God has put on my heart to share this story, in hopes that it might motivate or encourage those who read it. The following pages will be scattered with stories as I documented this trip God sent me on from March 13th to July 22nd, 2013. I give God all praise and glory for the safe journey and the daily strength and courage to complete this task. Without Him, none of this would have been possible: from the bike, trailer, and gear that were donated, to the gifts of housing and food that were provided. I can do all this through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13 Our God is a forgiving God. My past life is a tainted life, full of living for self. Seeking to serve self and find happiness through self. I truly believe I was saved at an early age, but soon fell to temptation of the world. Falling out of God's grace many times over, only finding myself on my knees asking for forgiveness. I often equate my life to Jonah, running from God's command. Only to find myself in the belly of the great fish. The difference between Jonah and me is I kept going back to the belly of the fish. Jonah was in the belly for three days, I was in the belly for 30 years. There were times that I would find myself in trouble and run to God asking for forgiveness. Then as I started to get out of the trouble, I would find myself walking away from God. It seemed that I wanted to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but only when it was convenient, or fit my lifestyle. I would go to church, and hurry out the door after service. Using excuses like need to start dinner, watch the football game, meet friends or family members. Anything to avoid others, hoping no one would ask me how I was doing. See, by avoiding people, I didn't have to lie about how I wasn't truly living for the Lord, and that my life was actually empty, and I was just going through the motions. It seemed no matter how hard or smart I worked at creating what I thought was a happy life, it would always fall apart. Even after giving my all to a marriage of fourteen years, it fell apart too. After the marriage fell apart, I again turned to God for help, asking to be forgiven of my part of a failed marriage. This was a hard time for me; I'd now lost what I thought made me happy. I thought I was happy because I had a wife, a family, and my own business. Still not at the bottom though. Moving out of the house that I was living in, I decided to move into a huge warehouse that I was renting out. Living there for eight months, I became even more lonely and cried out more to God asking for His intervention. I believed God had a plan for me, and I was done trying to make myself happy. I just gave in to God's calling. It wasn't easy, and there was some back and forth on my part, but I never gave up, and God never gave up on me. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24 How I came to do this I spent many hours in prayer, asking God to show me what He wanted me to do. I was done living for myself, and wanted to give my all to God. I'd realized I couldn't do it on my own, and gave in completely to God. So I started looking for some sort of sign or clarity on what God wanted me to do. Interviewing missionaries, and calling people that have done mission trips didn't help me understand what God wanted me to do. One Sunday I put on a prayer request at the church I attended "Clarity". That's it. I didn't put my name or anything else. Later that day I was on a run, about three miles into it, and all of a sudden I felt a calmness come over me. At first I thought something was wrong, I mean my heart rate went down, and I even stopped sweating. I'll never forget what happened next, it was like I almost heard God speaking to me. "Go and walk around America and pray for revival." Then a thought occurred to me that it would take a long time to walk around America. So I asked, "Couldn't I ride a bike? I could cover more ground."
About the Author: My wife Marcia and I first met Paul Gruber at a local Starbucks when the cross-country bike trip was merely a flickering gleam in his eye. Our first impression was that of a man ablaze with passion for Jesus, but also a person with a growing sense that God was calling him to ride a bike across America for revival. While I loved his passion, I was more than a little skeptical about his over-the-top bicycle idea. But as we began to spend more time with Paul and see his heart, we began to see he is truly the real deal; we treasure him as a dear brother in Christ. Paul has a strong faith and a genuine humility that has come in part from accepting his Heavenly Father's loving and patient discipline. Paul now knows that only by following the King and living for Him and others will yield a life of blessing. Like his namesake, the Apostle Paul, his desire is to know Christ, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings. I commend to you Paul's book GPS. If you let it, this book will take you on the most important ride of your life: one of total surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. But this book does more: it loudly proclaims the message the American Church needs to hear today, that we need to wake up, and BE the picture of Christ for our hurting nation. The people of America need to see true Christianity, the sort that Paul Gruber's life demonstrates: dedicated, totally surrendered, willing to do ANYTHING He calls us to do. We need to forsake comfort, money and the love of this world that we may find Him who is truly life and call others to follow. Revival of the church and spiritual awakening of America alone has the power to bring the healing we so desperately need. As you read GPS, I pray you will be stirred to ask God what He would have you do for the sake of His Kingdom and the future of your family, your local church, your city and our nation. Daily prayer for revival and radical obedience are key. We can be assured that if every follower of Christ in America does his or her part, our all-powerful, all-loving Lord will surely respond. Randy Hekman National Director of OneCry