(Photo courtesy of Christian Aid Mission)
Chad (CAM/MNN) — In 1935, Fred A. Birchmore, 25, circled the globe by bicycle. The entire trip, through Europe, Asia, and the United States, covered 40,000 miles. He pedaled about 25,000 miles. The rest was traveled by boat. He wore out seven sets of tires.
There are over half a billion bicycles in China. About 100 million bicycles are manufactured worldwide each year. That’s enough for kids to enjoy and for adults to use for transportation and exercise.
But what about native missionaries? They could use bicycles, too. A gospel worker ministering to his people in Chad often walks hours, even days to reach a remote village with the message of Jesus Christ. Clad with the JESUS film and a heart full of love, native missionaries steadily trek dusty paths to lift people’s hearts to the Lord.
Christian Aid Mission supports indigenous gospel workers and invests in the efforts of a native ministry in Chad to raise bikes to reach remote villages.
With bicycles, 30 missionaries with one indigenous ministry can more quickly reap the harvest fields in this 53% Muslim country, where 72 people groups have yet to hear the gospel. In an area where Arab wealth wins souls, these 30 native missionaries are steadily reaching out with the love of Jesus.
“This little support of bicycles can do great things in the Kingdom of God in Chad, even Africa,” the native ministry leader said, according to an article by CAM. “This project can help our missionaries working in the hard condition of poverty. The little support can help them minister with joy, and they can help others by responding to their needs much more quickly than if they spent two days walking.”
They do walk, though. They walk as long as it takes to meet the needs of others. Think of the impact they could make if they if they had a bike. Imagine the time saved.
Let’s do what we can to support these indigenous missionaries and expand the gospel’s influence. You can purchase a bike for $125 at Christian Aid Mission’s Prayerline page (look under June 12). The goal is to raise 30 bikes–one for each of the missionaries.
You can also pray that gospel workers would powerfully impact their native people with the message of Jesus, and that people in Chad would be open to the truth.
