The Silent Ride

Hello Guys!

What an amazing day Saturday was. Typical for the ‘Silent Ride’ the weather was overcast with a light drizzle. Nevertheless, 60-70 riders braved the weather to honor our fallen and soon to be risen rider – Jesus.

The mood was somber, reflective and upbeat. All of us were thinking and marveling at what our Lord has done for us. There were riders from all over San Diego of EVERY type, and from many other churches and groups. There were young children like my 2 ½ year old daughter, there were kids just learning to ride, there were cruisers, road bikes, mountain bikes, old bikes, new bikes, bikes with trailers, bikes with tassels and bells and there was even a mom rollerblading pushing her 3 month old in her stroller!

I cannot count the amount of times I heard the word “WOW” as this very long, silent, yet spirit filled line rode past amazed people. It was a great opportunity to witness and this is something we’ll expand on next year. We had people’s attention, which is one of the purposes of the ride.

The Devo was done by our ‘Pastor in Training’ Will Carreras. Will is completing his Masters in Divinity in a few weeks and his depth of knowledge and passion was powerfully conveyed in the sermon. Everyone was quiet and thoroughly engrossed in his words – contrary to the heavy drizzle falling on our heads.

The ride back was more of the same with many hugs, handshakes and smiles as people stowed bikes and gear. The ride and day was about Jesus – rain or shine. The Angles in heaven had to be singing.

Pictures will be posted shortly – we were blessed with Brother Joe from the Rock Church for being there. He had a photo shoot that morning get canceled – a remarkable coincidence.

For those who participated, thank you! For those people from other churches and groups, we are deeply grateful and appreciate your involvement.

See you all again next year!
God bless,

Kevin Loomis

God loves India!

Raju and Grace sharing about their vision. It is people like Raju, missionaries in YWAM and the pastors of Kanpur that are the true warriors. What they lack and need is what we have - money. Consider sponsoring Raju on a monthly amount. If you don’t have much, commit $20 a month – we all have that. If you are more liquid, consider $100/month. If you truly want to bless him, send a nice size check to pay for the supplies he owes. Total combined outstanding expenses is roughly $4,500. You would make all your checks payable to YWAM and they are tax deductible. Once your check is received, you’ll get a receipt back in the mail. You would send them to my friend’s Idaho YWAM base and he would forward the money ‘converted’ to Rupees (Indian currency) to Raju. YWAM Idaho and YWAM Kanpur are sister bases and only your funds directed to Raju would be used by him. You can even state (if you want), what the funds are to be used for (such as helmets for his family). I personally send money and let them decide. However, I urge you all to do something. We can all send $20/month and never know it was gone. However, $20 in Kanpur is huge! That could literally be a week’s food for 10 people at the base. For those of us with ‘real money’, seriously think about a BIG one time check!

Right now you have an opportunity to hit the enemy in the heart of his territory. No one should have to live like this. I felt I was witnessing an historical event. I honestly felt Kanpur is getting ready for a big change and your help would be hugely instrumental. The Pastor’s uniting is the first and biggest step. However, money is desperately needed to allow the momentum to continue. We’ve never solicited money before, but now is the time. Below is the contact information for sending checks, along with Raju’s info. Feel free to call or email me if you have any questions.

Make checks payable to YWAM – (make sure you state WHO the check is for – Suvarna Raju).

YWAM Idaho Boise-Cascade
PO Box 70
Cascade, Idaho 83611

Phone: 208-382-0050
Email – info@ywamidaho.org
Idaho Website

The Idaho Directors are Marty and Kelly Meyer

FYI - If you did read Kevin’s original post on this trip, read it here.

Growing closer to God

RockMTB Community, Steve A. here

In many conversations with some of you and in prayer requests, I have noticed a desire for a “growing closer” to God… as is my desire… And for some of you who may not even consider yourself a “Christian”, you still may experience a “wondering” of who God is… Well we can take great joy in this, even that “wondering” is from God,.. I pray that God grants you faith to believe, repent, and respond.

How do we “grow closer” to someone? You get to know this person, spend time with them, etc… So, as God continues to draw us unto Himself, we can “grow closer to Christ” by getting to know who He is. How? Well, one of the biggest ways He reveals himself to us in His word, the Bible.

Since becoming a Christian I’ve always heard people talk about this and have even tried many times to commit to some sort of regular reading schedule… with little or no success…

As many of us may attend different churches and may have differing opinions on certain subjects or views of theology, I think we, as a body of believers can be in 100% agreement on this… And in the fellowship of the Gospel, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

At the beginning of this year the elders (pastors) of our church, proposed a church wide reading plan. It is not our own, but has been an awesome blessing for my family and me. I am amazed how easy it really is and how much I have been able to retain. This reading of the Bible, along with good exegetical preaching, study, and discipleship, is growing me closer to God, learning who I am in Christ, what I believe, and why I believe it.

I implore you, don’t just blow this off… please read the whole post here… and commit to this plan. At the end of the post there is a link to download a bookmark with the monthly readings.

I’m back from India - my story - something you’ve not heard before!

Kevin here,

I’m back a week early due to bronchitis which is near phenomena. I am actually DEEPLY grateful for getting sick since it got me home sooner. Just imagine traveling 43 hours non-stop with a fever and bronchitis AND being grateful!!! That includes two train stations, four airports, a tempo ride, a car ride and 20k miles. It was literally that bad.

Back in the Saddle

This is many months overdue, but I thought I needed to write a blog to explain my recent absence.  The past 6 months have been the busiest of my life with several pivotal events that changed my life and lifestyle. 

After the New Year my wife and I placed our condo on the market with the hopes of purchasing a home for our growing family.  In the spring we found a small home in Santee just minutes from the Mission Trails and Sycamore Canyon trailheads (stoked). We were excited by the fact that the home was a fixer upper and would allow us to make some nice changes.  In fact, the home was in such poor condition with leaking fixtures, broken stove, and resident rodents that it wasn’t even inhabitable so we would have to renovate the home before we could move in. 

With escrow coming to a close we began preparing for the renovation when I injured my knee during a home repair project.  In the process of disclocating my kneecap a piece of bone was chipped off of my knee, so just weeks before the start of a major do-it-yourself project I headed into arthroscopic knee surgery.  I was devastated about the timing of the injury and my wife, pregnant with our second child, was distraught as our dreams of fixing up a house appeared to be falling apart.  We could not afford to hire contractors to do all of the work that was necessary.

 The timing of my injury was so awful that I think God may have been trying speak to me through this event.  Whether or not that was His intent I read through James as I recovered from surgery and James 4:13-16 captured my attention and convicted my heart.  It reads, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.”

 In my arrogance I felt a sense of pride that my hard work had given us the opportunity to purchase a home and I had planned a whole renovation schedule expecting that some day I could show others what I had done.  God changed all of that, exposing my sinful arrogance and I was undone.  I wept, as my dreams were shattered and I was ashamed that something so drastic was needed to change my heart.  I continued to weep as friend after friend called and emailed offering to help.  I’m certainly not one to ask for help, but I was desperate and literally dozens of people arrived at our house day after day willing to lend a hand.   

The RockMTB crew stepped up by helping us demo our house in one day, and offering an awesome testimony to our neighbors about Christian community.  Check out pics here. 

It is now October, and my wife recently gave birth to our daughter.  Just days after her birth we were able to complete the final project on the interior of our house, and it is only by God’s grace and the generosity of dozens of friends and family members that this is complete.  The house was not completed according to my plans, but according to God’s timeline.   

It is also by His grace that I was given the doctor’s approval several weeks ago to step back onto a bike.  Riding the singletrack of Spring Canyon for the first time in over 6 months was like meeting an old friend.  The bermed corners and windy singletrack that weaves through creek beds were familiar and fun.  It’s not technical, just turn after turn on a well-loved trail. 

Riding again has given me a renewed appreciation for the gift of working legs, and the past 6 months have broken my prideful spirit.  It’s unfortunate that it required such a significant event to soften my calloused heart, but every moment I’m alive is only by His grace and it’s good to remember that.