A few weeks ago some of my XMA buddies and I decided we would do the Hotter’N Hell 100 endurance bike ride at Wichita Falls TX on August 27th. As guys tend to do when they get together talking we decided that since we were going to do the 100 mile road bike ride we might as well go for the Triple Threat. That’s a 13 mile mountain bike race on Friday evening, a 100 mile road bike on Saturday and then a half-marathon trail run Sunday morning. 126 miles of biking and running in one weekend! Sounded like an awesome weekend!

But, as the date draws closer the reality is starting to set in. What were we thinking? And who’s idea was this? (mine) The training is going pretty well but this heat is a killer. Then I get an email from the HH100 organizers announcing that due to the unprecedented heat this year they are starting the 100 mile road ride an hour earlier. A quick check on my weather app shows 112 for the high in Wichita Falls all week! That’s insane. Why would anyone do that?

And then the Spirit reminds me why I do this. I live at 63 feet above sea level in flat Louisiana delta farmland and God has called me to serve unreached peoples in the high mountains of Central and SE Asia. The main reason these people are still unreached is because they live at elevations of 8,000-12,000 feet and it takes days of hiking to get to their villages. The only way I will ever be able to reach these villages and these people with the love of Christ is if I train my body daily.

I remember back on January 21, 2002 when the Lord told me through Acts 13:47; “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth”. The ends of the earth are a long way from the fields of Louisiana and they are tough to get to. Over the next few months we’ll be mountain biking hundreds of miles in SE Asia. Early next year we’ll be hiking, road biking and kayaking in remote North Africa.

That’s why we are doing HH100 now. Want to join Team XMA at HH100? Or maybe on an adventure at the ends of the earth?