Mike: Looking Beyond Race for Congo

I've been waiting awhile to write my final blog posting, perhaps trying to gain some perspective on the event and my experiences. Maybe more will come as more time passes by but this is where I'm at right now.

I found myself throughout this week thinking about where I was exactly a week ago from any given time; whether it was rolling past Wyoming buttes, Iowa cornfields, or climbing unforgiving Appalachian hills. It's interesting, while I was actually doing those things, I wasn't thinking about my life a week prior; I was thinking about others' lives a world away. When you are on the saddle for that amount of time, no matter how hard you are pushing yourself, you still have time to think, and during that time I was forcing myself to think about my experiences in the Congo, the people I knew there, the documentaries I had watched, etc... Now that it is over, my tendency is to reflect more on the race rather than what the race was about.

I think this is normal and natural for all of us, which is why it takes a level of intentionality and deliberate effort to remember and remind ourselves of the reality that our friends and brothers and sisters in the Congo find themselves in. Stephan Bauman said it best at the conclusion of the race, that if over the next five years people would pray for Congo as much as they have prayed for us (the riders) this week, perhaps we would have a different country in five years.

Perhaps.

Oftentimes when people ask me what they can do for Congo and I tell them to begin by praying, they respond by saying "yeah, well, besides for that..." Comments like that betray our confidence in prayer and the one who hears our prayers. Because we cannot quantify (or qualify) the results of our prayer, because the God we pray to can neither be seen, heard, nor touched, because we are an immediate, pragmatic culture we tend to disqualify and discount the power of prayer. But Jesus, the one who saw the invisible and prioritized the eternal, had a different perspective: "without me you can do nothing." Whoa.

Jesus put prayer at the top of his list of strategies. He spent whole nights in prayer, weeks in fasting and prayer, and taught his followers to pray continually. Perhaps he knew something we don't know, or still haven't quite figured out. As we come to a conclusion of sorts in our adventure together (for those of us who followed along during the race) I want to continue to encourage all of us to engage, learn, give generously, and go when we can; but certainly do not neglect this vital aspect of prayer for Congo, that God's Kingdom would come and his will would be done. Certainly Jesus would not have instructed his followers to pray this prayer if there were no chance of it actually coming to pass. For this reason alone, we can find hope and a reason to be optimistic about Congo.

I would like to propose we engage on a grand experiment. Who knows, perhaps if we all prayed continually for the Congo over the next five years we would see a different country entirely. Here's to having a small part of making that a reality.
Peace.
Mike

Race thoughts and pictures

Check out the latest Race for Congo thoughts entitled "The Earthquake Within" by rider, Joe Johns at: http://raceforcongo.tumblr.com/. There are pictures there as well.

Marathon for Peace

Last week’s Race for Congo was a sprint across America. The riders pushed themselves around the clock in order to arrive in Baltimore in a week. As an observer, new updates were exciting to read and I found myself “glued to my computer.” The focus was largely on the 8 riders making it across America safely and efficiently. As a culture, I think we really like the intensity and the excitement of sprints. Marathons, on the other hand, aren’t as exciting to watch and it’s easy to lose focus on the race.

This week as the riders, crew and those of us watching have returned to normalcy, Eastern Congo continues the marathon of living in a war zone, while hoping to see peace sometime in their lifetime.

They have no choice but to stay in the race.

The goal of the ride was to raise money for peace initiatives; this goal was accomplished by the fact that $107,000 has been raised so far. This is great but the Bible tells us in Isaiah 58:6:

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”

As an American Christian, I admit that it is much easier for me to give money than to think about breaking chains of injustice, freeing people from their burdens and setting the oppressed free. I know that as we step into God’s plan for our lives that it requires more than our checkbooks – it costs us our desires, our plans and our wills.

In 2010, God asked me to give up Pepsi and sweet treats. It sounds quite silly that that was my “sacrifice.” But the cravings became reminders to me to pray for Congo, for a woman being raped and for evil to be driven out. While in Congo I sat in the home of Esperance, a woman whose husband had died from the violence and who later became pregnant as a result of a rape. Just a month before we arrived she explained that she had nearly been raped again because she has no choice but to go work in the fields. In that moment, God spoke to me and raised the question, “Did I pray for her?” Was my prayer effective in getting her away from the rapist? The message was clear: Keep praying!

I need the reminders to keep praying so I am once again giving up Pepsi and desserts in order to pray for Congo. Will you join me in fasting from something in your life and allow God to use it as a reminder to pray?

We’ve enjoyed the sprint across America. Now I invite you to not lose sight of Congo’s marathon. I invite you to learn more, pray, fast and to have your heart broken by the suffering in the Congo.

Kristi

Showing tonight, August 10th

Come see "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" tonight at 7pm at the West Bend Library. This is a very inspiring documentary about the women of Liberia.

Invite your friends and family to understand the need for supporting peace initiatives in Congo and also be encouraged that when people unite for good, it can become a powerful movement!

Mark your calendar for future videos:
August 17th, The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo, WB Library 7pm
August 25th, Pushing the Elephant, WB Library 7pm

Register today for the local ride for Congo to ensure you have a t-shirt the day of the ride! Call Kristi at 262-335-2643.

Local Ride for Congo

West Bend's Ride for Congo is August 20th.

Hear Mike speak about his week of riding across country, enjoy a fun morning riding the trail or on the road with the Moran's. There will be a family stop at Ziegler Park. All proceeds help Congo.

Register by August 10th to ensure a t-shirt for the day of the ride!

Forms at: http://www.kettlebrook.org/rideforcongo.pdf

Honror Mike's sacrifice

Please consider giving $35 (10 cents for every mile Mike rode) towards the fund raising for peace initiatives. Honor the sacrifice and effort of Mike, the 7 other riders and crew.

All funds raised will be doubled by a generous World Relief donor! This will go a long ways towards lasting changes towards peace and reconciliation.

Go to www.worldrelief.org/raceforcon​go/mikemoran

Celebration Time!

The team has arrived in Baltimore with people lining the streets to welcome them!