One of the major outreaches of Mission: M25 is to honor the veteran / soldier for their sacrifice to give the churches in America the Freedom of Religion. It has grown from an 11 day outreach [Run for the Wall] to a year-round ministry. We honor soldiers coming home from activity duty or we send them off both times with banners that “Thank You For Serving.”
Keith Burd visited with Pastor Terry Maer two years ago on putting his church’s name on the banner, St. Paul Lutheran Church of Canyon, TX. Pastor Maer informed Keith of his son being in activity duty in Iraq. Pastor Maer was assured that we would be at the airport to welcome him home. What we did not know was when or how he would arrive.
Keith discovered the loss and began making plans to be at the airport and funeral, only to discover the body was being flown into Orange, CA the place of PFC Brandon Maer’s childhood. Keith was concerned that we would not be able to live up to his commitment, and then remembered our California PointMan for M25, Rev. Billy Woods, also rides with Hard CORE Motorcycle Ministry. Keith contacted Pastor Billy who immediately began to make arrangements.
Mission: M25 overnighted the banner with St. Paul’s name on it to Pastor Billy and two other Hard CORE riders on the 400 mile round trip from Bakersfield to Orange to be there when Brandon arrived at the John Wayne Airport. There is a patriotic group called, Patriot Guard Riders, who attend all of these type of services. They had some 200 plus riders present but when Pastor Billy spoke to the leader, our three guys were moved to the front of the pack.
Our guys and banner was at the entry way of the funeral home – ready to honor the family. Being in that position gave the guys the opportunity to touch a Dad and Mom who were grieving so bad all they could do was grab Brother Rick Baze’s arm and say, ‘thank you so much for being here’. Our guys remained until it was over and had the opportunity to pray with the in-laws and a sister.
God was able to use our efforts of Run For The Wall through Mission: M25 to reach out from Amarillo, TX to Orange, CA to a family who paid the ultimate price for our Freedom in this nation.
Note: I thought you might want to know that your finances help us year round – not just for the 11 days we do the run.
