Biker's With A Mission

What a great weekend we've had here in Kansas City. According to the local weather forecaster, we were in for rain from last Friday morning till Monday afternoon - but obviously God had other plans!

Saturday, we rode to central Missouri for a gathering of bikers partaking in some awesome BBQ and it was such a beautiful day and a gorgeous ride. Normally riding on the interstates is not my cup of tea, but it was the first day trip of the year and we were all happy to fight with the semi's traveling up I-70 heading to our destinations.

So this morning, we went to early church service and afterwards, headed over to the Kansas City's City Union Mission to participate in their BWAM (Biker's With A Mission Run For The Homeless) 100 mile run. What a great day, full of good friends and plenty of sunshine!

The Mission depends completely on the gifts of God's people--individuals, churches, groups, foundations and businesses who care about the poor and homeless. I've volunteered at the City Union Mission in the past, taking meals over and spending time with the folks living there. One year, we performed a cantata for the residents during the Christmas season. CUM is a wonderful organization that has been around since 1924, providing warm beds, nutritious food and a place of safety for thousands of poverty stricken and homeless men, women and children.

This was my first year participating and hubs second, but it may get put on our calendar each year - because it really helps out so many. I'm not sure how many bikes actually signed up for the ride - you could register in a 3 hour window, and we got there about 2 hours into it, so many of the bikers has come and registered and already left for the ride.



From the benefit ride in 2008, enough money was raised to:

serve 329,669 meals

140,956 beds provided

454 decisions for Christ

8,866 patients seen in Medical Services

4,580 people requested shelter through Hotline for the Homeless

351 kids attended Camp CUMCITO (and that alone will get me to be a part of it annually!)

Our hope is that much more money is raised in 2009 - because we get by with the help of our friends ♥