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USA — Charlotte Reicks and her friend Evelyn Logan are the Bicycling Grannies. They criss-crossed the United States by bicycle, telling people about the Year of the Bible. The journey, from California to Florida and back, is more than 8,400 miles long.
In January last year, Charlotte was reading the Lutheran Hour Ministries’ Daily Devotionals for Advent, when she saw an announcement for the Year of the Bible, the joint American Bible Society (ABS) and Lutheran Hour Ministries project urging people to read the Bible.
Across America
For some time, she and Evelyn had been planning to cycle across America, and they wanted to link their journey to a great cause. When Charlotte read about the Year of the Bible, she said : “It was just like a flashbulb going off in my head.”
For Evelyn, the bicycle journey was her way of thanking God after overcoming seven years of agonising back trouble. She feels grateful to the Lord and says, “I celebrate life and movement each year.” She bicycled across America twice before this Bible-celebration trip.
Charlotte found someone to take over her transcription business while she was away and then, on Easter Sunday, April 4, she and Evelyn set out from Santa Monica, California. They cycled in the mornings and early afternoons, and relied on Christians along the way for their overnight lodgings. Sometimes they would stay in homes, at other times they would sleep on pews and pew cushions in churches. Only occasionally did they need to stay in a motel.
“What really helped was the American Bible Society,” says Charlotte. “Wherever we went — Baptist churches, Methodist churches – people would say, ‘We get materials from the American Bible Society’, or ‘We know people at the American Bible Society’.”
They found help through these churches – people would offer their cars and trucks to carry them or their equipment.
Scripture strengthened them in their pursuit. Evelyn kept Bible verses in a plastic map pocket mounted on her handlebars. Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord” comforted her. Charlotte found Nehemiah 8:10, “The joy of the Lord is my strength” a great help.
Along the road, they would tell people about the Year of the Bible. They handed out business cards which read, “Who is God? THE BIBLE KNOWS”, and included telephone numbers for the ABS and Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Special imprint
Callers could receive a special imprint Year of the Bible New Testament from the ABS for 99 cents, and Lutheran Hour Ministries would send a free Bible reading guide.
Their journey offered them frequent opportunities to witness. Evelyn recalls talking to one man about the Bible, who told her, “I’ve read the Bible once.” That struck Evelyn as short-sighted. Reflecting on it later, she said, “Do you talk to your children once? Don’t you talk to them all the time – several times a day? Doesn’t God want you to talk to him more than once a day? And maybe read your Bible several times a day?”
Their journey’s last day began with prayer outside the home of a couple who put them up in Port Hueneme, California. A friend of Evelyn’s arrived to join them on the last leg, carrying some of their equipment. Charlotte and Evelyn climbed onto their bicycles and pedalled off into the morning fog.
Shortly afterwards, they reached the Pacific Coast Highway, which cuts between California’s dry hills and the sea. They pushed on past Point Magu, then stopped briefly to check their route. Finally, they reached Santa Monica rejoicing, and hugged each other. To crown their journey, they pushed their bicycles onto the beach, fulfilling a cross-country bicycling ritual by dipping their wheels in the Pacific tide.
Evelyn’s daughter Dawn, Dawn’s husband Rob, and their children joined them on the sand and Evelyn played with two of her grandchildren as the waves rolled in and out. Charlotte summed up their trip: “When you turn the day over to Him,” she said, “you don’t have to worry about it.”
Adapted from an article which appeared in the December 1999/January 2000 edition of the ABS Record. (WR 349/24 - 03.00) [PHOTOS]