“To the ends of the earth…” Reading this phrase, we typically imagine faraway lands, exotic people and mysterious customs as we go out proclaiming the gospel.  For five days, youthHOPE, a ministry committed to transforming the lives of global youth, gives ‘to the ends of the earth’ new meaning. Faraway lands… Key West, Florida.  Exotic people… youth leaders. Mysterious customs… a bike ride—to take the gospel to Velingrad, Bulgaria.

In an effort to raise awareness of the ministry of Gabe and Melissa Hillman, serving their second term with youth in Velingrad, Bulgaria, and to equip them to reach the 1,700 high school students in Velingrad with the Gospel, youthHOPE has developed the ‘To the Ends of the Earth’ Key West Bike ride (KWB).  To the Ends of the Earth is a group of 12 youth workers riding from Ft. Myers (leaving from NMSI’s Center for Global Outreach) to the end of FL (Key West) .

From Saturday, February 4 to Thursday, February 9, twelve riders will bike 50-70 miles per day, for a total of 300 miles. For each mile, the bikers are raising funds to purchase the sports equipment needed to reach the youth in Velingrad through a sports ministry developed by the Hillmans.  The ride is the vision of Aaron Arnold, youthHOPE’s executive director and came to life three months ago as Justin Hanneken, Director of Outreach for YouthHOPE, began gathering participants and developing the ride.  Four youth pastors from churches in Lee County have signed up to ride with Aaron and Justin, along with NMSI missionary Adam Hunt and youthHOPE apprentices Britney Sue Zeller and Katie DeBusk.

YouthHOPE’s purpose is to equip the Church to meet the holistic needs of global youth and this ride is doing exactly that.  It’s also bringing together youth pastors from different denominations to spend a week together in hopes that collaboration, friendships and fellowship will emerge.  Many of the riders have never completed a long distance ride before, yet have been in training for this opportunity to support the ministry in Bulgaria.  For more information on the cause and to watch the promo video, visit:  http://www.youthhope.com/get-involved/endsoftheearth

Join us to ‘the Ends of the Earth’
To sponsor one of the riders, click here and insert the name of the rider you would like to donate to.  The funds you donate will make the Gospel more available to the youth of Velingrad. 

You can also “like” the KW Bike Ride on facebook.

As we helped plant the first church in Nkimpa, we also joined with local leaders to help them grow their own food. Most people were skeptical, but a few key individuals dove into the project. The project nearly failed completely due to the first year’s harvest being destroyed by elephants and the second year’s crops failed due to drought!

Our team with AfricaHope continued to encourage the community leaders, however, and they decided to invest in farming one more time. The community’s hopes grew as the maize grew taller and taller, and in September the community rejoiced over their first harvest ever!

The joy of the harvest is even greater as Ole Rinka, a community leader and farmer, recently accepted Christ as his Savior! His joy and transformation was evidenced when he and five other community leaders gave the first fruits of their harvest to AfricaHope to support our ministry to the hungry.

By simply developing farming in the community of Nkimpa, not only are the hungry being fed but also people are coming to know the saving power of our Lord Jesus!

“For me (Mision Sports Camp) was a blessing from the Lord because we practiced our sport, but especially with Christ and hanging out with our brothers and sisters from America. The week seemed to me like we were arming ourselves with God’s tools for the battle against the world and especially in going back to classes. God bless you guys.”

“How powerful, and what a blessing it was, to worship and fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Mexico! We all came away with so much joy in our hearts and were challenged to live a life of integrity, wisdom and obedience!”

This summer, a team of adults and high school students arrived in Mexico and joined a team of Mexican staff to lead the first camp of Misión Sports Camps. During camp, the U.S. adults served as counselors, and the teens joined the camp as campers alongside campers from Mexico, for a total 65 people in attendance. Each day featured a specific value such as integrity, obedience, wisdom or prudence that was incorporated into individual devotions/Bible study, skits and main sessions in the evenings. During this week of camp, campers had the options of training in soccer, basketball, volleyball and tennis, twice a day, followed by fun electives and free time. From Spanish to English and English to Spanish, the Mexican staff and campers worshiped daily with brothers and sisters in Christ from the U.S. On the final night, campers and staff gathered for a gospel message delivered through a special campfire experience. 

We are thankful for God´s provision, protection and faithfulness. We give Him all glory and honor for the spiritual and physical training that was done in the lives of campers and staff, both from Mexico and the U.S. Thank you for your prayers and support of this ministry! Camp wouldn’t have happened without you!

“When we* do culture training, we often recommend against asking ‘why’ questions.  They usually come off as accusatory and go along the lines of “Why don’t people drive between the lines here?”  “Why do you let people have so many guns?”  We often do the same things with prayer and God.  “Why do we have to go through this?  Why did God heal him?  Why didn’t He heal someone else?”  The truth is that I find myself wanting to judge God.  It is also true that my understanding and vision for the world is pathetically small.  I’m glad I’m not in charge.

I hope that my wife and I would have seen His hand as clearly and been just as grateful for Him if our son wasn’t coming home with us.  As my wife said, “If we had lost our son, we don’t know where else we could have turned other than God.”

I also find myself looking for patterns or trying to understand how to cause God to respond in certain ways.  Maybe you just have to get enough people to pray?  Maybe if you pray when kneeling?  Maybe if you believe enough?  Maybe if you mix a little hair in a potion of toad liver oil and goat’s blood?  That’s really what we want from God—magic.  Magic can be controlled, manipulated, abused.

I’m thankful that we serve a God who is really God, who cannot be manipulated by any man.”