Yesterday afternoon we were invited to speak in MCA's high school chapel service about Gloritrek.  It was a privilege to share with about 300 students and faculty about the pilgrimage Noah and I have been on for several years now as we prepare for Gloritrek.  We even had one of the bikes up on stage with us!  Many students were familiar with some of our story, especially the connection with Dr. Zhang and Discovery Channel.  I shared about Philip (Acts 8); who, in the midst of a great work in Samaria, was called by the Lord to go into the desert.  He did not know why he was called, but his act of obedience led to the Ethiopian official's acceptance of Christ, and the Gospel being carried to the continent of Africa!

We may not know exactly why God has called us to Gloritrek, and even to desert highways, but Noah and I are confident that, like Philip, God has a purpose and a plan.  What will God do with Gloritrek?  Who will we meet?  What decisions will be made?  Will people groups be adopted?  Will Christians step forward to boldly take the Gospel to those who have not yet heard?  Only God knows, and like Philip, we're okay with that!

We're excited to share about our NYC Gloritrek event, made possible through a connection by Mr. Schmidt, Noah's 7th grade teacher.  Lord willing, on August 4th, we'll be in the heart of China Town, speaking to a Chinese Church!  How cool is that!  Only about 40 more Gloritrek events to arrange!  :-)

Noah's Hot Wheels

Matthew Wang, our Gloritrek bike artist, has done an amazing job on the wheels, in both English and Chinese! These wheels will tell people why we ride!

Gloritrek Prep Pictures!

Training for Gloritrek really began during the summer of 2012.  Noah and Dave ran a couple 5K's.

Noah, with classmate Jonathan, & David participate in a 25.75 KM triathlon!

 You wanted to see it!  Here is what my friend, Dr. Chen's chin work accomplished!  Why?  So my helmet will actually stay on my head!

A 113 KM (half Ironman) in Taitung, Taiwan

No, nothing to do with Gloritrek, but it was Noah's first par.  Norton Knoll's, #4 a par 5, Oakland, IL.

Matthew Wang is our paint guy for the Gloritrek bikes, which will soon be ready to photograph!  (No, the bike frame he is holding is not ours.)

Frames, Chin & Web-site

This has been a big week for Gloritrek.  The bike frames are nearly finished at the paint shop.  Soon I will be delivering them to the SRAM factory for final assembly.  My friend, Dr. Chen, took the stitches out of my chin.  Though my chin is still sore, I was able to shave, which makes my wife very happy!  And, Allen Messimer, one of our Team Expansion co-workers here in Taichung, is helping me update the Gloritrek web-site.  Soon, you'll notice new additions to the web-site:  the calendar, maps, 10 ten-minute topics, etc.  I'm always amazed by how the Lord provides......

Emily is our Gloritrek Coordinator

We're excited to add Emily Harrison, our daughter, to the Gloritrek team. She will be handling event scheduling, among other things. Please keep Emily (and our son-in-law, David) in your prayers!

Christian Standard Announcement

In the Aug. 1 on-line issue of the Christian Standard, the magazine published that Noah and I were completing Gloritrek "this week."

Though the pronouncement is a year in advance, we pray that it is a prediction of the good things to come! We did receive the bike frames from the factory this week! Yeah!

Prep for Gloritrek

The last couple weeks have been busy. We were blessed to spend a week in Livonia, MI, with the Memorial Church oh Christ and their VBS. Altogether, the kids raised more than $1750 for Gloritrek.

Also, we've begun to order supplies: bike racks from Bontrager and waterproof saddlebags from Ortlieb.

We spent a couple days in L'ville at the Team Expansion headquarters, ironing out details for Gloritrek and debriefing.

Returning to Illinois, we saw temp readings as high as 107 degrees! Yikes! I foresee some early morning bike riding in our future!