For The Record

Submit birth, marriage and obituary records online.

Personal Ads

Meet new friends today!

Advertising

Put your message in front of 19,000 readers.

PDF documents on this site require the free Adobe Reader:

Get Adobe Reader

2009-01-20 issue:

Bikers begin 8,500-mile ride to Paraguay

Two young men to raise funds so others can attend Global Youth Summit.

by Jim Bishop

Print Article

Lars Åkerson and Jonathan Spicher are aware of the major challenge, risk and unknowns facing them, but they feel confident they will persevere with God’s protection and the support of family and friends.


Lars Åkerson (left) and Jonathan Spicher leave Harrisonburg, Va., Jan. 6. They planned to spend their first night on the road at Charlottesville (Va.)  Mennonite Church.

A group of well-wishers stood in the rain on Jan. 6 as Åkerson, 22, of Harrisonburg, Va., and Spicher, 20, of Lancaster, Pa., left Virginia Mennonite Conference headquarters in Park View,  Va., pointing their 27-speed touring bikes southward. Six months and some 8,500 miles later, they hope to arrive in Asunción, Paraguay, to attend two global church meetings.

The 15th Mennonite World Conference (MWC) Assembly is set for July 13-19 in Asunción, with  the Global Youth Summit preceding on July 9-12. The first such gathering was held in 2003 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and attracted more than 220 young adults from 28 countries.

It’s an adventure certainly, but more than that the pair seeks to raise funds to help more young adults from other countries to attend the summit.

They will also engage individuals, Anabaptist churches and larger groups along the way, listen to others’ concerns and vision for the church, but they also anticipate doing service projects as they arise in keeping with the focus of the youth summit, “Service: Live the Difference.”

They also worked with people at Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and with Mennonite conferences in setting up contacts on their route.

Åkerson graduated from Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va., in 2008, a double major in mathematics and liberal arts with a minor in Spanish. Spicher plans to return to EMU this fall as a senior premed major. His biking venture will fulfill the school’s cross-cultural
requirement.

The first segment of the journey will include stops in Durham, N.C., and at Jubilee Partners in Comer, Ga. They plan to travel through Alabama, Louisiana and Texas and cross into Mexico, through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and, finally, Paraguay.

They’ve invited others to join them for sections of the ride, for a few miles or several days.
They also hope to spend time interacting with the EMU cross-cultural spring semester seminar group whose time in Guatemala will coincide with their trip. They will also visit MCC workers in various locations and Conservative Mennonite Conference personnel in Ecuador.

Before the trip, when asked about the weather uncertainties and risk and safety factors of this trek across two continents, Åkerson and Spicher remained silent a moment before responding.

“Our main concern is the last leg of the trip,” Åkerson said. “We’ll spend much of the last two months biking in elevations up to 14,000 feet above sea level.”

“We will be vulnerable, but we’re relying on people’s hospitality and intentionally depending on God and others for safety and protection,” Spicher said. “We’ve done some planning for contingencies but can’t anticipate everything that could happen along the way.”

Nancy Heisey, chair of the Bible and religion department at EMU and president of MWC, called the pair’s impending venture “exciting and scary.”

“I admire the amount of energy Lars and Jonathan are putting into this journey,” Heisey said, “but even more, I’m pleased that they are demonstrating a commitment to spiritual growth as well as the significant contribution they want to make to other young adults around the world.”

The pair has set up an interactive Web site where they will provide updates of their journey. Anyone who wants to contribute to the fund-raising effort can do so at the same site.

“We hope that our journey will encourage and add to an intercultural conversation about discerning and living Christ’s call with integrity,” said Åkerson.

“Biking together is a great relationship-building endeavor,” Spicher said. “I’m excited to have this opportunity for two-way learning with brothers and sisters and for spiritual growth.”