Cycling Pilgrimage II Last year, Robert de Berry (B2 1956-60) did a call out for OMs to join his pilgrimage for Christians persecuted for their faith. He got a great response and the ride was a huge success, as detailed below.
us for anything from a day to a couple of weeks. In all we had 80 participants. Total elevations came to 57,000 feet. We visited 42 churches for times of prayer, and luggage was carried by 22 drivers. Over the whole journey, we had to find 250 evening meals, beds and breakfasts. Incredibly, we incurred no accommodation costs. Jesus recommended ‘prayer and fasting’. Due to our hosts’ generosity, fasting was out, but prayer wasn’t, and so, each evening, we had times of prayer with local Christians. I have done a sponsored bike ride every five years of my life but can quickly forget those for whom the money is raised. The two charities with which we worked, Release International and Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), send out more appeals for prayer than for money, which, in our very secular climate, must seem strange. They are, though, reflecting the requests of those who are persecuted.
Robert and Christopher Trotter between Winchester and Salisbury
‘Apart from myself, our oldest cyclist was 78, a still-working scientist in viral infections.’
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n article in last year’s magazine stimulated quite a bit of interest. Some came in as sponsors. Christopher Trotter (B1 1970-75), a chef, writer, speaker, teacher and Fife Food Ambassador, biked with us from Surrey to Somerset and wrote, ‘This pilgrimage was a wonderful experience. The warmth and friendliness of everyone we met was overwhelming’. John Arnold (B3 1967-72) not only hosted our cyclists in Dorking but rode with us through the Surrey Hills.
Nick Nelson Piercy (CR 1998-2021) took on the gruelling hills of Devon. I completed the whole 1,050 miles (but on an e-bike!). We started on 14th May and finished on 24th June. Apart from myself, our oldest cyclist was 78, a still-working scientist in viral infections. Our youngest was only seven. Like small pistons his feet circulated for 24 miles to raise £1,600. Four of us cycled the whole distance between Kent and Land’s End and then Land’s End to Kent. Others joined
We biked and prayed for Pastor Lorenzo, who, on taking part in a peaceful demonstration about the economic injustice in Cuba, was sentenced to seven years in prison. No defence lawyer was allowed to represent him at his trial. Pastor Wang, in December 2018, was arrested with 100 members of his church in Sichuan, China. His crime: inciting state subversion. Pastor Bhatti (subject to horrendous blasphemy laws in Pakistan) was recently sentenced to death. The mass killings of Christians and others in Nigeria continue daily. In Myanmar, not only have the largely Muslim Rohingya had their homes burnt out, but the Karen people of that country have suffered too. For 10% of all the world’s Christians, political and religious extremism is a daily reality. CSW, with its representation at the UN within the EU and our own Parliament, specialises in advocacy, pushing for the rights of religious minorities up governmental agendas, while Release meets the practical needs of the persecuted – trauma counselling, funding for the families of those incarcerated and medical help for those who have been tortured. The lubricant for the effectiveness of both these charities is prayer. As St Paul once put it, ‘We are to carry each other’s burdens, thereby fulfilling the law of Christ’. I am very grateful to the magazine for allowing me to air this bike pilgrimage and its intentions. I’m grateful, too, for my time at Marlborough and for those wonderful opportunities to ride through and over the forests, farms and hills of Wiltshire. The Marlburian Club Magazine
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