Minnesota man bikes the U.S. to promote Christian book

A teacher from Minnesota is riding his bike across the country to promote a book, help teens complete high school and to eat doughnuts.

Paul Shol is riding on his “Legacy Tour” from Florence, Ore. to Bar Harbor, Maine to promote the book, “Jesus Calling” and The Legacy Children’s Foundation. Over the weekend, he stopped in Libby to donate copies of “Jesus Calling” to Christ Lutheran Church.

“I really believe [God] is sending me on this short mission,” Shol said.

Shol is on his own during this journey, without support car or vehicle. He’s been connecting with churches along the way to find people to host him.

“I’m meeting with as many pastors and congregations as I can,” Shol said.

One of the congregations Shol connected with is that of the Christ Lutheran Church in Libby, whose members gave him a place to stay, and to which he donated almost 50 copies of “Jesus Calling.”

During this journey, Shol bikes 60 to 100 miles per day and expects this trip to take him 2-and-a-half months.

“Jesus Calling” written by Sarah Young, is currently the number one best-selling Christian devotional book in the United States. According to Shol, the book changed his life.

“I got the book from my great aunt four or five years ago,” Shol said. “It’s made a great difference in my church life.”

The Legacy Children’s Foundation is a non-profit organization based out of Fargo, N.D., that helps inspire teens to achieve their high school diploma through afterschool programs, tutoring and community service.

The First Lutheran Church in Fargo already collected small donations for Shol’s trip, according to Shol, the donations from First Lutheran added up to $10,000.

“It’s been kind of a grassroots effort,” Shol said.

In addition to the causes Shol is promoting while he is riding, he is also continually on the lookout for doughnuts, stopping in every town that has them. Shol said that doughnuts are one of his favorite foods and he would like to experience what doughnuts are like across the country.

“I’m a big fan of doughnuts,” Shol said.

Shol is 29 and was a teacher for Fargo Public Schools for seven years, when school officials told Shol that they would not grant him leave to go on this bike trip, Shol decided to resign and will transfer to Fergus Falls, Minn., his hometown, to teach in the fall.

Before taking off on his bike tour, Shol raised $40,000 for Fargo Legacy Children’s Foundation in Fargo, N.D.

“Its very admirable for him to devote that much of his time to go that far across the country like that,” Pastor Roberta Smythe of Christ Lutheran Church said.

According to Smythe, Shol called the church telling them about his journey and that he was coming through Libby. He asked if they could help him find a place to stay when he came through.

“It’s a daunting task and I think that it’s very admirable for him to take on that,” Smythe said.

Shol admits that he is more of a runner than he is a bicyclist, doing most of his training by running and competing in marathons in the past. This isn’t Shol’s first long-distance bike trip, however; last year he rode 600 miles from Fergus Falls to Rochester, Minn. to attend a wedding.

According to Smythe, Shol donated 48 copies of “Jesus Calling” to the church for them to donate. Smythe estimated that the church has already sent around three-fourths of the books to the community.

Smythe has been at the church for less than two years and said that, while this is the first time that she’s encountered someone who’s traveling cross country to promote a book, the church does occasionally help missionaries and other travelers find a place to stay.

“One of our downfalls is that we don’t have a place here at the church for them to stay,” Smythe said, but added that they offer people running water and bathrooms if they need to stay at the church.

According to Smythe, Suzie and Dr. Greg Rice offered to take in Shol.

“It’s really generous of them to open up their home to a complete stranger,” Shold said.

To donate write a check to First Lutheran Church in Fargo. 601 Broadway North, Fargo North Dakota 58102. Under the memo, write “Paul’s Legacy Tour.”

For more information about “Jesus Calling”, visit jesuscalling.com.

Shol encourages people to contact him along his journey. He can be reached at 218-205-5739.

Reporter Bethany Rolfson may be reached at 293-4124 or by email at Reporter@TheWesternNews.com.