Can this bike tour really end the cycle of poverty? The following story reveals how.
A young man was walking along the ocean and saw a beach on which thousands and thousands of starfish had washed ashore. Further along he sees an old man, walking slowly and stooping often, picking up one starfish after another and tossing each one gently into the ocean. "Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?," he asks. "Because the sun is up and the tide is going out and if I don't throw them further in they will die." "But, old man, don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it! You can't possibly save them all, you can't even save one-tenth of them. In fact, even if you work all day, your efforts won't make any difference at all." The old man listened calmly and then bent down to pick up another starfish and throw it into the sea. "It made a difference to that one."
Indeed, the goal of this bike tour—ending the cycle of poverty—is hopeful, if not overwhelming. Yet for generations, good-hearted people all over the world have been working to this end, doing what they can for individuals, families and communities who do without the basic necessities to sustain a healthy life.
The Christian Reformed Church, through its members, agencies and partners, continues to work to alleviate poverty for individuals and communities around the world through job creation, education, training, health services, community and business development, mentoring and more. This massive bike tour will raise awareness about poverty-related issues on a larger scale than we could each do on our own. But it takes each individual's contribution of time, skills and funds to add to the whole and make a difference 'to that one.'
Are you in...? Together, we can end the cycle of poverty for this one here, that one there, and those over there.
