Out of Africa

Local couple returns from bicycle mission to Mozambique

By OLIVIA KOERNIG / Whitefish Pilot

Glacier Cyclery owners Ron and Jan Brunk's love of cycling has taken them on many adventures. Most recently, that love affair took them all the way to Africa — twice.

In early 2005, the Brunks found themselves in Redding, Calif. attending a Christian conference. Of particular interest were speakers Rolland and Heidi Baker, the founders if Iris Ministries. And Ron was waiting for a change.

"I prayed and asked God to do something different with me," Ron recalls. "I was hoping for a change while I was there, but none occurred. When Rolland prayed for me, all I felt was his hand on my shoulder."

Later that night, when the Brunks joined one another in prayer, it happened.

"I closed my eyes and got an impression," Ron said. "People say it was a vision or that God spoke to me, but it was nothing I heard or saw."

He and Jan were to collect bikes during spring and summer, tune them up during the fall, and then ship them to Africa.

Specific details included the number of bikes to be collected (100 to 150), the types of bikes (old mountain bikes) and the way to ship them (in cardboard boxes).

Beyond that, he knew he and Jan were to train young men in Africa in bicycle mechanics.

"I had never thought of going to Africa before," Ron said. "I wanted to go to New Zealand."

The Brunks contacted the Bakers, whose ministry was in Mozambique, to see if they had a need for bicycles. They were told yes, and the Brunks began their journey.

Flash forward to today: It's three years later, and the Brunks just got back from Mozambique. The couple had spent time there in 2006 at an orphanage in Pemba, where they witnessed firsthand the use their donated bikes would one day get.

"Bikes are a huge asset there," said Jan. "They're so much more utilitarian than here."

The Brunks said it's not uncommon to see Mozambicans transporting two or three 120-pound bags of coal on their bikes. Bikes, that Ron said, are of lower quality than any he's ever seen.

"Mozambique is the second-poorest country in the world," said Jan. "The average income is only $1 a day, and an average bike would cost $80."

Since Iris Ministry's focus is on orphans, widows and pastors, these are the groups who received the 138 bikes (90 percent of which came from the Flathead Valley) the Brunks shipped over. The orphans come from backgrounds like living in a mud-walled, thatched-roof dirt-floor hut that is covered in ant mounds. Their parents are either dead or unable to care for them.

"They've all had tragedy in their lives," Jan said. "The older ones have seen civil war, and it's written all over their faces."

All who received the bikes will use them to increase their capacity for carrying loads and to shorten travel times. For widows, it may mean the ability to haul more water. For the pastors, it may mean more opportunities to preach.

And in spite of the highly functional purpose of bikes in Mozambique, just like here, these bikes also brought a lot of joy.

"They have such exuberance, such joy for life," Jan said. "They have nothing, but they'd give you anything."

But it wasn't all fun and games with the bikes. Ron had his work cut out for him teaching kids the basics of bike mechanics. While concepts like "righty-tighty, lefty-loosey" are common knowledge here, the Brunks had difficulty translating the idea.

"Some of these boys had never had tools or seen a wrench," Jan said. "A tool for a boy was really something special."

And while the Brunks were teaching the Mozambicans, they were learning much from them as well.

"They do so much with so little," Ron said. "And I feel like I do so little with so much."

For now, the Brunks are back at work in Whitefish, acclimating to life at home. While they accomplished a lot on their mission, they're not finished yet. They said there are 70 or 80 bikes still in boxes awaiting assembly. They plan to go back sometime next fall or winter.

After all, there is still much to teach and much to learn.