The cycling tour is led by Venture Expeditions, a non-profit organization committed to mobilizing support for humanitarian work through major cycling and climbing tours.  MEET THE RIDERS! 

We at start> would like to give you a moment to listen to the heartbeat of this campaign:

KUMAR'S STORY - INDIA

Orphaned at age five, Kumar became a slave in a brick kiln at age seven.  He was forced to carry heavy loads of bricks on his head and work through illness and injury.  While his peers were in school, he struggled daily with the physical stress of hard labor.

After several years at the kiln, Kumar was released from slavery through IJM intervention in collaboration with local authorities.  Kumar is now free to pursue his dream for the future: "I want to become a police officer so I can help and protect the good people of our village," he recently told staff.  He has excelled in school and has recently begun an internship with one of IJM's India field offices.

MANNA'S STORY - INDIA

When 14-year-old Manna ran away from her abusive home, she met a woman who offered her a job selling fabric.  She accepted the position, and the woman provided her a place to sleep for the night.  When Manna awoke in the morning, the woman was gone, and Manna discovered that she was in a brothel.  For the next two years, she was held in the brothel and raped by customers for the profit of the brothel owners.

She was freed when IJM investigators discovered her captivity and alerted local authorities, working with them to release her and three other young girls from the brothel.  The brothel owners each received five-year sentences for their crimes, and Manna was brought to an aftercare home to heal in security.

STEPHEN'S STORY - KENYA

Stephen was falsely accused of shooting a police officer and robbing the bank where he worked.  The officers who arrested him subjected him to savage beatings and psychological torture over five days, moving him to a different station every night so that his wife would be unable to find him.  When it was determined that he was innocent, the officers conspired with a corrupt judge to hold him in prison for three and a half more years.

When IJM Kenya learned of his situation, the team took on his case, proving that there was no evidence linking him to the crime.  As a result of IJM's advocacy, Stephen was released from jail and reunited with his family.  Today, he works for IJM Kenya, sharing the message of justice throughout the country.

As this team cycles all 1800 miles of the Underground Railroad, please pray that they will raise awareness of slavery and other violent injustice - and rally supporters to raise their voices on behalf of victims around the world!

by Michael R. Seaton, author of the upcoming Zondervan book "Start With Me: A Modern Parable" and creator of the "start> Becoming a Good Samaritan" DVD Curriculum

Are you looking for ways to start>?

 “The economic crisis presents us with an enormous opportunity: to rediscover our values – as people, families, as communities of faith, and as a nation.”  So begins Jim Wallis’ newest book, which issues a rally cry to embrace a “transformational moment” in the history of America.  Wallis does this by identifying how we got here, what we got ourselves into, and the way out. 

Although I don’t agree with every point Wallis makes, he has challenged me to rediscover the core values of my faith and respond.  For example, as I try to live as a Good Samaritan, I was challenged to remember that “The gospel story of the Good Samaritan teaches an age old lesson that we must reach out to other human beings in order to be human ourselves and that we will likely have to cross some traditional social boundaries to do that.” 

Readers of the book will see how they can use this transformational moment to regain balance by remembering that enough is enough, that we’re in it together, and that our aim must be to “develop an ethic of a sustainable economy and sustainable communities and to teach that ethic to our children.” JY

Originally Posted on 5-18-09

Click Here! 

Originally Posted on 5-15-09

There’s probably a myriad of reasons why we don’t start>, but one of the many reasons is time. So far in the project we’ve interviewed lots of people whose full-time job is working with the poor, spending time with the disenfranchised, or being a voice and an advocate for a specific cause. The questions come up, “That’s great that they’re helping, but how am I supposed to help? What am I supposed to do? And how am I supposed to fit it in my busy schedule?”

We wanted to know the same thing. So, we searched our own city looking for local Good Samaritans. And we’ve spent the past couple of weeks filming individuals making a difference right where they live! We found people of all walks, people from all different backgrounds, people with different passions and with different interests - each finding their own way to live out the Good Samaritan life.

As we sat down with Shane Claiborne a few weeks ago, he shared with us some of his experience with Mother Teresa. One of the things he told us about her was that when people would leave she would always say, “Now, go find your Calcutta.”

The truth is we don’t have to travel miles and miles to find hurting people in need (though God may call us to a foreign land to serve). But most likely God has something for you to do today, right now, right where you live.

Maybe just start> with this simple prayer:

Originally Posted on 5-14-09

This upcoming weekend marks our last week of travel and filming for start> Becoming a Good Samaritan.

We’ll make our way down to Birmingham, AL where we’ll catch interviews with Karen Kingsbury and Angela Thomas.

From there we’ll fly up to New York City where we’ll sit down with Mike Huckabee to hear how he got started!

It’s been an amazing adventure and we extend our sincere appreciation to all our new friends who took a moment to sit down with us, share their story and give us insight on how we might start> Becoming a Good Samaritan.

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 5-13-09

Today we’re in Elkhart, IN filming an interview with Stanley Green from Mennonite Mission Network.

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 5-5-09

The Participant’s Guide is just about ready to be submitted – and it’s fantastic! I was able to read through it the other day and I’m so excited for it to come out. As I read through it, I loved picturing people coming together to be a part of this small group study.

The Participant’s Guide is an amazing resource as it offers both opportunities to grow as a group and as an individual!

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 5-1-09

So far, our interviews have been with authors, pastors, speakers, and activists. As we looked at our list of committed participants we realized we had a whole resource that we hadn’t tapped into yet --- artists!

Music is many things, but one thing it is for sure is a form of communication and many of our artists today are raising their voices on some of the biggest global issues facing our world today. With songs like “Give Me Your Eyes” and “Power of One,” we just had to hear the stories behind such empowering, melodious lyrics!

We were blessed have a number of artists commit to being a voice on start> Becoming a Good Samaritan and so we spent a few days in Nashville, TN during the Gospel Music Awards week. While there we interviewed Brandon Heath, Warren Barfield, Mike Weaver from Big Daddy Weave, Margaret Becker, Anthony Evans, Josh Wilson, Matt Maher, Jamie Jamgochian, Israel Houghton and Group 1 Crew.

So now our list of committed participants includes artists, but I firmly believe that we have only broken the surface of Christ’s resources. In fact, I know for certain that each person has the opportunity to live as the hands and feet of Christ.

With that said, one of the best resources we have yet to tap into is --- YOU!!

Come, join us here at start> Becoming a Good Samaritan. We need you, the world needs you.

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 4-30-09

Starting out in Michigan, Mike Seaton and Cameraman, Andy Sheneman, flew into Boise, ID where they met up with Tri Robinson on his sustainable homestead. They conducted his interview looking over acres of rolling hills and expanses of blue skies – a perfect reminder of the beauty of God’s creation!

Mike and Andy hopped into the car and drove their way up to Montana where Eugene Peterson read us The Good Samaritan Parable from The Message.

Another drive brought Mike and Andy to Seattle, WA where they sat down with our good friend, World Vision. Rich Stearns, Steve Haas, and Romanita Hairston shared their expertise with start> Becoming a Good Samaritan. Christopher Crane even planned a special trip up to Seattle so as to sit down with us and lend his voice to the cause.

Catching a flight to Denver, CO, Mike and Andy spent a morning with story-teller Philip Yancey. With years of making scripture come alive, Philip brought the story of the Good Samaritan a bit closer to our hearts and lives.

Kaylee, Project Manager

 Originally Posted on 4-28-09

 It’s official, start> Becoming a Good Samaritan was just signed on for a book!

Originally Posted on 4-22-09

Despite one of our crew members getting stuck in Amsterdam, nothing could stop us from sitting down with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Unable to wait for cameraman, Jay Irwin, to catch the connecting flight, our very own Paul VanNess flew into South Africa alone. Truly a one man show wonder, Paul filmed the entire interview by himself; serving as both interviewer and camera operator!

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 3-27-09

A true delight, Lynne Hybels sat down with us to raise her voice to call the church into action.

She shared with us how the Good Samaritan story opened her heart to a new way of looking at the world, but with that in mind she had to ask herself, “Well now what do I do?” So she began praying that God would help her see through the eyes of the Good Samaritan, and that she would have the willingness to get up close to people in need.

Lynne keeps a quote on her lamp so that she can read it everyday. The quote reads, “I am only one, but I am one. I can’t do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”

With that in mind, Lynne often has to ask God, “What is mine to do?” She told us that sometimes she needs to hear God tell her, “You know, I know you care about this issue, but it is not yours to do. That’s theirs to do.” But other times she needs to hear God say, “Yes, this is yours to do.” She expressed that sometimes “yours to do” might scare you a bit, push you, or stretch you, but we need to follow His guidance and with that, comes no regrets.

So what is yours to do? What is God calling you to be a part of? And what can you do to start>?

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 3-25-09

Over a year ago when I first joined The C2 Group, I sat down with Mike Seaton to discuss the project. As we both shared our stories it was evident to me that God had been preparing each of us for this project and that He had brought us together at the perfect moment to be instruments of change to a hurting world!

As we gazed at the brainstorming white board, I had one question that gently tugged at my heart, a question that has stayed with me over the past 16 months. We see where God has taken us in the past, what he has done in us to prepare us, and we see that God has brought us together… but where is God taking us? What is God’s vision for start> Becoming a Good Samaritan?

With a lot of footage sitting in our editing suites ready for edits - all I can say for now is that God has great plans in store and I can’t wait to watch the story unfold!

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 3-20-09

This week we conducted interviews with the following:

Shane Claiborne
Ron Sider
David Anderson
Joe Mettimano
David Beckmann
Jim Wallis
Francis Collins

Broken GPS, $100
Time spent lost, 120 minutes
Vehicle Rental Adjustments, $80
Parking Ticket, $40
Looping around the block 5 times looking for parking, 30 minutes
Interviews filmed...PRICELESS!!

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 3-18-09

As mentioned in a previous post, we filmed our interviewee, Mike Yankoski, here in Grand Rapids, MI. During our time with him he asked me this question: What’s been your favorite part of working on the start> Becoming a Good Samaritan project?

Here’s what I told him -

My absolute favorite part of working on the start> Becoming a Good Samaritan project has been watching God work!

We initially had hoped that perhaps 20 individuals would step forward to be a voice on the five global issues addressed on the curriculum – and today we sit with over 70 participants on the project.

People questioned if we’d be able to schedule all of the interviews as most of our interviewees have incredibly busy calendars to schedule around; yet, we have had people bend over backwards to accommodate our schedules. We’ve had interviewees host us at their offices, their churches and their homes - sharing with us their stories and encouraging us along the way!

The number of itineraries we’ve had to piece together has been substantial and the details, at times, are overwhelming! But everything has progressed with minimal glitches along the way. It just goes to show that all things are possible with God and I cannot begin to explain how He has brought this all together.

I live for the moments when I take a step back and realize all that God has done! The past few months have been exactly that – moment after moment where all I can do is share with you that God is at work, we are not alone, and that this world will be reconciled to Him.

Kaylee, Project Manager

 Originally Posted on 3-13-09

I currently find myself sitting at my desk. Yes, my desk. I can’t believe it. It seems that the norm for me these days is airport food, hotel lodging, car rentals and luggage attached to the hip. In fact, I don’t know if someone would recognize me these days without a camera case wheeling behind me with my purse, laptop bag, and at least some other carry-on item hanging from my shoulders.

Here’s a brief snapshot of our traveling routine: We roll into our hotel anywhere from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. and then awake for the next day of filming anywhere between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. Our days are spent traveling to the various locations where we set up, film the interview, then move on to the next interview location….

I’m a bit tired, a big jet-legged, and quite honestly a bit unsure of how well I’m digesting the on-the-go “fast food” venues…But let me just say one thing: I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

I simply cannot believe that I get to be a part of this project. From front porch rocking chairs to yogurt ice cream shops I’ve met some really, truly amazing individuals doing extraordinary things.

Here’s a run-down of the past couple of months:

The 1st week of February we traveled to Atlanta, Georgia where we sat down to interview Gerald Durley, Sandra Thurman and Zach Hunter. We then drove on over to Jackson, Mississippi where we had interviews with Dolphus Weary, Steve Stirling and John Perkins.

And while we were down south, Mike Seaton was out in New York City filming a teaching session with Pastor Jim Cymbala.

We spent a Sunday afternoon filming Mike Yankoski on the streets of downtown Grand Rapids and then caught an evening flight out to Dallas, Texas. Traveling back and forth in Texas, between Dallas and Waco, we filmed interviews with Amy Sherman, Heidi Unruh, Ron Hall and Denver Moore, and filmed a teaching session with Kay Warren.

While we filmed in Texas we had a crew rolling cameras out in San Diego where we captured interviews with Scott Sabin, Jason Russell and Miles McPherson.

Then we had back-to-back, coast-to-coast trips (with a weekend filming of Brenda Salter McNeil here in Grand Rapids, MI). A trip out east sat us down interviewing Chuck Colson and Ron Nikkel, and we spent an afternoon filming a teaching session with Gary Haugen. Out west we interviewed Joni Eareckson Tada, Dean Hirsch, Bryant Myers and David Batstone. We spent a morning filming John Ortberg.

Last week I was in Chicago, IL filming an interview with Tony Campolo; Madison, Wisconsin filming an interview with Star Parker; and Houghton, NY filming an interview with Shirley Mullen.

This week I was back down in Chicago filming interviews with Princess Zulu, Dr. Smith, Mary Nelson and Noel Castellanos.

We have more interviews coming up, but so far the interviews have been absolutely incredible! I can’t wait for you all to hear what they have to say.

Kaylee, Project Manager

The upcoming travels are many, the hours of sleep are few, and I personally…couldn’t be more excited!

Here’s a snapshot of where our interviews are taking us:

Brooklyn, NY
Atlanta, GA
Jackson, MS
Grand Rapids, MI
Waco, Texas
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Washington DC
Capetown, South Africa
Houghton, NY
Chicago, IL
Elkhart, IN
Philadelphia, PN
Boise, ID
Seattle, WA
Lakeside, MT

It's a great day to be an instrument of change,

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted On 1-12-09

Since the concept, idea, and dreaming of start> Becoming a Good Samaritan first came into fruition there have been numerous individuals working hard behind the scenes to make things happen!

To date, here is a list of tasks accomplished:

Over 50 participants are on board start> Becoming a Good Samaritan.

The DVD cover has been designed.

A 30 second descriptive promo of the project has been created.

An extensive Marketing/PR plan has been initiated.

95% of committed participants have scheduled film dates.

Two teachers and three interviewees have been filmed.

The participant guide writer, Ashley Wiersma, is off and running as she works to design an amazing experience for small group studies and churches!

Marketing tools for the National Pastors Convention have been designed, created, edited --- and are off to print!

As it all comes together,

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted On 12-22-08

This month (December) Mike Seaton, Author/Creative Director of start> Becoming a Good Samaritan and TJ Rathbun, Director of Audio / Video Productions at Zondervan, made their way over to London where they filmed an amazing entourage of participants:

They met and interviewed Christo Greyling, a World Vision employee with an incredible story of his own experience with HIV / AIDS.

They then hopped on a train and made their way to Milton Keynes where they met up with another World Vision employee, Philippa Lei. Philippa is an advocate for education of children with disabilities.

The trip continued with the filming of Steve Chalke up on a rooftop in London. Then they made their way down to a coffee shop where Steve taught on poor and poverty.

They wrapped up standing outside of Parliament with Bishop James Jones as he shared his thoughts on creation care.

And then it was "Cheers!" to London.

Only some hours later, a few interviews completed, and a teaching session filmed - the crew returned (jet-legged) and with truly phenomenal footage!

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted On 12-03-08

The Christmas Season is upon us (and in Michigan, so too, are mounds of snow!).

It seriously seems like just yesterday that I found myself in flip-flops and tee-shirts, enjoying the rays of sun beaming on my face and hitting the volleyball over the net (or at least making my best attempt at it).

But now - Now I find myself in a button-up light blue long-sleeve shirt with a wrap around sweater secured at the waist-line, boots up to my knees, my jeans then overlapping the boots, ice glazing my windshield and snow still dumping itself from the nimbostratus clouds.

It also seems like just yesterday we were inviting you to commit to start> Becoming a Good Samaritan. But as I reflect on this month's update, I'm blown away with all that been accomplished in such a very little time!

With a lot of hard work and dedication behind us, and a lot more ahead, let's move along with the start> Becoming a Good Samaritan update:

The Present of the Present

Only a few days shy of Thanksgiving we made our way down to Wilmore, Kentucky where we found ourselves welcomed with open arms by author, Matthew Sleeth and his lovely wife, Nancy.

To make the most of the daylight hours we filmed Matthew's outside B-Roll (hanging laundry, filling up his compost pile and gardening - it is to note that carrots are a bit small during this time of year. I found myself quite intrigued by the adorable little orange nuggets that Matthew wrestled out of the ground).

That evening Nancy fixed us an amazing plate of lasagna (the meat from a near-by farm), home-made bread, and carrots (right from their garden!). Matthew instigated the rest of the evening's course by lighting up the fireplace and guiding the record player's arm and needle so as to write Van Morrison across our ears.

I snuggled myself right next to the fire, nearly setting the back of my shirt ablaze. With no electronics to disrupt our fellowship and with the true hospitable nature of both Matthew and Nancy, I found myself in a place I hadn't been in for a while - I was fully in the present - and what a beautiful place to be!

We arose early the next morning and spent our day filming Matthew as he taught on Session 5: The Environment - Stewardship of God's Creation. We filmed most of the session in his living room and then made our way throughout the house showing different ways in which individuals can start> Becoming a Good Samaritan.

A blessing, a joy, a life-changing experience,

Kaylee, Project Manager