Profile: Isabelle Othman

Isabelle Othman

Support Team, Word of Life

I think that the Ride Against Traffick is amazing, in that 2 years ago we had only about 10 riders and this year we have 40! We have riders of all different levels and speeds. And the best thing is that our teams are so cohesive. We see a lot of other groups who don't stay together, but just trickle in to the checkpoints one by one. But are teams stick pretty close together, and wait for each other, so that it is clear that we are functioning as a unit.

Day 3: Gumi to Suanbo - afternoon and evening

After checkpoint three, the mountain still loomed ahead of the riders. They climbed it slowly and steadily, each person reached the top to the cheers of the support team, and were greeted with apples and peanut butter and cups of gatorade. People who four or five months ago would never have been able to ride up the mountain now completed the whole climb in about 35 minutes. It was a moment of significant accomplishment for each of the team members, and we lingered at the overlook to watch the sun retreat lower and lower into the valley, and the clouds light up with a celebratory glow.

We finished a day of riding in good time, and were able to come to our final destination before the sun went down. The riders particularly enjoyed the sauna attached to the motel. They finished the evening with a worship and payer meeting in the local park, and settled in for the fullest night of sleep that we got since the trip began, relieved to be sleeping in until 7:00 the next day.

Day 3: Gumi to Suanbo - morning and afternoon log

For many riders, Day 2 had been a struggle from beginning to end, and Day 3 looked just as daunting. We had very little sleep, but still we met at the bikes at 6:20 in the morning. Our first group of riders, James's team, left by 7a.m. ready to attack the route and its formidable mountain. The plan for this day was 130 km of riding, with a huge incline near the end of the journey.

But to our surprise, the day was quite pleasant and the teams each made very good time from one checkpoint to the next. At the third checkpoint we ate lunch together in a park by a riverside. Tuna salad sandwiches and apples were a satisfying break from riding, and some of the members even fetched ice cream for the group. The riders, who have been getting most of their calories from granola bars and other dry food, relished the chance to eat fruit. After eating, they collapsed in the grass under the shade of a few trees and our tent, and many even fell asleep.  

 Team 2 makes the first checkpoint

 Getting charged up

 We saw team 3 on the road! 

 Marcus Ryu of Word of Life church! 

 The Korean countryside is phenomenal 

 Water... 

 and... dancing! 

 Washing hot heads in the drining time 

 Off again!  To climb the mountain... 

Profile: Kristen

Kristen

Rider

New Philadelphia church

"I came to Korea in February 2012 with my best friend... At first I hated it because the city life was a jarring change from my life in the States, and because I had a lot of problems with my hagwon. I found that I was getting bitter and angry at the country and the people because of my bad experiences. I was attending New Philly church, and it was at the prayer meetings for Korea that the church held that my attitude really began to change. The reality is that I felt that this country hated me, but actually I am called to pray for it like I love it. Jesus calls us to love our enemies, and I never understood what that meant so well as I do now, because in America I never had the kind of conflicts that I have encountered here. Loving your enemies is a very hard task, and can only be done on the strength of Jesus, who loves us even though we don't deserve it at all. Now I know that the calling I have felt for a long time to be "in the nations" for the Lord, means living for Him here, in Korea."  

Profile: Manuel Lara

Manuel Lara

Rider

I've ridden every year since this trip started (for the past 3 years). The physical aspect of the ride is just up to training: the more you have trained, the easier it is. But this year is different because there's never been so many people. It's amazing that with so many riders we've actually had fewer accidents. This is also the first year that we met our donation goal even before the end of the ride - we put a few orphans through college each time.

Day 2: Namji to Gumi - evening log

Sunday evening
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 

Day 2: Namji to Gumi - afternoon log

It was an arduous day. Teams 1 and 2 climbed the mountains steadily after an early mishap with bikes sent some of the members on to a repair shop, but team 3 was beset by struggles, and team 4 was majorly delayed almost from the outset. The weather grew steady hotter, hitting over 30 degrees by the time we reached Daegu. According to rider Manuel Lara, it was the hottest day of any Ride Against Traffick trip since the first one 3 years ago. Through it all, the teams were phenomenally positive and courageous. The team members each kept close together and were greeted at every checkpoint by the cheers of the support crew, and LOTS of water.

The lunchtime checkpoint was at a highway rest-stop. As teams one and two arrived there was a palpable feeling of victory. They had just completed the most difficult climb of the trip so far, and they were excited at the prospect of a timely lunch at the local Korean restaurant. It was so much fun to watch the teammates talking and joking with each other about their recent climb. Both teams had reached a steady rhythm of working together that was a pleasure to see. Now, even though they were about to ride 36 more km in the heat of the day, they seemed encouraged by each other and ready to take on the next leg of the journey.

Throughout this whole trip we have been learning about the joys and struggles of teamwork. Watching out for your teammates can be really challenging, because it seems like you are pouring energy into people who may or may not even appreciate your effort, much less be able to return it. The fast riders must keep pace with the slow ones, and the slowest ones must always push themselves to their limit in order not to drag the pace of the group down. But without the help of their teammates, individual riders could not encourage themselves to face each challenge of the road. There is so much joy in working together and supporting each other, and as each rider builds up his or her teammates, that rider's own spirits are lifted up as well.

I am reminded of the commands that Paul gave to us in the book of Philippians:

"Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." (Philippians 2:1-4)

 No matter what the trail holds, Tine always has a happy grin for her fellow laborers

 One check point down: the mist is actually a dusty fog that was very hard to breathe 

 We crossed so many bridges! 

 The Palma boys certainly know how to pose :) 

 One mountain defeated... 

 So it's time for lunch 

Setting off again in the blistering heat