A Lutheran pastor will cycle a total of 1,200 miles and from Arkansas to Tennessee and stop over in 10 cities to join thousands of Lutherans as they embark on various projects to serve their communities.
Pastor Bill Ondracka of Victor Lutheran Church will start his journey on April 17 where his Cycle & Serve Tour will kick off with the group service project in Bentonville, Arkansas, reported The Chatanoogan.
Among the cities that are included in the tour are Nashville and Memphis in Tennessee.
For the Chattanooga leg, which will take place on April 30, a day before the closing of the event, the pastor will be part of a special service project for the Alton Park community where he will be planting vegetables in community gardens, cleaning up the overgrowth in public areas, planting flower beds, mulching, installing benches, painting a school bus shelter and helping with a Habitat for Humanity build.
In the other legs of the tour, Pastor Ondracka will be joining activities like the restoration of an art wall in a public park, a soup kitchen for the homeless, an Earth Day community clean up, serving victims of human trafficking and domestic violence, serving firefighters and policemen, and helping out at a cycling and fitness event that will collect helmets and bicycles for the poor.
"I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with many people across the Mid-South to show the community that churches care," said Pastor Ondracka.
Ondracka will not be alone in the endeavor as he will be joined by Mike Carroll, who is his good friend and fellow cyclist.
The duo will also be joined by other cyclists for part of the journey.
