On Saturday, contemporary Christian singer Mark Schultz completed a two-month, 3,500-mile, cross-country bicycle trip designed to raise money for orphans. Through sponsors and donations at 13 concerts he performed along the way, Schultz raised $250,000 to benefit the James Fund, which meets the needs of orphans in Mexico. His trip ended on July 7 in Bangor, Maine. Schultz said he was inspired to trek across the country after he and his wife, Kate, visited an orphanage in Mexico in the spring of 2006. Remembering his own adoption, Schultz saw the orphans and felt compelled to help. Beginning his bike tour across country on May 7, the Dove award-winning singer-songwriter admitted that even he often neglected the biblical mandate to demonstrate “true religion” by caring for widows and orphans. “It’s certainly not one of those things that even as an adopted kid I was really aware of,” he said. “There’s kind of been a big rebirth lately of international adoptions and adoptions in general, which I think is fantastic. But when it boils all down [caring for widows and orphans is] one of the most important things God says in the Bible that’s what we’re called to do.”
