575-mile bike ride raises over $105,000 for South Asia child development centers

Roanoke, Virginia

Thursday, August 13, 2009

The message came from Bangladesh early one morning, sent for a man on a bicycle in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia: "Today, 2,000 children are praying for you."

For David Argabright, a member of the Roanoke, Virginia, Hollins Church of the Nazarene, it was one of many miracles that accompanied him on the 575-mile ride in June. And it was the thought of those children that pushed the Virginia native to continue for nine days through injuries, near-accidents, extreme weather, and physical exhaustion.

"You could hear the storms and thunder and knew that the heavens were battling," said Argabright, reflecting on one particularly intense day. It echoed the battle he'd felt in his heart and life for the children of South Asia during the past year, one he was fighting with each rotation of his pedals.

In his mind was a UNICEF statistic: in South Asia, three million children under the age of five die each year - one every 10 seconds. It was a statistic he couldn't accept, especially after spending three weeks in Bangladesh with his daughter Brittany the previous summer.

Even after years of coordinating field partnerships and Work and Witness (WNW) in South America and Africa, Argabright had been overwhelmed by the needs he'd encountered in South Asia, particularly among children. On the plane home, the burden took root: he wanted to participate in something he could not do alone. He wanted to make a loud statement for the needs of children.

"I felt that it needed to be something that would be impossible for me otherwise," said the 52-year-old Argabright, who had done a 50-mile ride at 22, but hadn't been on a bike in 30 years. "Skyline Drive is 105 miles and the Blue Ridge Parkway is 470 miles, so to go from 0 to 575 miles was an incredible challenge, but I felt like God could help me do it."

The ride would raise support for child development centers (CDCs) in South Asia, which offer children education, spiritual support, and often their only meal of the day.

With his family beside him, Argabright planned to begin serious training that fall, but a biking accident resulted in a broken collarbone that needed eight weeks to heal.

Argabright read several books on biking during his recovery, but the injury set his training schedule back three months - then he got a surprise from his doctor after leading a WNW trip to Bangladesh.

"He said I had a hernia, and that because of the amount of travel I do overseas, I needed an operation immediately," said Argabright. The consistent obstacles seemed insurmountable.

"We told the Lord we believed he'd given us this dream," said Argabright, whose wife Sharon was by his side through training and recovery. "But we committed, knowing that when He did this it would be a greater miracle than the walls of Jericho coming down."

Six men prayed consistently for Argabright as he trained, updating one another weekly with new requests. The members of the WNW teams he'd coordinated in Bangladesh joined in.

Argabright cross-trained for weeks until he could sit on a bike again, and managed to put in 2,500 miles before June.

Leading a WNW team in Nepal in March to build a ministry center that would house a CDC and a church, his enthusiasm for the ride renewed. Friends, WNW team members, and churches throughout Virginia and Tennessee distributed flyers. Donations came in.

"Folks started to catch a vision of what this could potentially do for the church and God's children," he said. "These CDCs they offer stability and open doors for communities to come to know Christ. People want to know why you're doing this for their children. By showing His love, they want to come to know it."

With the contributions came stories: one woman donated a diamond ring to sell on Ebay. A retired minister went to prepay his funeral services and cut the budget by $1,500 because he'd seen the flyer, and wanted to participate. One retired missionary sends $9 each month.

"There was a significant contribution dated the 16th of April," he said. "The next one was from same lady, dated the next day, with a note: 'God said, "Give more." Yeah! Praise His name.'"

The bike ride started on June 1. A local church met Argabright and his family early that morning for prayer. Throughout the journey, notes poured in from Sri Lanka, Nepal, prayer partners. Friends in Texas and Tennessee fasted for the first three days of the ride. In Bangladesh, 1,000 people gathered for an overnight prayer meeting. For nine days, it was clear to Argabright, who updated his blog throughout the ride, that he wasn't alone.

"It was never about me or the bike or the money," he said. "What God did here in this community of believers is that the whole world prayed. Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka - for them to commit to pray for me, to call out to God to meet the needs of these children, that's what it was about. Just the presence of God in our lives."

To date, more than $105,000 has been given for child development in South Asia. Two new CDCs have been approved in Nepal, with 150 children registered in each. A church in Arizona has committed to sponsoring two CDCs in Sri Lanka. Additional funds will be directed to CDCs in Bangladesh. Support continues to come from unexpected places.

As he pedaled through the mountains in June, Argabright and his family shared their dreams for South Asia with people they met along the way - and one man decided to sponsor a child for a year.

"These are the miracles of prayer and total trust," said Argabright, looking back on a journey that's nowhere near complete. "There's nothing I could have done here by myself."

Note: For more information, see www.compassion575.com.
--Eurasia Communications (Argabright has provided several outstanding photos, which have been posted in the slideshow above)
 

 

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