Long before the sun came up you could hear the roar of Harleys warming before we “saddled up.” There was a prayer; then as we looked at each other, these words were spoken: “This is what we have looked forward to all year.”Words can never come close to explaining the mixture of excitement, somberness, joy, and caution that was in the air. We knew we were embarking on a MISSION that would take ten days to cover.
As we pulled into the huge parking lot where we “staged” there were already hundreds of bikes leaned on kickstands ready to take to the road. But we knew there must be meetings to give us directions. Honor was given to our great flag and prayers were prayed.
Mission:M25 is so blessed to be included in this great mission, a mission to call our national leaders to accountability for all POW/MIA’s of all wars. By the end of Day One, we had served over 1000 bottles of water and sport drinks and boxes of snacks to the many “road warriors” at each fuel stop. The leadership has really honored our efforts of meeting this need, all the while having our banner on the back of the Hydrations Trailer that states THESE CHURCHES THANK YOU FOR SERVING.
Run For The Wall has allowed us to have three of the four Chaplains from our team. This year we were really blessed to have Mission: M25 Director, Gary Burd to receive his “road name” (an honorary name given by his peers), The Shepherd. He was presented a special cap with his name embroidered on it with the year and position. Sr. Chaplain Richard Moore has been so gracious to allow us to serve with him on this run.
* Bo Pearson, National IPHC Biker Missionary, serves the Missing Man Formation as Chaplain. It is a real honor to touch the lives of those who are hurting after riding for a friend, family member or special person who has been killed or is missing in action.
* John (Ox) Rasmonson serves as Chaplain working from the Hydrations Trailer.
* Wesley Alvarez serves as ride along Chaplain in one of the Platoons.
We have a team of fourteen men and women who will make the trip all the way across the nation this year for Mission:M25’s effort to thank the veterans for the church for our Freedom of Religion. Please keep us in your prayers as we try to take care of these true American Heroes. We will have many others joining us as we travel across the nation, both as riders and as Mission: M25 team members.
“Biker Blessings” are a common practice in the biker community. Chaplain Wesley and Chaplain Ox are doing a “Wheel Chair Blessing” at the Arizona State Veterans Home. There were so many good things done during this run. The guys were able to do three Wheel Chair Blessings at the home.
