Entry #6, Day 20, June 17, 2003

It’s Tuesday morning and I’m sitting at the desk in our room in Raleigh, NC. Why? Because we have high-speed Internet access in our room! Kara has done a great job of finding hotels with just this accommodation. It saves us a trip to Kinkos, and quite a bit of money to boot. So I’m writing this live from our room. (Yes, we’re still alive.)

I laugh as I write this, and Kara asks what’s funny. I read it to her and we both have a laugh. “Others might not think it’s as funny as we do. We’re probably a little loopy by now,” says Kara. “They’ll take what we give ‘um and like it,” I say in mockingly in a tough-guy voice. (Ok, it’s confirmed. We are a little loopy at this point.)

The last time I was able to write we were heading towards Atlanta. So since then we’ve visited Atlanta, Columbia, and Charlotte. We had our Raleigh event Sunday night and met with the Mayor yesterday afternoon. He invited us to speak briefly to the City Council this afternoon.

A week ago on Tuesday at around 11:30am we arrived in Atlanta at the sight of the next evening’s event at Trinity Presbyterian. We’re there because that’s where we are meeting with a TV crew from the CBS station from Huntsville, AL. They arrive at 11:45am and we begin the interview. After interviewing me they interview Kara as well. The reporter is also an anchor for the station and asks excellent questions.

We head to the hotel and get checked in. We request one of their rooms that have high-speed Internet access. They’ve just started to add it to each room. We go to plug in and it doesn’t work. The tech comes up to the room and we go through numerous trial-and-error scenarios to determine what the problem is. Turns out it wasn’t a problem with the room’s connection or our computer, but some type of “gateway” for the whole system. An hour and a half later we are finally connected. After some work on the Internet I get ready to go for a run. While jogging back I notice a man-hole cover that’s missing. I try to spot a police car as I’m jogging to alert someone in authority, but don’t have any luck. We call it in when I get back to the room. (Having someone fall down a man-hole in the dark – not a good idea.)

Kara has also gone for a run, and by the time we both are showered and dressed it’s about 9pm. We walk across the street to a Japanese restaurant Kara had spotted earlier. It’s bright, the music is loud, and numerous TVs are showing sports, Japanese cartoons, and something else I don’t want to remember. I’m really not in the mood for all this stimulation, but I don’t want to find someplace else. So we eat there and ask them to turn the music down. The food ends up being pretty good. As usual, Kara tries to get me to eat sushi. I ain’t gonna eat nuthin’ that you could use for bait. I escape once more from the sushi snare that Kara has set for me!

The next morning, Wednesday, starts at The Mission Society for United Methodists, an EEN Partner organization who is also the local sponsor for our time in Atlanta. They begin every work day with a devotion time beginning at 8am. After a lengthy and moving intercessory prayer for those in need that the staff knows about, I am given some time to make a presentation. All goes well, with a good discussion time and the Executive Director saying he appreciates our ministry. It’s great to reconnect with Adam Hoyt, my contact person there at The Mission Society.

After we show some of the staff the vehicle, we leave at about 9:20am to head down to CNN headquarters to tape an interview for Headline News. We think we’re going to be late (given Atlanta’s traffic), but we actually end up arriving a few minutes early and meet the producer right in front of the large CNN letters. We drive a few blocks over to Olympic Park where about 30 kids are playing in the fountain, and meet the environmental reporter for CNN Headline News, Sharon Collins. The interview goes well, with Sharon asking an interesting question concerning how we talk to children about these issues. I tell her that we talk to kids by saying, “You know the stuff that comes out of the tailpipe behind the car. Well, it’s not good for your health.” I talk to them about breathing and about asthma and ask them if they have asthma or have friends or relatives with asthma. Sharon is also very interested in our hybrid electric vehicle and I drive her around a bit and give her the “hybrid-electric tour,” also stressing that Honda has two hybrids. We find out that the interview will air on Monday.

After the CNN interview, we drive back to the hotel, where I do a taped interview for a Christian radio station in Columbia, SC. I don’t have another interview until 5:30pm, so we eat lunch, and I check email and then relax for a little bit.

The 5:30 interview with a Christian radio station is rather interesting. The interviewer is in favor of our message, but is of the opinion that the government could be keeping fuel-efficient technologies from us. It’s an interesting twist on the distrust of government theme.

When we arrive at the church, Trinity Presbyterian, a thundershower begins, and we hope it doesn’t dampen attendance. I meet Steve Brown, the Associate Pastor, for the first time. Steve has been a strong supporter of our coming, and is here this evening to welcome us even though it’s a week off for him. I’m truly appreciative of his efforts.

One of the special aspects of this event is that a group of local African-American children, called Kids Against Pollution, has written a skit about Jesus and his disciples trying to figure out how to get to Maryland (where we live). But by the time our event is scheduled to start, they haven’t arrived. So we wait about 10 minutes, and in they come, all in costume. They perform a wonderful skit, and end with the singing of a song. What a great way to begin!

About 50 people are in attendance, and the CNN crew is also present filming the event. After my remarks, we have about 15 minutes of discussion. It’s a great event. Driving back to the hotel we stop off at Krispy Kreame and celebrate with our favorite doughnuts. We get to the hotel about 10pm.

The next morning begins early - I’m on a local conservative talk radio show live at 6:50am. It goes well. Then we eat, get packed up, and are back on the road headed for Columbia, SC. We arrive around 4pm and find our way to the legislative office buildings for our meeting with State Representative Joe Neal, who also happens to be an ordained Pastor and local businessman. The organizer of our Columbia event, Julia Sibley of the South Carolina Christian Action Council, joins us for the meeting. Rep./Rev. Neal is a warm, intelligent, well-informed leader. Our meeting runs for nearly two hours, as we discuss other environmental issues besides transportation pollution, specifically environmental justice concerns related to toxic waste sites. Rep. Neal also brings up what he considers indirect detrimental impacts of “Smart Growth” initiatives to land rich but cash poor farmers, who are finding the equity of their land – and therefore their borrowing power – diminished. (It’s a complex issue, and we don’t have the time to explore it fully.)

After our meeting it raining hard and we’re running late for a photo shoot with the Columbia paper. When we arrive at the Columbia Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary at 6:45pm the photographer isn’t there. I look the paper up in the phone book and give them a call. Eventually we learn that they won’t be sending someone out after all. However, a crew for the local ABC TV news station arrives that we were not expecting, and I do an interview for the 11pm newscast. The rain has just stopped and we notice not one but two rainbows in the sky. What a sight! We take some photos with the digital camera.

The event at the Seminary goes well with some good discussion, and around 9:30pm we’re out and about in Columbia trying to find a place to have dinner. We stop at a traffic light and the person in the next vehicle, a Cadillac Escalade SUV, smiles and motions to the WWJDrive sign on our door. He opens his door, and we don’t know exactly what his intentions are. We roll down the passenger window. “Saw your effort this morning on the news” he says. (This is news to us – we didn’t know we were on the morning news!) “Y’all are for fuel economy. That’s good.” We thank him for his comments, and pull away somewhat perplexed, but pleased that he’s supportive of our efforts. We find a place to eat, and get back to our guest rooms at the Seminary around 11pm.

The next morning we’re on the road by 8am, because at 11am we are scheduled to be on a live, in-studio radio interview during “The Keith Larsen Show” in Charlotte, NC. (I was on the show in November when we launched the campaign, and thought it was one of the better shows.) We get there about 10:45 and find a copy of the local paper, because we know a story on the Tour is going to be published in that day’s paper, even though our event is not until this evening. (I also want to be aware of any local stories that might be related to what we’re doing.) It’s a pretty good article.

The producer of “The Keith Larsen Show” is a friendly guy who escorts us into the studio and gets us situated. Just before air time Keith Larsen comes in. He’s rather brusque. I relate how in November I found it fun being on his show. “Well, we’ll probably do some push-back today to make things interesting.” We go live and he recounts all the jokes and how tired they all are by now, and then asks whether this is all just a PR stunt. I remark that we take the Lordship of Christ over all our lives very seriously. I try to make eye contact with him as I reply, but he doesn’t want to meet my eyes. He doesn’t want to be too friendly. They take a caller who challenges me by using the argument that we should focus on saving souls. I quote the Great Commission at the end of Matthew’s gospel, where Jesus tells his followers to make disciples and teach them what he commanded them. I conclude by saying that we’re helping folks to understand a new way to love their neighbor, as Jesus taught. We go to a commercial break and then all of us go out to the parking lot to see the car. Then we’re back live. He remarks how he’s surprised that it’s as roomy as it is. We take a little spin around the parking lot, and Keith seems to warm up to the message. When the segment is over, Keith says, “This was good,” and then says his producer will take care of us as he heads back into the studio.

Larsen’s producer has mentioned that the local CBS TV station, who shares the same building as the radio station Larsen is on, had expressed interest in filming us. He asks the receptionist to call them. However, the original contact person is not there, so it takes awhile for them to figure out who to contact. After waiting about 20 minutes in the lobby, with “The Price is Right” playing on the TV (Bob Barker is still doing this show? I haven’t seen this since the mid-70s!), a camera man interviews us out in the parking lot. (The segment ends up running on the 6pm newscast, and I think it’s one of the better local TV segments on the Tour that I have been able to see.)

We find our way to our hotel. Kara gets us some food as I get ready for a 2pm interview with a reporter from the Raleigh paper and deal with getting our high-speed internet set up. We have to call in staff from the hotel because there’s no Ethernet cable in the room and we find the plug behind a large cabinet that contains the TV. With the Internet access established, I quickly check email as Kara returns with our food. I have seven minutes before my interview, so I eat fast. The interview lasts about 20 minutes and goes well. (The story will run the next day in the Saturday edition of the Raleigh News & Observer.)

Around 3pm a reporter for the local NBC affiliate calls to schedule an interview at the church where our event will be, Holy Trinity Lutheran. We arrive around 7pm to find not one, but two TV crews there, the other from Fox. I ask the NBC crew if it’s ok to do Fox first, and they agree. As we’re setting up I meet Nancy and Ron Bryant, our local organizers, who’ve done an excellent job not only of getting turn-out and two other speakers, but have also helped with generating local press. The interviews done, we head inside to do our event. Joining me is one of the local college professors and a local judge, who is also a lay Methodist preacher. All three of us take questions at the conclusion of our remarks, and the Associate Pastor closes us in prayer, saying that he will consider what Jesus would have him buy the next time he purchases a vehicle. The Judge says the same thing. We thank Nancy and Ron once again, and head back to the hotel with the intention of ordering room service. Unfortunately, the kitchen is closed by the time we are ready to order, so it’s delivery pizza. We eat and watch the segments on the Fox and NBC stations. They’re ok.

Saturday morning we do some work on the Internet before heading to the Raleigh area. That evening we’re going to stay with a woman Kara has known since she was a little girl, a good family friend named Carol. Finding her home is another matter, and we get lost several times, with road construction resulting in several directional signs being removed. (How helpful!) We finally arrive around 6pm. It’s been several days since I’ve been able to jog, so I warm up and head out and leave Kara and Carol alone to catch up. I return to an incredible dinner (Carol is a chef) and great conversation as Carol tells me stories about Kara and her family.

Sunday evening’s event at Holy Trinity Lutheran has been organized by Rev. Jim Vigen, director of the advocacy office for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North Carolina. Last November Jim found out about the campaign via media stories and emailed us offering his help. So we took him up on it! (Jim helped us with our Charlotte event as well by putting us in touch with Nancy and Ron Bryant. So Jim made possible both North Carolina stops.)

It’s Father’s Day, it’s Sunday evening, and it’s raining. Our audience is on the smaller side, but is still a good group. The Deputy Mayor of Raleigh is present (as is a partner in the Mayor’s law firm), and he speaks after I do. While he’s speaking I notice a camera crew from the local cable news channel arriving, and I go outside to be interviewed (as it has stopped raining). During my talk and the interview, I feel my brain power is somewhat diminished. I tell this to Kara later and she says she thought I did well, so I’m relieved. But I definitely need some rest. I’m very thankful that the Lord has sustained me through the Tour.

The next morning we sleep in a bit, and then get cracking on the Internet and touch base with the staff of our communications firm. The CNN segment is scheduled to air around 2:40pm, so we watch it as we're getting dressed for our meeting with the Mayor of Raleigh at 3:30pm. It looks good. We've been told that it will air again at 3:40, 4:40, and 5:40.

We are joined in our meeting with Mayor Charles Meeker by Jim Vigen. The meeting goes well, and Mayor Meeker invites us to address the City Council briefly tomorrow at 1pm. We head back to the hotel (getting lost a little bit along the way) and catch the final CNN segment. I'm surprised that it's actually different than the one we saw at 2:40. It's even better, we feel.