"I can't but God can"

Today's story is from Kamitra Carr, who is currently in partnership development in order to deploy full-time into ministry in Ukraine.

Recently, I had one of the most physically and spiritually challenging experiences of my life. I rode in the Key West Bike Ride, a 300-mile journey from Fort Myers to Key West. The event was a project of our mission to raise awareness and support for youth in India – a nation of 1.2 billion people where as little as 3% are Christian. This means that the chance of someone living there and hearing about Christ is pretty unlikely. This is hard to fathom in the USA where there is a church on every street corner.

I was determined to finish each day even though I was still recovering from surgery three weeks earlier. The first couple of days were the most difficult, but I pushed through. I attempted to make it to at least the next stop, and I tried my best not to have to put up the bike and ride in the van due to exhaustion. Come the third day, I spent most of my time in the van.

By this point, I remembered everyone who had told me in the leading weeks “You can't ride 300 miles. You just had surgery. You haven't trained well enough." All of this was likely true and I focused on “I can't."

Later, the words “The Lord is my strength" from Psalm 28 began to ring through my head. It was clear that the ride wasn't 6 days of whether or not Kamitra can ride a bike 300 miles. It was 6 days of coming together with brothers and sisters with the purpose of taking the gospel to the people
of India, and “to the ends of the earth."

After this epiphany, the days were much easier to complete. In partnership development I sometimes hear, “That's impossible" or “There's no way you can." But God has given me a new reply that I learned from the bike ride. “I can't, but God can." With renewed outlook and energy, I am pressing forward.