CRC Executive Director Registers to Ride in Tour

January 28, 2008, Grand Rapids, Mich.—Rev. Gerard Dykstra, executive director of the Christian Reformed Church, is showing his support for this summer’s Sea to Sea Bike Tour in a very visible way. Together with his wife, Linda, he’ll spend two weeks—and about 800 miles—in the saddle, cycling from Grand Rapids, Mich., to Jersey City, NJ to help those living in poverty.

The Dykstras have enjoyed riding their bikes all over the United States and parts of Canada. Together on their tandem bike or on their separate bikes, they have pedaled through sections of Ottawa, Canada, upstate New York, and Virginia, as well as along the Mississippi River and California Coast.

This summer’s experience will be about more than seeing God’s beautiful creation from the seat of a bicycle.

“Linda and I have enjoyed biking very much for a number of years, but haven’t been able to do it recently,” says Dykstra. “We decided that being part of Sea to Sea would be a wonderful opportunity to get back to it in a special way. Also, this is a way to publically show our commitment to what we are doing as a denomination.”

The Sea to Sea tour, presented by the CRC in partnership with the Reformed Church in America, will start in Seattle, Wash. on June 30 and end nine weeks and 3,750 miles later on Aug. 30 in Jersey City.

Along with more than 175 other riders, the Dykstras will be raising money to support the cause. Some riders will be participating in the entire trek. Others, such as the Dykstras, will pedal a portion of it.

“The fact that the CRC and other churches are trying to find ways to end poverty is powerful – and to do it is this way is huge. This is no small task. It indicates the level of commitment that people have,” Dykstra says.

This summer’s Sea to Sea Tour follows on the heels of the CRC’s 150th anniversary. It is also the second time that the denomination has mounted a tour such as this. More than 160 riders took part in the “Sea to Sea with the CRC” bike tour that crossed Canada in 2005.

Joining the CRC in the effort this year will be riders from the RCA. “Our denominations are doing many things together and partnering however we can,” says Dykstra. “On this tour, we will be doing ministry together in a way that is visible to the world.”

Billed as the largest bike tour of its kind to ever cross North America, Sea to Sea oraganizers hope to raise more than $1.5 million to fund projects that reduce poverty, such as an HIV/AIDS program in Nigeria, Christian libraries in Russia, and loans for people in low-income communities to invest in small business to generate income.

Registration for cycling in the tour closes Jan. 31. For more information about the tour and how to make a donation to support this project, call 1-888-272-2453 or visit www.SeatoSea.org.

—Chris Meehan, CRC Communications