Blessing with Bikes

The Wildwood summer project motto is "treasuring Jesus and making him known."  We want to be conduits of God's love and blessing in every way that we can while we are here this summer.  One creative approach we've decided to employ is free bike maintenance.   On Thursday nights, we provide free bike repair to anyone who needs it.

College students come from all over the world to work in Wildwood, NJ over the summer.  Because almost none of them have cars, many of them purchase used bicycles from local shops, craigslist and random neighborhood dealers.  Many of these bikes are pretty beat up!  The wheels are bent, the gears and brakes are a mess and you wouldn't believe how many bikes I've seen this summer that are missing bearings!

Anyone who knows me knows that I love Bicycles.  (Just coming out here to Wildwood, I brought a bike for everyone in the family along with two child carrier trailers to tow behind our bikes!)  And most of the other staff here also have bikes and know how to work on them.  So we decided to buy a mechanic stand and each Thursday evening at our International cafe we set up shop at the end of the driveway and work on peoples bikes.  

We've advertised our services on our flyers, so plenty of kids show up with messed up bikes.  We'll line em up and get to work adjusting cables, pumping tires, fixing brakes and lubing chains.  While we work the students either hang out with us and chat or sit down in the back yard enjoying the snacks and meeting new friends.

There are a couple of things that I really like about this venture.  To start with, it's just a very simple way to serve others practically.  People's bikes are broken, their tires are flat and they need someone with tools to help them get back on the road.  And there we are.  Secondly, students come in with busted, struggling bikes and we bring a certain 'restoration' as we get things tuned up, unstuck and put back together.  And in that way, what we are doing with the bikes is really a picture of what I believe God is doing through this project all the way around.  He is using our group to teach and proclaim the good news of Jesus thereby ushering in life restoration to people who are broken and hurting.

Invention of the "Double Loco"

It's no secret that we really love Taco Bell.  It's our favorite restaurant....it's a part of our life.

5 years ago we moved to Ithaca.  We were tired and weary from an arduous winter road trip across the country.  We were actually not certain that Ithaca had a Taco Bell location -though in fact we had prayed that it did!  Driving thru the city on our first night, we decided to grab dinner at the Bell.  I still clearly remember Jack saying "Jesus loves us huh dad!?" when we saw the sign!

A few months back, we filmed our 'creation' of the "double loco."

Olympic Challenge

I posted this classic video clip back in 2010, but in light of the Olympics, I thought it would be a good one to re-post.  Francis Chan knows how to illustrate things in creative, compelling and challenging ways.  I love this guy!

The House Meeting

Almost a month ago we were gathered with over 50 of our students at our fall retreat. After the session on Saturday night I was hanging around and students were sort of milling about as we waited for the talent show to begin. One of my guys pulled me aside and asked if I had a few minutes to talk.

This guy is one of our main student leaders and a co-laborer who I really enjoy spending time with. He is a junior now, and was one of the first freshman that I began spending time with two years ago when we kicked off our first fall semester at Cornell. I'm not going to name him in this story, because the work I'm going to talk about is still very much ongoing, and I also want to respect his humility.

We sat down in the dining area, and he told me how he had been struck with this idea while praying that he should organize a 'house meeting' and present the good news of Jesus to his housemates. He lives with 10 other people and most of them are not followers of Christ. He was praying, and he felt a burden for these guys and girls and he felt impressed upon by the Lord to simply invite everyone to a meeting and then tell them about what he believes.

Now first off, I love this idea! I think it's just one example of the kind of thing that is pretty easy to do in college that is actually quite difficult to do after college. Case in point, I don't live with 10 other people right now who happen to be in a stage of life where they are making big life decisions! But I also acknowledge that it's a bit edgy.....which is also why I like it! It actually takes FAITH!

But wanting to proceed with wisdom (not caution....wisdom!) we decided to pray about it for a few days.

The next weekend, my friend went out to the Desiring God conference and listened to that talk by Francis Chan that I mentioned in my last post. His impulse was confirmed by the Holy Spirit and he came back to Ithaca with resolve to call a meeting and communicate the Gospel!

Now, it was a bit weird really, but it was all good! Though he lives in a house in collegetown with 10 other people, they don't usually have 'house meetings'. But he sent out the invite and everyone came. The meeting started out with one guy asking everyone to "please lock the door" when they leave the house. Another girl settled some logistical issues regarding payment of the electrical bill, and then my friend began to tell them exactly why he had called the meeting. He talked for about 10 minutes about his love for Christ, and God's love for us demonstrated in Christ's life, death and resurrection.

After he was finished, the room was filled with silence. One guy couldn't stand it, and broke the awkwardness with sarcasm by standing up and clapping while affirming my friends eloquence. Another girl followed up by thanking him for sharing and, and acknowledging that such a move took courage and conviction. Then they sat around quietly for a few more moments until they began to talk about random things eventually brainstorming ideas for how to host their first house party.

I love what this guy did! He loves the people that he lives with, and he is not content to simply hang out with them every day wondering whether or not they know about Jesus or not.

He stepped out with passion and bravery and lived out his calling as "ambassador for Christ" and proclaimed the name of Jesus. In doing so, he opened doors, and also marked himself as a follower of God. He is an example to me and many of our students.

For now, he continues to hang out and look for ways to serve and bless his housemates in practical ways. And hopefully he'll have opportunities to follow up on his sacred stunt!