Our mission is to share Jesus’ love with our community by serving those in need of reliable transportation… whatever form of transportation that takes. A few weeks ago, that meant providing beautiful new bicycles to three young, local siblings who are on their own in the world. We’re keeping their identities and details of their stories private. What we can tell you is that all three ended up in this country alone and without support or documentation through absolutely no fault of their own. They made the best of their situation, completed school and got local jobs to support themselves. But they had to walk miles to work, rain or shine. When a local civic leader found out about their situation, she reached out to us for help. Fortunately, Aggieland Cycling stepped up to provide a steep discount on three bikes, locks, and headlights. And the best part is that they will fully support these bikes for life so that these hard-working young siblings can focus on their jobs and their futures.
In a similar vane, OnRamp was asked to help provide Drivers’ Ed for three local Afghan women rescued by the TAMU Borlaug Institute when their country fell to the Taliban. All three have college degrees and great jobs at TAMU, but they had never been behind the wheel of a car before! So OnRamp volunteers gave them basic lessons this summer. Then, when it was time to progress to formal Drivers’ Ed, a generous local family stepped in to pay for lessons for all three ladies. This will end up costing us approximately $3000. But that’s a small price to pay for the freedom these women will experience when they’re able to drive themselves wherever they want. That’s a freedom we take for granted, but that many women in this world lack, especially in countries like Afghanistan. We’re grateful to share the love of Christ in this very tangible way.
In Isaiah 43, the Lord says to Israel, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” To redeem means to pay a price to free someone from some form of bondage. In the ultimate sense, Jesus paid the price to free humans from the bondage of sin. We rightly celebrate that, but too often forget that God desires redemption from ALL forms of bondage, not just spiritual. And He calls us, His sons and daughters, to join Him in this work of setting men and women free from bondage in all its forms. This is what motivated the great William Wilberforce to fight against slavery in England and MLK to fight segregation in the US. Our spiritual redemption should motivate us to work for redemption in all ways for all people. Lack of transportation in a place like Texas is a form of bondage. Bondage to poverty. Bondage to unemployment. Bondage to hopelessness. The gift of transportation is freedom from all these things that hold so many back from reaching their God-given potential. So we strive to provide this gift of reliable transportation in any and all forms to as many people as we can. Will you join us in this mission?