Former pastor set to ride accross the country for good cause

PLAINS- Pastor Thomas Hall of the Plains Methodist Church will be retiring soon from his position as parishioner to his small community flock.

He is resigning to devote more time and energy to his continuing effort to provide aid and assistance to the people of South Africa. He is starting this new stage in his life by riding a bicycle across the United States.

Hall will be starting in Seaside, Oregon and riding his specialized, recumbent bike over 4,000 miles from coast to coast. He will be joined by a riding partner Rick Stiles of Missoula. Hall said he is embarking on the journey to raise awareness of a project that he has been involved with in South Africa for three years.

“We build houses over there. We take people out of a housing situation that has no running water, no electricity and we build them a brick structure. The houses have water, power and indoor plumbing. We help people find skills and a market for their skills that allow them to raise their standard of living,” said Hall.

Hall said the effort does not simply throw money at the issue of poverty in South Africa but utilizes a method that provides the means to sustain an improved living situation. Hall said the effort keeps South Africans from becoming dependent upon foreign support and provides an “economic loop” that allows them to remain independent.

The organization that Hall works with was created by two South Africans and is called Mosaic. According to Hall, Mosaic is a non-profit organization founded by Meyer and Louise Conradie whose mission is to create a sustainable economy in some of the poorest areas of South Africa.

Mosaic accomplishes this monumental task by building homes in South African townships working with locals and the assistance of workers from the United States and Canada. Groups such as the ones that Hall has worked with build the homes over a period of two weeks and then turns the home over to a family that otherwise would continue to live in squalor.

Mosaic then provides job training for the family members in specific skills to generate income. The family pays a subsidized rent and is able to provide for their needs.

“Nothing is given away. This program is so successful that the S.A. government is looking into expanding it nationwide. We don’t just build a house and leave. This program changes the lives of the people who come with us as well as those we help,” said Hall.

Hall is retiring from his position as a pastor in order to devote more of his time to the Mosaic program. Hall has been travelling to South Africa since the days of apartheid in the mid 1990s.

Apartheid was a system of racial segregation enforced by the ruling party in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. Under this system, the rights of the majority black population of South Africa were curtailed and racial segregation and oppression were installed across all elements of society.

“Being a part of this system, this economic loop that empowers people instead of making them servants to our money is the really unique thing about Mosiac. Here we are working for and with Africans,” said Hall.

Hall is hoping the bike ride will raise awareness of the work done by Mosaic and the volunteers that travel with him and other groups. Hall will attempt to cover 50 to 70 miles a day. Hall and Stiles will camp along the way or stay with local churches.

The two cyclists will take a route through Montana, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, possibly Canada and then head toward the East Coast. Hall estimated the journey would take about 90 days. Information about Mosaic can be found at www.mosaic.org.