Rider for AJS Reaches His Goal
Steve McCloskey celebrated the end of a 2,500-mile, fund-raising bicycle ride on Tuesday evening with friends and well-wishers at a city park just down the street from the Grand Rapids, Mich., headquarters of the Christian Reformed Church.
A law and business professor in the state of Washington, McCloskey made "Steve's Just Ride" to raise funds for and awareness of the Association for a More Just Society, an organization that provides legal, investigative, and psychological services to the poor of Honduras. McCloskey left his home just over a month ago.
Approved by Synod 2010 for support as a non-denominational organization, AJS works in Honduras but is based in Grand Rapids. It is also incorporated in Honduras. Calvin College sociology professor Kurt Ver Beek is a cofounder of AJS and helps run a study-abroad program in Honduras for Calvin.
"I've been truly touched as a Christian by the work that is being done in Honduras for people who live on $2 a day," said McCloskey in an interview in Holland, Mich., before he climbed aboard his bike for the final leg of his journey into Grand Rapids and to the headquarters for AJS.
Having been with his wife, Pollie, to Honduras several times to see firsthand what AJS and other groups are doing, McCloskey decided that he "couldn't just sit in Seattle and do nothing… Since I live on my bike, I thought that the ride was something I could do to raise awareness about AJS."
One story helps to illustrate his point. A four-year-old Honduran girl was abused and could identify the abuser, but her mother did not have the funds to pay for an attorney to take the perpetrator to court. AJS stepped in and provided the legal services and the abuser was punished. AJS also provided psychological services to the girl and her mother.
"AJS is an organization that lets us know that the human spirit cannot be broken as long as God is involved. God is more powerful than everything," said McCloskey, who is no stranger to long bike trips.
He rode cross-country from his home to Washington D.C. several years ago to raise funds and awareness for cancer research. He did that out of gratitude for having become a survivor of cancer of his tonsils.
"So I knew what I was getting into," said McCloskey. He battled 30 mph headwinds, long road construction zones, cold weather, and grasshoppers and found it necessary at one point in his journey to steer a path around scores of toads crossing a road. He also was chased by dogs.
"I appreciate the opportunity to serve in this way. I realized partway through that I was doing ministry," he said. "I talked about AJS and handed out brochures everywhere I went—restaurants, campgrounds, churches, stores."
Initially, McCloskey wasn’t even sure if he could make the trip, since he was banged up by a car while riding his bike near his home. He had to be hospitalized. But his wounds healed enough for him to hit the road.
He pedaled the first 1,000 miles alone and then was joined along the way by a friend, Pete Schnebele, and Pollie, his wife. His in-laws drove the support vehicle.
"People across the country opened their houses to us," he said. "I had a chance to meet America, people of all sorts, all of them angels."
Issues that AJS addresses include land rights, labor rights, domestic violence, gang violence, and child sexual abuse.
McCloskey, who teaches full-time at Shoreline Community College in Shoreline, Wash., spoke at Fellowship Church in Holland on Monday night.
His goal is to raise $10,000 ($4 per mile) for AJS. So far, he has raised $7,000. He has already obtained sponsorships to cover his ride costs, so every dollar donated will go directly to AJS and count towards its Transforming Lives, Transforming Honduras campaign.
"Some people have called me crazy for making this trip. I don't care. I'm crazy for Jesus," he said.
Check out more about McCloskey's trip at Steve’s Blog.
To help him toward his $4 per mile goal, give here. (Remember to write "Steve's Just Ride" in the check memo or online donation comment field.)
