By Bill Hoffman; St. John’s Episcopal Church, Somerville, NJ

As we head into our fourth day (and our toughest climb) the team is now a high performing garden of  heliotropes (wiktionary.org/wiki/heliotrope) drawing people to the light. We look after one another when a flat tire occurs, cheer each other up the steep hills and try to point out every pot hole along the way. Mostly though, we wave and smile at the hundreds of beautiful children that greet us on our journey

Most of us are physically getting a bit stiff from our riding that has now eclipsed 130 miles. But in spirit we’re unstoppable. Our commitment to serve the goals of UPI and to support its leaders is stronger than ever. 

We’ve visited a number of missions where that spirit is tangible and progress is accelerating. The leaders at the Cornerstone mission (Danneck, Leo, Tio and Chiko) are doing amazing work to educate and empower young high school students. They’re building a library, a science lab and expanding quickly.

 Similarly, the young women at Voices Awake (also located in Salima) have built a lovely home for young women at risk. There home has sprung up quickly since last December and the facility is fantastic. Their leader, Vanessa Mwangala, is a role model in compassion, confidence and getting things done. 

There’s thousands of other great stories I can share but those will need to wait for another blogpost. The big Mount Zomba lies  ahead and the committed team of trekkers are getting ready to tackle it head on. 

Onward!