Compassion 575

This week at my home church, Hollins CON, we have VBS. I was asked to photograph some of the moments.

It has been a great week as I have watched our leader sharing about the forces of gravity, water and magnetism. We are leading up to the climax when the children will learn that our Heavenly Father’s love is the Stellar Force.

The children are so privileged to have this opportunity. The angel in the photo above is my niece Allison.

Thank you for giving to Compassion 575 so that children in South Asia will have the same opportunity as the children at my church to learn about our Heavenly Father. 

“There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you;  there is no Rock like our God.” ! Samuel 2:2  (NIV)

3 weeks ago the Tour de France started in Monaco with 180 riders. Yesterday the final yellow jersey was given to the winner after the conclusion of the final stage on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. 156 riders completed the race.  In cycling,  the Tour de France is the penultimate race.

I enjoyed all the race stages, especially those in the mountains and seeing Lance Armstrong make a comeback. He finished 3rd after a 4 year layoff.  That is incredible.

The commercials are always interesting during the tour. Yesterday, I saw a commercial that really caught my eye.  As faces of the top contenders were shown in the background….it read ….

DREAMS DONT MATTER……….UNLESS YOU MAKE THEM COME TRUE. 

I thought of the the hundreds of children whose lives will be changed by your contributions to Compassion 575. From my heart, and from the children in South Asia …THANK YOU FOR MAKING THEIR DREAMS COME TRUE.

 After healing a paralyzed man, Jesus said to him, “Your sins are forgiven.” Jesus wants us to understand that meeting physical needs is not enough; He offered the free gift of eternal life after addressing and filling the physical needs of those who suffered. We are to follow Jesus’ example in pointing people to a loving, forgiving Heavenly Father and in meeting the physical needs of hungry, hurting children and adults.

Jesus’ ministry was and is holistic. We can learn from Christ’s approach.  Let us minister to the world through our compassionate evangelism.!

Prayer: Father, we truly love You. Please help us demonstrate that love to the children of the world who are in need. Thank you that there are specific ways we can share Your love and provision for at-risk children. We ask for courage to take steps to help needy children; we trust You to help us. Thank you for the ways You will work through us. Amen.*

*Above taken from “Mission Moment” NMI devotional guide     

Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matt 22:37-39  (NIV)

Along the Compassion 575 bike ride there were 28 tunnels. Two in Va and 26 in NC. Can you imagine riding a bike in broad daylight and then entering a tunnel and everything being completely black? I am talking total blackout.

My little light on the front of the bike did nothing to help my senses. I felt utterly out of control. I had never felt this way before. 

The longest tunnel was 1,434 feet. That is more than 1/4 mile.  Once Brittany, my daughter,  joined us, after being in South Asia for 1 month, she would advise my wife how fast to go. I rode my bike behind her SUV with flashing lights and pedaled as fast as I could. Even though I had a small flashing red light on the back of my bike, I was never comfortable. 

It was a blessing once Glen, my brother joined us for the final descent into Cherokee, NC.  He drove immediately behind me, and his fronts lights helped so much. I still prayed hard while we were in the tunnels. This is another example of Psalm 91 protection on the bike ride.

Praise God, funds raised to date for Compassion 575 has just exceeded the first $100,000.

The total raised to date is $100,087. This represents 926 children (future champions for Christ) being sponsored for 1 year in a Child Development Center. 

Many tears have been shed this week as I realize God has done something special. He deserves our praise.  Thank you for praying and giving. God is moving in a special way. Can you imagine the Harvest?

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20, 21 (NIV)

During the ride, I carried a small camera tucked away in the back of my jersey. You just see things from a bike that you don’t see in a car. Deep down, I was hoping to get a shot at a bear.

At the end of Day 1 of the ride, Sharon saw a small bear in the fork of a tree while checking into our room on the Skyline Drive. By the time I finished the ride, the bear was gone. 

At the end of Day 3, we stayed at the Peaks of Otter Lodge in Bedford, VA.  After dinner, we noticed folks gathering around a clump of trees. They were watching a 300 lb bear eat a fawn.  I raced to my room, grabbed my camera and took some shots. 

Funny thing was, when the bear left the dinner table to cross the road, it was going the wrong way.

 The first rider to leave this years Tour de France left with a broken collarbone.  Broken collarbones are the number 1 injury to bikers. Lancer Armstrong is making his Tour de France comeback this year, after a 3 year absence. Lance broke his collarbone in March.

Unless you have surgery, a broken collarbone leaves a knot about the size of a whole walnut. You may ask how do I know. I am the owner of a walnut sized knot on my right clavicle.

God had to touch my shoulder after the break. In fact, 5 weeks to the day, I was in Bangladesh with Jeff Jackson serving with 2 work teams. The challenge was resting at night, and surviving the 1 hour rides to and from the jobsite over bumpy rural roads. I braced against whoever was beside me to support the shoulder.  The first team I spread mortar with my left hand and Sharon placed the brick in the wall. 

This was one of the many miracles of Compassion 575.  God touched me after a collarbone break.  The collarbone did not bother me at all on the bike ride. I am so thankful for this as I was on the bike 9 long days during the ride.

In fact, Day 7 & 8 I was on the bike just under 17 hours. To give you a comparison, the leaders in stage 3 of the 2009 Tour de France rode just over 5 hours. My point is; this was a miracle as I should not have been able to do this tour. Before last fall, I had not ridden a bicycle seriously for almost 30 years. Praise the Lord.  

As I look at the photo above of Sharon praying for me, I cry.  I am totally in awe of what God has done and is going to do to change lives of children in South Asia.  Thank you for praying and giving.  David Argabright   dargab@mac.com

Recently, I have received a number of detailed questions about the 575 mile bicycle ride.  I am sharing more of the tour details only to give God the glory. My wife and I are still overwhelmed and consider it such a privilege to participate in this miracle.  You must understand we could not have done this on our own. God did it through the prayers of His people.

Please take a look at the blogs written during the ride (June 1 - June 10) and you will be able to clearly see how God was in control. I stayed on the bike, Sharon, my wife supported me by vehicle providing water, food, encouragement, many hugs and prayers. We received emails and blog comments each day during the ride. It was awesome.

God protected us during the ride and gave us strength during the hard climbs.  The hard climbs were many. In fact, the 470 mile Blue Ridge Parkway challenges bikers with  48,601 ft of total uphill climbing.  I don’t have this information on the 105 mile Skyline Drive.

Through much rain and even tornado warnings, God did it. I remember finishing the last miles of day 7 and seeing the rain sheeting down the Parkway as I climbed. It was above my tire. It is somewhat funny now, but I can assure you,  after climbing the mountains of NC all day and then have to fight the current also, it was not funny.

See below Stats on bicycle ride (a number of folks have asked what motorcycle did I use)

Total miles 575  Avg per day  64.6 miles  Avg speed 9.8 mph

Total time on bike 59 hours 30 min. Avg day  6 hr 36 minutes (time on bike only)

Peak time of bike - Day 8 - 8 hrs 42 minutes

Peak miles - Day 7 -77.6 total miles (7.6 miles extra due to detours)

Avg heart rate 131 beats per minute, total beats 468 thou

Avg cadence 63 turns per minute, total turns 225 thou (no wonder my knees are still so sore)

Record for prayer, Bangladesh - between 17 and 18 thousand prayed June 5 for this bike ride. Sukamal Biswas printed our Bangladesh D.S. printed 10,000 prayer posters.  

Thank you from my heart for making Compassion 575 a reality. Your prayers and contributions will save lives in South Asia.   I say glory - He did it. - David Argabright

We have just returned home from the General Assembly in Orlando.  It was wonderful to see old friends and make new ones.  

One day at the South Asia booth,  while talking to a potential partner, I looked up to see Glen Argabright, Roger Costa and Jeff Jackson all talking to folks and introducing them to the miracles God is doing in South Asia.  We welcome 185 new partners to the South Asia partnership.  Many have committed to help sponsor children in new CDCs.  Investments in children can be made online at   www.compassion575.com.

If you have not joined, please consider doing so. Glen Argabright, our facilitator, sends by email a prayer and praise report each week highlighting one of the countries on our field. This is the best way to keep abreast of all the needs and answers to prayer on the field.  You may send me a note at dargab@mac.com, and we would be pleased to include you.

The music during the services was outstanding. A chorus still ringing in my ears goes like this: 

“Don’t be ashamed to say that you know Him. Count the cost. Take up your cross. Follow Him” -David Argabright - dargab@mac.com

“We are debtors to every man to give him the gospel in the same measure in which we have received it.”   -P. F. Bresee