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Tom was born in Racine, Wisconsin, the third of four children, and had a pretty normal childhood of friends, school, sports and the like.  

His love of bicycling began early on when he received his first Schwinn 10-speed (a novelty in those days - the five speed banana seat bikes were the rage at the time - great for doing wheelies). He immediately proceeded to dismantle it to see how 10 speeds work. From then on he became his own bike mechanic. He organized a couple long distance rides, first just around the county, then up toward Green Bay, with some friends who turned out to be less-than-eager riders, and also dreamed of biking-ferrying to Montreal for the Olympics in 1976, but couldn’t find a partner.  

Tom also learned to create new bikes from old parts, and at one point thought he had found the perfect exterior coating that was perfectly clear, highly durable and hard to scratch - Elmer’s glue. The experiment was a great success except that he forgot about one property of the glue that manifested itself the first time he rode in the rain!

Tom’s most extensive trip before the present one was a one month train-bike trek across Europe and Great Britain with the family in 2009, featuring the Danube Trail and the Scottish highlands. Unforgettable.

But Tom’s greatest adventure started in 1975 after his junior year in High School. Although on the surface everything seemed to be going his way, he sensed a discontentment in his life that sent him on a search for meaning. After checking out philosophy, science fiction and a brush with sorcery he found what he was looking for in a place he didn’t expect - reading the family Bible. He discovered that meaning in life could only be found in Jesus Christ and received Him as Lord and Savior. From that time on his life has had purpose and his commitment to Christ has led him on a great adventure of missionary work in the former Soviet Union since 1995. Tom has served as a Bible teacher in countries denied formal Christian education for 70 years.  

And the adventure goes on! Each year with Christ is filled with new thrills. To discover this adventure for yourself, click the link!

Nancy grew up in Gary, Indiana in an immigrant community. Lots of Eastern Europeans including her Serbian grandfather with his family moved to the Calumet region to work in the steel mills that dotted Lake Michigan. Her mother faithfully rode her bike daily with her neighbors and every day in summer found the family on bikes headed to Lake Michigan for a breakfast picnic. Nancy’s love of the outdoors and biking was founded on those early days.

Part of Nancy’s love of biking, if she is honest, is related to her frugality (she’s cheap!). Getting to school, work, etc on bike is a whole lot cheaper than driving a car. She was too busy, however, to take her love of biking past the city limits.

Fast forward to graduate school and her first date with a cute guy from Wisconsin. It should have been a big clue that the date was on bikes! Marrying a bike mechanic was also economical, although Tom probably didn’t think so when Nancy forgot to lock his bike while they were dating and got it stolen.

1990 and 1992 found them buying bike seats and helmets for their daughter and son and taking on the responsibilities of parenthood. Both of them had good jobs and seemed poised to live out the American Dream. That’s where their Great Adventure started to surface.

As a child in a little Baptist Church, Nancy had caught a vision for overseas work. Feeding the hungry, supporting the needy and providing medical care for the sick became her goal. Her older sister even called her ‘doc’ growing up.

Unfortunately, like many dreams, hers became clouded by pain, loss and rebellion. Finally, Nancy realized that she was the one in need of a doctor to heal the wounds of her heart. The person that led her to Christ explained that Jesus would give her a new clean slate. And that is exactly what happened.

Nancy’s dream of giving her life away revitalized. Her ideas were a little unconventional: medical work in tents, helping others to find the friend and Savior she had discovered. There were lots of delays and doubts. But with Tom to help, the dream became a reality. Today Nancy helps to run a mobile clinic ministry that provides care for indigent patients across Ukraine.