from Parish to Parish, from Missouri to Lui
On May 25th, after a 7:00 a.m. breakfast, Bishop Wayne Smith will celebrate Eucharist and send riders off from the Church of the Transfiguration, Lake St. Louis, with a “blessing of the bikes.” The ride concludes Sunday, May 31st, at Christ Church Cathedral, after 650 miles on a course that passes 18 parishes.
Auspicious Beginnings: A Brief History
Even before he went to Lui as a missioner, the Rev. Joe Chambers was thinking about ways to raise funds and awareness to provide clean water to our sisters and brothers in developing countries.
In 2006, pals Chambers and the Rev. Mitch Smith were training for an Ironman triathlon, and came up with the idea for a diocese wide bike ride to raise money for water projects in the companion dioceses of Swaziland (Iowa) and Lui (Missouri). Smith, rector at Trinity Episcopal Church in Waterloo, Iowa, and son of Canon and Mrs. Dan Smith, set the fundraising bar high with last year’s Water of Hope through Iowa—the ride raised $65,000, one third of which went to Lui, and paid for the seventh deep water well we’ve drilled there. Now it is Missouri’s turn.
The Rev. Joe Chambers, The Rev. Mitch Smith, on a blustery day riding Waters of Hope ‘08
The Parishes of the Diocese Prepare
Overnight host parishes and parishes sponsoring aid stations have been busy with the logistics of lodging, food and hydration, in addition to their own fund raising efforts. Even parishes not on the route are participating; St. Timothy’s in Creve Couer is organizing a children’s event during the ride.
Transfiguration plans a supper on Sunday evening, followed by Evening Prayer. Transfiguration’s Vicar, the Rev. Jason Samuel says church’s location up on a bluff makes it an ideal vantage point to watch the send-off on Monday morning.
Each host parish has a slightly different schedule, but many will welcome the riders in with a brief victory lap around the church grounds, often including the children of the parish. Calvary Columbia has organized a trike-a-thon and wishing well. Christ Church-Cape Girardeau, far off the route, is sponsoring several riders from the SEMO riding club. Grace-Jefferson City J2A has been very involved this year, from bake sales at the downtown Summer Solstice festival to hosting the riders’ supper. Like many other parishes, Grace is sponsoring riders and including Lui stories in newsletters, adult forums, and Sunday bulletins.
Christ Church-Rolla’s efforts included a Lenten devotion of forgoing bottled water, and making a small donation for each bottle not consumed. The people of Christ Church have rallied around this effort; Deacon Susan Bartlett reports their parish has already reached “over half one deep water well, and we’re not finished!”
Diana Price, Don Johnson, Deacon Susan Bartlett, and Junior Warden “Bud” Beechner Inaugurating Christ Church-Rolla’s Lenten Project
Many Ways to Participate and Support
Join your parish team, or if you’ve nothing yet organized, consider riding a stage or cheering on the riders along the way. Rider fees are $350 for the entire ride or $60 per day. Detailed route maps will soon be available on both the Waters of Hope and diocesan websites.
Consider a contribution. At the Waters of Hope website anyone can print out a sheet of paper that folds into a small donation box. These boxes can be seen around homes and places of employment; they are a clever way to keep the effort visible. Space precludes including the photo of the box that has been gracing the diocesan office lunch table.
The riders will be using the text message application Twitter to send messages and mobile pictures from along the route. More details about this, as well as the actual posts will be available online. diocesemo.org/woh
Originally published in Seek, May/June 2009 edition. PDF version available online for download. View without download at our scribd account.
Tags: Lui, Mission, Publication, Seek, Sudan
