Day 14 - June 1 - Grants to Albuquerque, NM

Day 14 - June 1 - Grants to Albuquerque, NM (85 miles today / 866 total miles )

Today was a long day!  The welcome to ABQ is "9 Mile Hill," which lives up to its reputation!  Three flats today, one for each of us!  We all struggled at times today -- not sure if it was the altitude or too much Chinese food last night.  Also, we fought a cross wind most of the day, which turned into a head wind at times.  There are forest fires north of ABQ, and we saw the smoke rising from there most of the day.

Speaking of hard days, there will be those days when your resolve is tested  -- especially in missions work.  Can we give up when the lost have yet to hear?

We are being treated wonderfully by Ron & Joy Hunter, which came through a contact with Ted & Bev Skiles.  Ron is retired from the FBI!  Tonight they took us out to a wonderful Mexican restaurant, and for dessert we had sopapillas -- a first for Andy & Luey!

Tomorrow we will attend Hoffmantown Church, with the Hunters.  It is a mega-church and I will be sharing with a large SS class.  We are looking forward to a day off!  We did lots of climbing this week, with one more day on Monday, to Moriarty, NM.  After that, it's pretty much downhill to Texas!

Noah and Emily made it safely back to Central Illinois this afternoon -- even the bike made it!  Special thanks to Chuck & Kathy Foreman, for hosting Noah while we made travel arrangements!  What a blessing they are to us!

Brenda is finished with teaching at MCA, and will spend the next few days getting the house and church ready for us being gone over the summer.  She will then fly to Portland to see friends, and then on to Tulsa to meet us there in two weeks, Lord willing.

Thank you for your prayers, as they really are sustaining us during these long days!

Blessings!
Dave, Luey & Andy

Day 13 - May 31 - Gallup to Grants, NM

Day 13 - May 31 - Gallup to Grants, NM (66 miles)

Mid-way today we crossed the Continent Divide.  Last night, I Skyped with Brenda and she asked, "Why does it always seem like you're going up hill?"  Well....we finally got to do a little downhill today!

We made good time today, sometimes cruising at 20 mph, aided by a tail breeze from the Lord.  We did, however, have 4 1/2 flats today.  I had one (my 2nd).  Luey had 2 1/2 (he rode the third into Grants before it went down), and Andy had a flat before we ever left Gallup.  So glad Luey is an expert at changing flats!

The vistas along I-40 are really spectacular.  Reaching the top of another hill, we are almost always rewarded with a grand landscape in front of us.  Our God is an amazing God!  What diversity in God's creation! Reminds me of the nations -- what diversity there too!  Our God is the Creator of all!

Tomorrow we have about 80 miles into Albuquerque.  And, thanks to Ted & Bev Skiles, our co-workers in Taiwan; we now have a place to stay and a church to visit.  I'll say more about that tomorrow.

Thank you for praying!  As we had our first "close call" today.  We actually had to ride  in the slow lane on the interstate for a 10 mile stretch.  Two 18-wheelers passed us side-by-side and doing 75 mph.  Thank you, Lord!

Blessings!
Dave, Luey & Andy

Day 12 - May 30 - Holbrook, AZ to Gallup, NM

Day 12 - May 30 - Holbrook, AZ to Gallup, NM (94 miles)

We're smack-dab in the middle of the Painted Desert.  From Holbrook we left at 5 AM for a long day in the saddle.  We made good time today, despite the nearly 1000 ft of ascent; bolstered by a strong westerly breeze pushing us along.  We stopped several times near the AZ/NM border to take pictures of the cliffs.  We stopped again at the NM welcome center and spent several minutes talking to motorists.  Nine hours of riding today.

I had my first flat tire today, Luey has had 4, and Andy leads with 5 flats.  I made it through CA and AZ without a flat!  Not bad, I'd say, since we've now ridden 1,180 KM / 621 miles.

We appreciate your prayers, as we have experienced several times the Lord providing in special ways; either through people or weather conditions.  Like today, the wind was at our backs most of the day; and it didn't really get too hot until our last hour in the saddle.  In the mornings, we are down-right chilly!

However, if you are praying for us, will you also remember to pray Luke 10:2 with us?  My watch alarm goes off every morning at 10:02, and I am reminded to pray to the "Lord of the Harvest" for laborers to be sent into the harvest fields.  Otherwise, why are we spending hours in the saddle each day?  I fully expect to see God move in amazing ways -- we've already begun to see it!

The other night I closed my presentation by saying, "We know that heaven will include every tribe, people and nation.  Revelation gives us a glimpse of it.  The only question is -- will it happen that the nations all hear in spite of you, or because of you?  God can do amazing things through those who trust him and step forward in faith.

So, pray for us -- YES!  But even more, pray for the 7,126 UPG's who have yet to hear the Gospel!

Blessings!
Dave, Luey & Andy

PS - Emily made it safely to PHX this afternoon, and will spend a day with the Foreman's, before Noah and Em return to Central Illinois.  Thank you for praying for them too!

Day 11 - May 29 - Show Low to Holbrook, AZ

Day 11 - May 29 - Show Low to Holbrook, AZ (52 miles)

We left the evergreens of the Show Low area, and headed north on US 77.  We were quickly into the barren high desert and a really strong cross-wind that was into us.  Luey and Andy were amazed at how far you could see, and how far we had to ride.

We only rode 52 miles today, because the next services were not for another 48 miles, on I-40.  We hope that the west wind continues, as tomorrow is 92 miles, up hill, toward Gallup, NM.  Lord willing we will leave AZ, and enter NM.

On a personal note, I was really sad this morning, biking without my buddy.  He is always my comic relief.  Out of habit, I kept looking into my side mirror to see how he was doing, and then reminding myself he's not with us anymore.

I hope his knee is healed enough to join us again when we arrive in IL.

Prayers are appreciated!  Thanks much!
Dave

Day 10 - May 28 - Payson to Show Low, AZ

 Day 10 - May 28 - Payson to Show Low, AZ

We headed out at 4:15 AM to tackle the 30 mile climb from 5000 ft to 7,200 ft.  Though Noah made it to the top, he was at the end of his stamina -- and his Gloritrek is over until at least IL.

Noah partially tore his patellar tendon away from the bone near his knee cap during soccer in the spring.  We thought it would be healed enough for Gloritrek.  It wasn't, and was causing him pain.

God provided an angel on a bicycle to assist us, KEN who went and got his car, and even ended up driving Noah back to PHOENIX and the Foreman's.  Emily will be using our FF miles and going to get Noah, Thursday to Saturday.  Please pray for Noah, because we're all pretty bummed by these events.

The ride itself was beautiful!  Though, we bit-off more than we could choose, trying to get to Show Low.  The folks at AICM (American Indian Christian Mission) came and picked us up.  What great host they were!  (Let us not forget that there is still missions work to do here in the USA!)  We spoke that night at the White Mtn Christian Church, in Show Low.  We had a great time of fellowship!

Day 9 - Phoenix to Payson, AZ

Day 9 - May 27 (Memorial Day) (77 m / 89 m)

This morning we started out a little after 4 AM (Luey, Andy & Dave).  Noah had the option of sleeping in and riding up the mtn with Fu in his big pick-up truck.  You know what Noah chose!

Aside from our first bike accident, we made good time in the morning out of PHX.  And, who has spent years riding scooters in Taiwan, accidentally pulled his left-hand break, the front break, when stopping suddenly.  In Taiwan, scooters use the left-hand break for rear breaking, and many bike riders in Taiwan switch the hand brakes, just to avoid that common mistake.  Andy is fine, except for a few scrapes.

Fu & Noah met up with us when we were half-way, at about 45 miles, and after much climbing.  Payson is at 5,000 ft and PHX is at at a little over 1,000 ft.  If it was only 4,000 ft of climbing -- that would have been fine.  No, there were several long Cat 2 & 3 climbs.  Yes, mtn climbs are categorized by their level of difficulty, with Cat. 1 being the hardest.  Altogether, there was more than 6,800 ft of climbing.  Luey & Andy did the whole thing in 12 hours.  I called it quits after 10 hours and 77 miles, and when Fu needed to get back to PHX.  He was our support vehicle all day -- what a blessing no having to carry our panniers.

Tomorrow we head to Show Low and and the White Mtn Christian Church.
Thanks for praying!
D, N, L, A

Day 8 - May 26 - Phoenix (Worship Day)

Day 8 - May 26 - First Christian Church, Phoenix (Worship Day

It was a wonderful day of worship with the FCC folks, in Phoenix.  And, it was a true blessing to see our old co-workers from Taiwan, Chuck & Kathy Foreman; spending the weekend with them.  We go way back; and speak the same language -- Chinese -- though his is much better than mine!

We preached two services on Sunday morning, and Noah spun his Chinese yo-yo -- even throwing it over my head while I spoke.  The FCC building is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed structure, and is amazing.  Luey and Andy were very moved by the people they met and the size of the church.

Preaching wise, it was Fu (Chuck) who had to tell me to "Get a grip!"  It was always me who had to tell Fu that in Taiwan, and I even made him a plaque which hangs in his office.  Why?  I haven't really written about what an emotional experience the desert was, just because I'm not sure it can be put in words.  It is enough to say that there were several times when we were in peril from heat, lack of water, or because we were in the middle of nowhere.  As a dad, trust the Lord with my own life and being satisfied with the outcome is okay with me.  But, my son's life?  I felt much like Abraham, who was told to go and sacrifice his son, Isaac.  What a choice to make?  And, how did Abraham respond?  And, what was he promised for his faithfulness?  Yes, that "all nations would be blessed" through him!

We had a wonderfully relaxing day in the Foreman's pool.  Noah learned that he doesn't want to mess with "old guys."  We ate pizza and watched part of a movie before heading to repack and prepare for another early morning -- a 3:30 AM wake up!