Much More Than Just Mountain Biking

John Vandervelde
Program Director

During Wheaton's fall break we had 10 students participate in our Mountain Biking class.  This 1 credit hour course offered through the Applied Health Science department teaches students basic to intermediate skills in mountain bike riding, bike maintenance, and safe trail skills.  But here at HoneyRock the course is about much more than just mountain biking. 

As is the case in all our programs, the instructor for this course, Rick Masters, led the course with a vision to develop people holistically.  Mountain biking skills were taught, and through that activity we developed character in young people.  Students learned valuable lessons about themselves and each other as they were challenged and stretched.  They spent time reflecting on how these lessons could be implemented in their daily lives.  One night during the class Rick took the students on an overnight camp out.  During that time students shared what God is doing in their lives, what they're struggling with, what they are learning and how they desire to grow.  Students encouraged each other and built a community of care and support.  Rick also gave the students time to spend in God's Word while surrounded by His beautiful creation.  Students today live in a hectic, fast-paced world that barely gives them time to sleep and eat, and students consistently comment on how their schedule allows for very little time alone with God.  Giving students time to rest their bodies and renew their spirits has become an integral part of the program.  Here are some excerpts from papers written by two students as they reflected on this year's course:

"In my life, I often spend my time either as a student or serving my fellow students as a leader in my church's college ministry. And, I can easily ignore the heart posture of Mary and exchange it for Martha-like work. Additionally, I plague myself with the anxieties of graduating in December and trying to find a job. Remembering to rest in Christ's sovereign rule is often forgotten. But, I am often reminded when I pick up my bass guitar and sing affirmations of Christ's identity as Lord that He is indeed sovereign: I re-enter the Sabbath rest inaugurated in Christ's finished work and remember Eric Liddell's words: "I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. When I run, I feel His pleasure." All of life, then, whether as a student, as a servant in church, or a struggling, beginner-level mountain biker can be offered as to God as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1-2) when I rest in His sovereign rule over all the cosmos, yea even my life."

"[As I reflect on the course] the concept of 'work-play' hits a lot closer to home than I initially thought. I sometimes struggle with the sin of busyness, and am very guilty of compartmentalizing work from an atmosphere of play. My newness I believe to faith is to blame for such phenomena. Striving to force change in my life when I accepted Christ along with confusion about what was acceptable recreation caused me to develop a somewhat hyper-work ethic, which I esteemed was safe. This was certainly not without the encouragement of my youth group workers to scrutinize my use of freedom, though there was certainly a time when that was needed. Just the same, to this day I have difficulty justifying planning time to relax or enjoy leisurely activities, and am unsure how to feel when faced in these situations. It wasn’t always that way, but attempting to make changes so radically is bound to breed such hypersensitivity."