The End of a Chapter

I am sitting on a couch in Minnesota, eating dinner and finishing last minute preparations for what will inevitably be one of the biggest days of my life.  Tomorrow is The Rescue.  I will wake up in the morning and head to our site, set up a bunch of tables and tents and equipment and wait with thousands of others who have abducted themselves to be rescued.  Then, I will set out to be a Rescue Rider and wait with other cities to be rescued until every single city has been rescued.

The massive nature of this event is just now kind of hitting me...but not really.  I firmly believe with all of my heart that this event could be the catalyst to finally ending the longest-running war in Africa.  I believe that the impact of tens of thousands of people uniting all around the world for peace and justice will have a massive ripple effect on the world for generations to come.  And I get to be a part of this.  I am honored and humbled and overwhelmed.  

To think that this journey is drawing to a close is a strange sensation.  It is all I have known for the past four months.  I have completely devoted my entire life to this cause...and now it is nearing its end.  I have met so many incredible people that I could never do justice in trying to explain.  They have motivated, inspired, encouraged, refreshed, challenged, and most importantly, loved me, even though I was a stranger.  That kind of experience occurred over and over again in every new city.  And we went to a lot of cities!  What a beautiful chapter in the history of my life.

I have also become closer than I thought humanly possible to the three beautiful people I shared a van with.  Heather, Andre, and Tessa are and will forever be a part of my dysfunctional Middle America family.  I owe these three people more than I could ever give to them.  I cannot imagine how different life will be not spending 24 hours a day with them.  We'll see, I guess.

As this event is upon us, there are incredible hurdles being thrown our way.  Team Mexico is dealing with forces so much greater than us.  There is an epidemic of a form of flu that is killing people and all of Mexico City is being evacuated.  Needless to say, the Mexico City event has been cancelled.  Please keep them in your prayers.  Smaller things that still have major impact are also popping up, as they tend to do with events like these.  We all need your prayers and positive thoughts more than ever before.  This event is bigger than a nonprofit.  It is bigger than charity.  It is about the fact that if even one person is being enslaved, abducted, or massacred, then we all are.  This is about humanity.  

With Hope,

Brandon