Sunny days

This past Saturday I experienced my first sun over-exposure of this year. Since I am busy with odd jobs, an online course, and GlobeTREK preparation, my summer schedule is pretty flexible and so I took the afternoon to bike to Port Stanley with my sister and two brothers. It is about a 30 km bike ride round-trip, and the sun shone cheerfully on us. It shone a bit too cheerfully, perhaps... and perhaps I met it with a bit too much enthusiasm after my first experience of a frigid Alberta winter. Whatever the reason, I burned royally and my shoulders are still tender. But I don't regret it—I am so blessed by the time I can spend with my siblings!

Not to mention, that bike ride was vital preparation for this coming Saturday (at least, that was the excuse we gave my parents to let us enjoy an afternoon of biking to the beach!). On June 7, my family is taking part in a bike-a-thon hosted by Word and Deed Canada (wordanddeed.org). This bike-a-thon spans 52 beautiful kilometers of bike trail along the Niagara Parkway and raises money for one of Word and Deed's projects in KwaMhlanga, South Africa: the Nakakele AIDS clinic. In an area where HIV/AIDS infection rate rises above 50%, the clinic has around 20 beds, and seeks to treat AIDS patients, alleviate their symptoms, and share God's Word with them. Associated with the clinic, an eight-person home-based hospice care team also makes around 520 home visits each month, caring for around 350 patients, hosting Bible studies, referring patients to the clinic, and educating the community about HIV/AIDS.

This will be my fourth year participating in the bike-a-thon (if I remember correctly), and this year I am especially excited about it since I will be close to the AIDS clinic during my time in South Africa. Maybe when I have a day off I can visit and see the kingdom work they are doing in South Africa as well! In the meantime, I hope for good weather and a good turnout on Saturday!