Arrival in Gumi
As evening fell teams 1 and 2 arrived
at our final destination: a motel in Gumi. However, it was the Sunday of a holiday
weekend, and by the time teams 3 and 4 had arrived, quite late after their excruciating day; most of
the shops were closed. Our only option was to go to Lotte Mart for
dinner. The last riders from team 3 gathered as a group to share a
picnic lunch in the Lotte Mart dining area around 10:30 p.m. We were so happy to finally feed
ourselves after we had put so much effort into the day.
Putting your body through an incredible
amount of stress, such as this bike trip has been for us, is a very
effective way of making you realize the blessings that you enjoy. The team members repeated again and again how happy they were as soon as they received food, or had a place to sit down. Yet so
many captives, in Korea and around the world, do not have the freedom
to enjoy those blessings that we daily take for granted. In that
sense, by going through this bike trip, we are trying to understand the experience of their suffering and their deprivation. However, we were able to
choose our participation in this ride of our own free will. The ride itself is a manifestation of our own
self-command. Their suffering was neither chosen by them, nor can it
end by their choice. And that is a deprivation that we can hardly
begin to understand.
A Lotte Mart picnic!
Preparing the food
Christians breaking bread together - somehow it is always sacred, no matter if you are eating communion bread or microwave rice
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