. . . we begin!

Joey here.

I allowed Jeffrey to post some remarks on April 4.  Since then, I have been in a closet while he took some time to tend his crops . . .

. . . visit his native village . . .

. . . enjoy sunrises and sunsets . . .

. . . spend time with Nancy, for whom he is such a sap . . .

. . . and equip our Lightning Phantom bicycle for a long haul.  (Our tricycle is waiting for our return to San Jose next spring to try again to pedal to Seattle.)

Karl Abbe, the wizard at Zipp Designs, made us a new Lexan fairing to protect us from wind and the worst of the weather.

Tomorrow we’ll load our electric car and pilot ourselves and our kit toward Indiana.

We biked across Indiana in 2011.  We’ll tag up there, then turn south into Kentucky, bound for Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana.  We’ll tell the truth about immigration, refugees and asylum.  We’ll point out that accused shoplifters are entitled to a lawyer, but refugees fleeing death can have a lawyer’s help only “at no expense to the government”.  We’ll remind the people we meet of what Scriptures say about duty to strangers and refugees.  We’ll listen to what our new friends have to teach us.

At this moment, Human Rights First is mobilizing lawyers and advisers to help desperate people who are coming to our southern border and lawfully asking for refuge.  Lawyer Jeffrey, who has represented asylum applicants for 35 years, feels bad not taking part in that effort.  But all must help in their own way.  For now, our way is to talk with the people, to ride for human rights.

Please help in your own way.  Remind people of our better natures.  Extend a hand in a concrete way if you can.  And consider donating to Human Rights First.