighter future so they, and eventually their own children, can live free from poverty.
The other way you can support my ride is by making a direct donation to my fundraising page. Your donation will touch the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in our world through Compassion’s Highly Vulnerable Children’s Fund.
Every child in poverty is vulnerable, but some children are at risk of the most deplorable situations in the world.
Children whose parents who have left, died, or are unable to provide for them, children exposed to exploitation and children with special needs are highly vulnerable. They often find themselves on the edge of extremely dangerous situations like child labour, gang violence, trafficking, and life on the street.
The Long and Winding Road
So there is quite literally a long road ahead for me this year but the journey starts now. I’ll be doing my best to fulfill my responsibilities in training, fundraising and then riding. Will you support me on this massive venture?
It’s unacceptable that millions of children are living in extreme poverty so I’m putting my body on the line to do whatever I can to make a difference for as many of those children as I can.
Will you help me give more children a chance to live, dream and hope? Sponsor a child today or donate through my fundraising page.
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