Written by: Joseph Kelly
I am new to FCBA just this week. I arrived in Santa Barbara last Saturday to ride down to San Diego. My sister did the cross-country route last year and dragged me into the adventure and the mission. After stops in Oxnard, Northridge, Huntington Beach, and Vista, we are ready for our final ride into San Diego and I have a better idea of why we are riding!
A little insight on the ride today and our running into some unforeseen circumstances. We started out making our way to the Coastal Bike path on the other side of I-5, but after 6 miles we ran into a little hiccup. The next portion of the bike path was closed off due to military operations. We could see a plethora of helicopters carrying cargo from ships out at sea and military personnel guarding the road. We ended up having to backtrack a bit, lift our bikes over a gate, climb it, go over railroad tracks, through some barbed wire, and up another steep and heavily vegetated grade to get to the I-5 shoulder to continue our ride! After that it was a breeze getting to the church where we had our showers in homes of the members, a potluck where we were blessed with amazing food, and finished off the night with an eventful talent show!
From the events today you can see where the Adventure comes in, but we’ve also spent a lot of time talking about the real reason for riding. The Fuller Center’s mission is to end poverty housing. So the foundation of our bike ride is to raise funds and awareness of the Fuller Center. This week we have heard of the actual families to whom the money which we have raised and are raising is going. And through this process of Fuller walking alongside people to bring them better housing, it is my prayer that the love of Jesus Christ would be visible and experienced by those that are impacted. This is the real reason we ride. The adventure is no-doubt amazing. The material help to those in need is necessary. But there is nothing more worthwhile or rewarding than being a part of something that will open opportunities for people to hear about a relationship with Jesus Christ and experience the love that He desires to give bountifully!
In my 19 years of life I have experienced this for myself, and I so deeply desire for others to know the same joy, satisfaction, and love that is a result from truly knowing God. This ride is a tool that the Fuller Center is using to bring about that opportunity through blessing people with affordable housing. So I hope that if you’re reading this you will consider jumping aboard the Fuller Center boat and their mission to show the love of Christ with those they work with.
