After the success of the I Will Go Ride in the United States in 2022, cyclists set off on a new adventure—this time, in Australia.
Seventeen cyclists, including seven of the eight cyclists from the US trip, embarked on an Aussie version of the I Will Go Ride. This time, the cyclists were in two groups: one that set off from Melbourne on Sunday, January 29; the other, from Brisbane on Tuesday, January 31. Both rides wound up in Cooranbong, where most of the cyclists became involved in the Australian Union Conference’s (AUC) Empower meetings at Avondale University.
Following a similar approach to the US ride, the cyclists—mostly church leaders and pastors—stopped in Australian towns along the way, chatting and praying with people, sharing their faith, and distributing Christian literature, including copies of The Great Controversy and Signs of the Times magazine.
Having had such a great experience on the US ride, Pastor Michael Worker, AUC general secretary, was excited for what the Aussie ride would bring and the faith-sharing encounters they would have. He was leading the group riding from Melbourne to Cooranbong, a distance of about 1,200 kilometers (approx. 750 miles).
“We hope that many will be led to know Jesus through this ride,” Pastor Worker said, “and that this will inspire others to think of creative ways to share their faith.”
For Marcus Pereira, pastor of the Fox Valley Adventist Community Church in Sydney, this was his first long-distance ride, so he anticipated “pain and plenty of it!”
Pereira had added, “I am actually looking forward to the sense of community that doing something like this brings and meeting people along the way where we can listen to their story and offer a sense of hope.”
The inspiration for both the US and Australian rides comes from pioneer literature evangelists Phillip Reekie and his nephew Frederick, who rode bicycles thousands of kilometers through remote parts of Australia in the early 1890s to share literature.
Check out the ride on Instagram: @iwillgoride
The original article was published on the South Pacific Division news website, Adventist Record.