David's Explanation of Walk and Purpose

Hello. My name is David Bass. Normally I am the Associate Dean of the Engineering School at Vanderbilt University, a father of four kids, and the husband of a wonderful wife. This week however I am walking up Alabama with my cousin, Dalton Campbell and my Mom (well, she is going part of the way). We started this journey in the middle of the summer by walking from Gulf Shores, Alabama to our hometown of Evergreen, Alabama. That took us about a week. Our goal is to eventually make it up to the Tennessee line (actually I think we both would like to think we could eventually make it to Canada but we never discuss that for fear that we will not make it and people will laugh at us). We are now taking the week of Thanksgiving and are picking our trip back up in Evergreen and heading towards Auburn where I went to college (please note however that my cousin is an Alabama fan which will prove to be quite interesting as the iron bowl actually occurs during this leg of our trip), So, as you can see we do not walk continuously, but try to find a week here or there to put in the miles. I would love to walk the entire route at one time but I occasionally have to attend to the business of Vanderbilt so they can pay me and in turn my kids can eat.

During the first part of our trip we were constantly asked why we were doing this. Therefore I thought it wise to address that very clearly this time. The answer actually has two parts. First let me talk a bit about how the trip came about. You see, last year was quite a difficult year for my family. I was diagnosed with leukemia (CLL) last fall. Shortly thereafter I broke my arm playing in the waves at the beach (I really wish it would have occurred in a more dramatic way like being attacked by a vicious bear or something, so I could tell you a cool story about it). Around Christmas my dad was admitted to the hospital with an illness that turned out to be cancer and sadly he passed away on February 4, 2009. Two months after that a tornado hit my home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. So as you can see it was not the best year of my life. I decided that it was time to do something crazy. Having been a big fan of Peter Jenkins I thought it would be a great idea to walk across America like he did. I soon realized that I needed to keep my "day job" however and better reign in the plans just a bit. Thus the idea of "walk up Alabama" was born. I soon called my cousin and he decided that he would join me. Which was a good thing because he is real smart and is a planner. I just talk a lot and dream big dreams. It has become apparent that if he were not involved with this trip I would be wandering aimlessly. So now you know how this idea came into being. That does not completely answer the "why" question however. There is more.

We are actually trying to raise awareness and money (awareness is a great thing but it takes money to buy gasoline and food) for an orphanage in Mexico. There are some really beautiful kids there that need some help and we wanted you to know about them. Maybe I should tell you how I met Julisa, Merari, Teresa, Gloria, Griselda, and Umberto. I had gone to Mexico the past few summers on a mission trip with my church to a very large city called Monterrey. We did some really cool projects there and met some great people. I heard about this orphanage that really is out in the middle of nowhere and asked if they could take me and my friend Rachel Walker out to see it. They arranged it and we drove further and further away from civilization until we were on a dirt road that seemed to be going nowhere. Then we drove up in the front yard of "Grace Place" where my life was to be significantly changed.

There we met Pastor Reuben and his awesome family as well as a bunch of beautiful kids that were living there. In about 15 minutes Rachel and I had fallen in love with these people. I had never met anyone who had given away there life as much as Pastor Reuben. It was like he really trusted God with everything. He gave up his career and everything else he had to start this orphanage. As I love to tell my friends - he read that passage in the Bible about helping widows and orphans and actually BELIEVED it. His whole family is involved in this great adventure with him. They are amazing. So amazing that Rachel and I could not speak the entire time we were there because we were crying (actually I personally could not have spoken if I had not been crying as they all spoke Spanish and I do not) after having been moved by what we saw.

Well, Rachel and I talked to some people at our church and we took a group back down there this past summer to hang out with them and do some construction projects with Pastor Reuben. We were really drawn to what we saw and wanted to get more involved. As we painted, and dug ditches, and built walls (have you ever tried to build STRAIGHT concrete wall? Impossible!!) OUR lives were changed. We came back home committed to trying to raise support for these people. I am also taking a Spanish class so that I can better communicate with my new friends. After four classes I am not exactly bilingual yet however.

We met with the leaders in our local church when we returned home and they agreed to collect any money that we raised and to send it directly to Pastor Reuben to be used in his ministry in Mexico. That allowed our friends who gave to also receive a tax deduction for doing so (since the money was collected by a church in the United States). I want to point out here that our church sends 100% if this money to Mexico. They (nor us) take any money for administration (because we actually don't have any administration as we are just some regular people who want to help some kids in Mexico).

Once we got the logistics set up we called all of our friends and asked them to support this worthwhile cause. Many of them have and Pastor Reuben and the children have already been blessed by this support. We decided that we would like to meet more friends and therefore send more money to this orphanage so they can take care of all the new kids that are coming to live with them. So.....now you know the other reason we are walking around Alabama. We want to meet people and encourage them to give join us in supporting Pastor Reuben. If I can be real honest here.....If you are reading this we would like for you to join us in supporting our friends in Mexico. We would also like to have you join us for our walk if you want. Feel free to come out and walk a day (or an hour) with us.

So how can you get involved with these children financially?

1. Write a check (any amount accepted) to Fellowship Bible Church. Be sure and write "Mexico Orphanage" on the memo line. As I have previously told you the church does not keep any of the money. 100% of it will be sent to our friends in Mexico. In case you think we are a cult of some kind please feel free to check out the church website at www.fbcrc.org.

2. Mail the check to: Fellowship Bible Church
6360 Franklin Road
Murfreesboro, TN 37128

If you provide your address (or if it is on the check) you will receive a receipt at years end for tax purposes


3. Please feel free to call me personally if you have any questions at all about this. My cell number is 615.631.2348. I especially like to receive calls while I am walking as it keeps my mind off the blisters on my feet.


Thank you so much for your interest in us and in the kids we are walking to support!!!

Pictures are posted here with David and his son Jason with children from "Grace Place".