An Indianapolis man who’s a long-time volunteer with the Institute for Affordable Transportation (IAT), a partner with CMF’s BUV Tanzania project, is spending the first four months of 2015 raising funds for the project by doing something he loves: competing to win in a bicycle race.

Mike Lantz is currently participating in the Tour d’Afrique, a four-month bicycle race/tour that will take him from Cairo, Egypt, to Cape Town, South Africa. That’s 7,000 miles, of which 2,000 will be off-road. He’s making the tour to help raise funds and awareness for the CMF/IAT BUV project in Tanzania.

Mike is riding with a group of nearly 50 other cycling enthusiasts from around the world. They met in Cairo, Egypt, this past weekend and have a goal of riding more than 75 miles each day.

“Mike has volunteered for 10 years with IAT,” said Will Austin, the Executive Director of the organization. “That’s more than 3,000 hours of his time. He has helped build BUVs, made BUV deliveries, visited many BUVs throughout Honduras and cut a lot of steel and done quite a bit of welding for us!”

“Providing transportation in rural Africa can transform thousands of lives,” added Will. “Our goal is to raise $450,000, which will provide jobs next year for 200 Africans in very poor and remote areas of East Africa and allow for a ramp-up to 240 BUVs per year in 2016.”

“I think a BUV is Christian ministry in the most practical application,” said Mike Lantz in a recent interview with an Indianapolis TV station. “For me, this trip definitely has a dimension of a spiritual journey. I am interested in what God has for me along the way and what He has for me after the trip is over.”

If you’d like to donate to IAT and BUV Tanzania, go here to the crowdfunding site.