“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”
So said the author of Ecclesiastes (and Pete Seeger). Two tours completed–time to measure, to assess what we accomplished. Question is, what’s the metric?
We cycle to bring hope and freedom to kids rescued from human trafficking. Our team raises support for the kids at the HOME OF HOPE, so an obvious metric is money. We’ll report when final numbers are tabulated, but “dollars raised” is only one measure of our success, and perhaps not a very accurate one.
A bike tour is actually a pretty inefficient way to raise money. Most of our time and effort targets other goals–physical training, team building, church partnerships, raising awareness (writing, speaking), moving a team down the road–that don’t directly enhance fundraising. If money is the primary goal we’re using the wrong activity.
Of course the dollars matter. The HOME OF HOPE operates in the real world. Expenses for food, clothing, shelter, education, and counseling are real as well. We believe, however, that God sees the heart behind the dollars, that he uses and multiplies them in ways we don’t understand. So we’ll continue our efforts to raise funds with faith that God’s in charge and He’ll provide for our kids.
FREEDOM TOUR is a community committed to a story bigger than ourselves. Team members build lifelong relationships as they work together to follow a God-sized dream.
“Community” is a difficult metric. I can report dollars on a spreadsheet. I can tell you how many people signed up, how many miles they cranked. That’s easy.
Tougher to measure lasting friendships formed or stories shared in late-night devotions. Or the impact of conversations while cranking along a deserted highway. Or even what we learn about God and ourselves from the inevitable messiness, the struggles and conflicts that happen when less-than-perfect folks get tired and miss the mark.
I don’t know how to quantify “community” or “following a God-sized dream.” I’m not sure how to put “trust God” on a spreadsheet. But those things are still worth pursuing, more worthy, I think, than anything we can rank or compare.
There’s no limit to what can be accomplished by a group of committed, passionate people when they work together and trust God for the outcome.
I learn as I go that “trust God for the outcome” means living with uncertainty. It means following Jesus’ example, doing things His way, following His path without knowing the destination.
Difficult to measure hope and freedom, but we didn’t put “Journey For A Lot Of Money” on the back of our jerseys.