Pedaling away the miles, the Rev. Donald Whitmore of Laurel, Md., is drawing steadily closer to Laurel, and with two days left on his 1,000 mile benefit ride, the Methodist minister has experienced little difficulty.

“It has been incredibly well done,” said Whitmore, speaking from the side of a road just outside of Trussville, Ala. “I can just feel the hand of God. I would have usually had experienced a large rainstorm or a flat tire. I’ve ridden 800 miles so far, and I haven’t even had a flat tire.”

Whitmore is riding as a part of a collective missions effort extended by First United Methodist Church of Laurel, Md., to the town of Laurel. The church currently has a 20-person team carrying on a day camp called Camp Noah, at West Laurel United Methodist Church, and is ministering to children traumatized by Hurricane Katrina. Started on Monday, the camp runs through Friday and is ministering to 50 children.

In tandem with that effort, Whitmore started a 1,000 mile bike ride to raise awareness of the damage done by Katrina and raise funds to help repair homes. As the pastor has visited church after church, he said that he has seen tremendous response from congregations across the nation.

“We have had churches take up offering after offering for the effort,” said Whitmore. “I was coming through one town and stopped at this store, and when the lady found out what we were riding for, she gave us a $20 bill she had stuck under the cash register. She told us that one time a man had left his wallet in the store and they found the wallet for him. When he came back, he wanted to give the store some kind of reward for helping him out. He gave them $20, but none of the employees felt that it was right to spend the money, so they said they would hold onto the money until someone came along that truly needed the money.”

As Whitmore travels across the nation, he said that donations were not the only things he had acquired in his travels.

“We’ve had some interesting experiences along the way,” said Whitmore. “I was riding in Appomatox, Va., last week with two other pastors and it was about 7:45 in the morning. All of a sudden a black bear came out of the woods. A bit later in the ride, we nearly collided with a herd of five deer crossing the road.”

Through the next few days, as Whitmore finishes up and comes into Laurel on Saturday, he said that he hopes that traveling success experienced thus far extends until the end of his trip. People who want to follow the progress of Whitmore may visit www.fumcl.org/missiontrip.