Many years ago men on horseback rode the western plains as saddleback preachers inspiring and nurturing new churches into existence. They became known as the Circuit Riders. Today a new breed of Circuit Riders is emerging, this time not on horseback but on trains, bicycles and cars traveling the plains and pustas of Europe.
Mission
Their mission is to inspire and mobilize young people to reconsider the faith and the values that inspired their forefathers and for which they fought sometimes at the cost of their own lives. The stage of these Circuit Riders is the class room. HERE!) Circuit Riders are musicians, small bands, poets, dance or drama artists or people with a unique teaching topic or ability. They can be English teachers or storytellers or young adults who can express themselves well in English. They can be young or old or any age in between. Whatever they do, they are an inspiration to who they meet. Circuit Rider teams are ideally between 2 and 5 members. Several teams or individuals join together for one week to ride a circuit. Each circuit lasts one week and may be in the same town or in several towns in the same region. They mobilize students to join Bridgebuilders.
Tour
Circuit Riders are recruited in the beginning of each year for short tours in Europe. The tours can last anywhere from 7 days to 3 months, always in the fall and summer, sometimes in the winter and spring.
Support!
We ask your help to cover the cost for this mission by giving a one time gift of € 12 or whatever that amount translates into your currency. We ask many to give a little. We do this same amount in every country where Atlantic Bridge is working and we ask any and everyone involved in this mission, from staff to Bridgebuilders to supporting friends and churches, Romanians and Americans, those who earn much
and those who earn little. We ask you for a one time gift to be given before the end of 2010.
Aspects of the Circuit Riders
1. Each Circuit lasts for 1 week. In general a Circuit Riders team visits one location for a two day period.
2. Selecting and training the Circuit Riders to be effective in their task
3. Build a common jingle (liturgy) for when they go into class rooms – any materials needed? How do we build the expectation so that the schools look forward to the next Circuit Riders team, that we build it surely and gradually!
4. Connecting the Circuit Riders to the Faith Discovery projects locally. Visit an old place of faith.
5. Discuss about growing the list of Circuit Riders each year. Who do they know…
6. Circuit Riders fund – 1000 people who give 12 Euro each year need to be found before the end of this year). The support for these CIRCUIT RIDERS comes from three sources. 1) the Circuit Riders themselves build a support team at home 2) a Circuit Riders Fund for which funds are raised each year , and 3) schools that will be hosting these Circuit Riders.
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Gentle Giant Steve
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‘Broadway’ Bruce
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Rob Demaggio
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Wonder Voice Qian
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Puzzleman Dennis
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Firefly Freddie
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Radiant
Steve Apirana (New Zeeland Maori, now living in Australia)
Steve plays the blues from the lands down under. He says he is the ugliest man on earth but God made him beautiful. Who dares to agree with him?
He is a gentle giant, and it is amazing how he can play such a delicate guitar with such a big hand. When he was young other students would always pester him. He knows what it is like to be from down under.
This gentle giant inspires students to evaluate who they are and where they are going. He gets a standing ovations from large crowds but loves to share his music and stories of down under in the class room or for a circle of friends.
After several years Steve is looking to come back to Europe in the summer of 2012. Bruce Kuhn (USA, living in Netherlands)
Bruce once performed on Broadway (Les Miserables), but now tours The Gospel of Luke. In the classrooms he engages and amuses students with stories of cultural mishaps and of his life as an actor in New York City. Rob Demaggio (New York, USA)
Rob teaches English literature at Suffern High School. Before that he taught in a high school in the Bronx. And before that he was a pastor of a church in New City.
In 2010 he came to The Netherlands to teach Mitch Albom's novel "Five People You Meet in Heaven". In April 2011 he came back teaching the same book. This time he brought a student. And, yes, he is planning to come again in 2012! Qian Ye (ShangHai, China)
Quian Ye was born in Shang Hai but our AB scouts discovered her in the Clarkstown Reformed church in New York. How can such a giant voice come from such a small body?
Qian Ye means adventure, determination and fear of nothing. In Moscow, after a Masters degree in opera from the Moscow Conservatory, she discovered a new life and found her way to Nyack College to learn about the Christian faith and learn to communicate it.
Wondervoice is the name we initially give this Circuit Rider, but she may find another before she starts her first Circuit. Dennis Ritchie (USA)
 Dennis is a pastor of a small church in Connecticut USA. The many tattoo's on his body betray a previous lifestyle much different to his current one.
But we did not call him the TATTOO MAN because Dennis has become a specialist in puzzles. Especially the human puzzle.
In October 2010 he rode again bringing the good news that everything in life does not always remain a puzzle. Freddie Kofi (Nottingham, UK)
Why would we call someone a firefly? Freddie is an inspiration and wants to be. I don't know anyone who is more vocal and expressive in showing his love for his wife and children.
While on tour he will call home - even between lessons - to find out details of what his family is doing. Freddie is in love with the whole human race and sings about it. Marlo Hogue (USA)
 Radiant Marlo wants to be a shining examples of what God can do in people’s lives, no matter what the circumstances. There are very few people that have seen so much of the inside of a hospital as Marlo has.
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