A Winnipeg grandpa to 11 grandkids is jumping on his bicycle one last time to help thousands of orphans in Kenya.
Arvid Loewen has been ultra-marathon cycling for the past 20 years to help raise funds for Mully Children's Family (MCF), which gives orphans access to school and food in Kenya. To date, Loewen has helped raise over $12 million for the ministry.
"My extreme cycling is coming to an end," says the 68-year-old. "I have suffered with a bad knee for many years. I'm now scheduled to have my knee replaced. I say I'm 25 per cent of the cyclist I once was. I decided, how am I going to finish this off? For 20 years, we've seen God do amazing things. I'm reviving the bike I used 20 years ago and I will be doing 100 km on Henderson Highway every day for 20 consecutive days."
Loewen will be cycling from July 3-22. On the last day, Loewen is inviting anyone who wants to cycle the last eight kilometres with him and his family.
"We will gather at 6:00 p.m. on July 22, at the East St. Paul Recreation Complex. There is a bike path all the way to our church, North Kildonan Mennonite Brethren Church. There will be a parade-style bike ride where we will celebrate with a program of testimonies, including a video from Charles Mully and his family in Kenya."
As Loewen only started getting into long-distance cycling in his late 40s, his faith in God played a huge part in keeping him on the bike during difficult events.
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"For me, I've always had a purpose. I've cycled approximately 350,000 km during these 20 years, including indoor training. When you've allowed God to touch your heart with the purpose that you're doing it for, you can do incredible things. God has blessed me with an ability to blank out some of the noise that comes. The noise is really prevalent at 2 o'clock in the morning during a rainstorm. Somehow in the morning, the sun rises and the circumstances change. We are created to do so much more if we depend on what God has in store for us."
A few of the highlights from Loewen's 20 years of fundraising cycling events include breaking the Guinness World Record twice.
"The things we do for ourselves will be forgotten when we are gone. Only the things we do for others will live on."
For anyone interested in supporting Loewen during this last ride, they can join him during the finale, and/or donate to MCF here.