Huge Rally Launches Final Leg of Tour

Families, friends and supporters of Sea to Sea tour riders turned out in droves on Sunday to take part in a high-energy, more than 90-minute-long celebration rally at Fifth Third Ballpark in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Under a hot summer sun, broken by a soft breeze, riders and about 4,000 others joined in song, prayer and praise at the event that marked the end of the seventh week of the cross-country bike journey.

Sponsored by the Christian Reformed Church in North America in partnership with the Reformed Church in America, the tour began in Seattle, Wash., and will cross into Canada later this week on the way to New Jersey.

Tanned and looking fit, Sea to Sea riders spent Saturday and Sunday in Grand Rapids, many connecting with friends and family. About a quarter of the 220 cyclists live in the greater Grand Rapids area.

Riders – including some just starting the tour – will ride to Laingsburg near Lansing, Mich., on Monday. They cross into Canada on Wednesday. They are scheduled to reach Liberty Park, with its view of the Statue of Liberty in New York's harbor, on Aug. 30.

Music began inside the minor league baseball stadium about 2:30 p.m. at Sunday's rally – the largest so far on the tour. Rev. Denise Kingdom-Grier, pastor of Calvary Reformed Church in Holland, Mich., gave the call to worship.

"We claim this ballpark today as holy ground, believing God wants us to do something beautiful in this place," she said from a stage set up behind second base.

Rev. Jerry Dykstra, executive director of the CRCNA, spoke next. Wearing a bright yellow Sea to Sea jersey, Dykstra thanked all of the riders for taking part in this trek. Fortunately, he said, no one has experienced a serious injury yet while on the road. Some riders, though, have broken bones. Dykstra and his wife will be riding a tandem bike on the final, two-week leg of the trip.

Tyler Buitenwerf, a Grand Rapids rider who has been injured and is unable to complete the tour, described his time on the road and the friendships he made before getting tangled with another bike and crashing to the ground on the way to Denver, Colo., breaking his collarbone.

At first he was deeply disappointed that he wouldn't be able to finish the trip, he said, but then he realized that the cause for which he was riding was much bigger than him or any of his accomplishments. It is a cause that will last long after the tour is complete.

"Even though I had to leave the ride behind, my destination is not Liberty Park. My destination is to help break the cycle of poverty," said Buitenwerf.

The rally included a rousing message by author and evangelist Shane Claiborne, who took to the stage in a T-shirt, sporting long curly hair and speaking about the ways in which the Sea to Sea riders are reflecting the Christian message their effort to raise more than $1.5 million to help fight poverty at home and abroad.

"It is beautiful to see this critical mass of people as they bike across the country," said Claiborne, who lives in Philadelphia, Penna. "As people see them, they see the goodness of God… We pray as they ride that justice will roll across the land and goods news will be spread to the poor."

In his message, Claiborne spoke of working with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, of growing up on a farm in Tennessee, and of the inner-city neighborhood in which he and a number of Christian friends live and work. He said that his hope is that a new generation of young Christians – men and women who live out their faith sacrificially and in public – is emerging.

"Christians are people who live in ways that are a bit peculiar," he said. "It is such an exciting time to be alive. There is a whole generation of people who are beginning to walk through this dark world in ways that don't compute – and yet they are radiating the love of Jesus."

For instance, he said, there are the men and women who have given up all or part of their summer to ride across the continent as a witness to a faith that is real, alive and requires effort. "These are people in whom the fruits of the spirit have taken root."

To give people a practical look at programs that are fighting poverty in Grand Rapids and around the world, a Ministry Fair was held in conjunction with the rally. Ministries of the CRCNA and the RCA, as well various ministries working specially in Grand Rapids, were featured in tents and on tables on opposite ends of the ballpark.

Kyle Meyerink., a Sea to Sea cyclist from Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia, helped to close the rally by singing a song that he composed along the route.

Darwin Glassford, a professor at Calvin Theological Seminary, closed the service by asking people in the stands to gather in small groups to pray. Looping arms around one another, or holding hands, or simply bowing their heads, people listened as Glassford said, "Lord, enable and equip us to confront this cycle of poverty, this blight on your world.

"Thank you for these men and women who have sacrificed their time this summer to contribute to breaking this devastating cycle of poverty in our world. We pray for health and safety of these riders as they continue their journey."

-Chris Meehan, CRC Communications