Update from the Equality Ride #1

After a harrowing start to the journey, Whosoever's correspondent on the Soulforce Equality Ride 2007, Mandy Matthias, files her first report from the road:

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My first week as an Equality Rider is drawing to a close as I'm on the bus to Springfield, Missouri with 26 people who have rapidly become my family. Our Ride began with a touch of insanity as all of us were trying to fly into Minneapolis during one of the biggest snowstorms to hit this season. It took three days for us all to arrive from being stranded at airports across the nation, but we soon got down to work and hit the road.

The East Bus drove down to Sioux Center, Iowa for our stop at Dordt College. We arrived the night before, and as a few of us were in the hotel lobby finishing our planning for the next day, we saw a car circle the parking lot a few times. Not long after that, two young men walked up to the window and made an obscene gesture. A bit shaken, we decided to take our planning
session up to one of the rooms.

When we came downstairs the next morning, we walked outside to see that our bus had been defaced. Two pieces of cardboard had been attached to the bus, one scrawled with obscenities, and the other simply saying, "Get Out." All the windows on the driver's side had also been spraypainted with graphic pictures of male and female genitalia, and with the message, "God doesn't love gay feary [sic] f*cks." It was this last message that really hit me.

I know that if I would have seen that message two or three years earlier, before I had reconciled my faith and sexual orientation, I would have been crushed. This is exactly the message that students are receiving on the campuses we are visiting--whether directly or indirectly, by their peers or administration, by their culture or religion. We hope to counteract this by bringing a message of hope and love--that God created them and accepts them and loves
them.

With the gravity of these graffitied messages in mind, we soberly loaded the bus and drove the short distance to Dordt College. In spite of our morning, our day at Dordt was a beautiful success. Each of the Riders were assigned one or two hosts who showed us around campus for the day. This was a great opportunity to connect one on one, and we walked away from the day remembering some great conversations.

The next day we went to the mall and another popular coffee shop in town and met with students for the afternoon. A lot of them stopped by to hang our or to ask more questions.

Even if the Ride was to end tonight, before we get to our second stop, I know it would have been worth it. The students at Dordt were a great reminder of why we are on this adventure, and I know each of the Riders will carry the students they connected with in their hearts and memories throughout the rest of the Ride.

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It's never too late to support Mandy and the other riders as they continue their journey.

You can learn more about the Equality Ride and view the schedules as well as contribute to Mandy specifically or to the ride in general.