March 22, 2017
Jim Beezhold is no quitter.
It’s what pushed him through almost two dozen marathons in his younger days, and many competitive triathlons. When he started to experience joint pain in his 70s, it’s what led him not to quit, but to switch from running to biking. It’s what pushed him, at age 72, to bike from Seattle to New York City with the fundraising bike race Sea to Sea.
Now 81, Jim pushes himself just as hard. This June, he will be the oldest participant in Sea to Sea’s annual bike race, this time from Vancouver, Canada to Nova Scotia. He’ll ride the ten-week course, which covers over 4,200 miles, alongside approximately 100 other cyclists, biking all day and making camp in pup tents each night.
Sea to Sea is an annual bike race co-sponsored by Christian development organization World Renew, and Partners Woldwide, a global Christian network that uses business to fight poverty. Since its founding in 2002, Sea to Sea has raised $5.5 million for hundreds of different poverty-fighting organizations.
“I really identified with the recipients, World Renew and Partners Worldwide,” said Beezhold. “When they announced that we could identify with a third charity, I immediately thought of ASJ,” he said. Now a certain percentage of every dollar he raises will go to ASJ’s (formerly known as AJS) work doing justice in Honduras.
Beezhold became involved with ASJ through his church, Crossroads Christian Reformed Church, in San Marcos, California.
He says he has a lot of respect for ASJ’s lawyers who protect witnesses and victims of violence, “ASJ lawyers take on very dangerous work representing ordinary citizens,” he said.
He sees this work as something that could be a model for the rest of the region, or even in the United States.
“At ASJ, they’re doing a job that no one else is doing in the world, I think,” he added.
For Jim Beezhold, the opportunity to combine one of his favorite activities with some of his favorite missions wasn’t to be missed. “I love to bike,” he said, “It’s the best way to see God’s country since you’re not going 75 miles an hour”.
But more than that, he says, “I regard this trip a mission which in the past has been the most physical, mental, and spiritual experience of my life.”
Donations to Jim Beezhold’s ride can be made at seatosea.org with his name in the memo. If you are interested in biking or racing in support of ASJ, you can find more information here. If you’re looking for a biking opportunity in Honduras, contact us to see how you can participate in Coast to Coast 2018!
