|
About The Motion Initiative |
|
When you received your first bicycle as a kid; what came with it as an unexpected benefit?
As we reflect many of us might agree that a sense of adventure, freedom, and hope came with that bicycle. For many under-resourced urban youth, a decent bicycle and a healthy sense of adventure, freedom, and hope are difficult to find. The Motion Initiative is an organization working to facilitate adventure, freedom, and hope, through the gateway of cycling, to the inner city youth of Grand Rapids, Michigan. In this process we aim to facilitate personal achievement, responsibility, and L.I.F.E.-GIVING alternatives to the pitfalls of growing up in a challenging context.
We do believe that a chain can lead to freedom! |
This is The Motion Initiative
(Video by Daniel K Smith) |
Our Mission
To connect urban youth and area adults to L.I.F.E. (Life In the Fullest Extent) through the gateway of bicycling.
Why a Chain?
When we think back through history, chains were often used for oppression. We believe that God can use bikes, and chains, to change people's lives. ... the irony of a chain leading to freedom!
Our Four Linking Ventures
 The following are TMI's core gateway activities, but they are not what we truly are about. They are connecting points used to help us reach our true objective of reaching urban youth and area adults with a deeper connection to L.I.F.E. (Click each link for more info about that venture)
Substantial benefits can be gained from participating in just one of TMI's main ventures. Each is designed to stand alone as an introduction point to TMI. More importantly the four linking ventures have been crafted to work in harmony with each other. Like the parts of a bicycle wheel, they need each other to be truly functional. As people come to value one venture they will come to value the other ventures.
(Visit our Volunteer Section for information on how to become involved)
Our Valued Perspectives
 | God has designed each of us to be used by Him as a tool in His hands to restore that which is broken. |
| We desire that TMI be about relationships that provide a launching and developing platform that lays a template for how the world was designed to operate.
(Rather than being just a betterment program) |
| We believe in the power of having dreams. We seek to help urban youth dream. |
| We want to nurture the perspective that every one has something to offer society. |
| We seek to begin with youth and reach them before they have been ensnared by the world, and then help them develop as leaders as they grow older. |
| Our goal is that TMI becomes run by the youth as they develop leadership skills, and we end up playing a behind the scenes role of encouragement. (We are beginning with the end in mind) |
| We believe in challenging our youth to higher expectations. |
| We believe that mentoring becomes more meaningful in the context of life. We desire that TMI become a context for people that would have never crossed paths to interact and influence each other. |
| We believe, as Jesus did, in leaders as servants. Our job is to serve those around us. |
| Our ultimate goal is to glorify God in everything that we do. We believe that following His Word, and our relationship with His Son Jesus is the only way to accomplish that goal. |
Download a Flyer
 | You may download a copy of our current flyer or our current brochure. Please feel free to distribute these among your friends, family, neighborhood, and church groups. Thank you very much for supporting The Motion Initiative!
If you would like more information on how you can support the program, please take a look at our Support TMI page. |
|
About TMI 
