STURGIS, S.D. (BP) — “I could see it in his eyes,” said Russell Evitt, a deacon at First Baptist Church in Williston, N.D. “He got it.”
What Daniel Buie, a biker from Gardner, Kan., got was a heart-level understanding of a loving God who desires to have a relationship with him. Buie got that because Evitt gave a few days out of his life in early August to share his testimony at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
Buck Hill/Dakota Baptist Convention
Dakota Baptist Convention Executive Director Jim Hamilton, above, gave a call for extra help at this year’s Sturgis rally. More than 150 Southern Baptists responded.
Evitt was one of about 150 volunteers from across the nation to participate in the second annual Sturgis intentional evangelism event hosted by the Dakota Baptist Convention in partnership with several state conventions and the North American Mission Board.
Buie was one of 870 people to make a profession of faith in God as a result of the volunteers simply sharing, for three minutes each time, their personal stories of the difference God had made in their lives.
In all, 4,677 people moved under the shade of the Main Street tent that housed the Dakota Baptist evangelism operation and listened to someone’s story. The draw – in addition to a mist fan that helped dissipate the 100-degree heat – was the chance to win a shining black 2007 Harley-Davidson Dyna Glide.
Read that again: 870 people in one small town in western South Dakota during one hot August week internationally known for being “party time” said “yes” to God.
A combination of cooperating partners, willing volunteers, and onsite training and prayer led to the professions of faith, said Garvon Golden, the Dakota convention’s Sharing Christ team leader.
“Ronnie Hill (a Texas-based evangelist) has done a real good job of helping people get in touch with their testimony and how to make it more evangelistic,” Golden said. “Last year we did it on the fly; this was much better.”
Hill led in evangelism training every morning in Sturgis for volunteers. He was paired at the speaker’s stand with Phil Pilgrim, Ministry Resource Consultant for the West Central Georgia Region of the Georgia Baptist Convention and a motorcyclist who explained “biker culture” to the volunteers.
BP
Thousands of motorcycles clog main street in Sturgis, S.D. The Georgia Baptist Convention partnered with the Dakota Baptist Convention to sponsor a booth that provided bikers with the opportunity to hear the gospel.
“We have bought the devil’s lie that people will not listen to us talk about Jesus and it has shaped our mentality about evangelism,” said Jim Hamilton, executive director of the Dakota convention and visionary of the Sturgis intentional evangelism operation.
“Our problem is not our message,” Hamilton said. “People are open to the gospel .... At some point we have to stop inviting people to church and calling that evangelism, and invite them to become a follower of Jesus.”
Throughout the week, the rattling rumble of hundreds of Harleys and Harley wannabes rolled up and down Main Street, which was lined with dozens of vendors selling paraphernalia of interest to bikers. At times the noise level in the tent seemed just as loud as outside, with perhaps a dozen volunteers talking with one or two people each or maybe a group of four or five.
Sturgis also includes several motorcycle races throughout the week and a non-stop party atmosphere that draws more people than virtually any other sporting event in the world.
Hamilton expressed appreciation to the Georgia Baptist Convention, which paid the hefty Main Street space rental for the tent, and to other state conventions and the North American Mission Board that helped cover the cost of the Sturgis outreach.
“At Sturgis, we are ministering to people from every state in America,” Hamilton said. “It takes about $50,000 to do one week of ministry here. Motorcycles don’t grow on trees, booth space is at a premium and everything associated with ministry at the rally costs lots of money....
“Is being an obedient witness in a place that desperately needs it worth the 50 grand? What about the 870 people who prayed to receive Christ, who will be followed up on by local churches? That’s $57 and some change spent on each one of those people,” Hamilton said in doing the math. “Is that worth it? Does the ministry of encouragement that happens with believers make it worth it?
“I could go on and on,” Hamilton said. “We’re building a trust fund to help provide sustainability for the rally ministry for years to come, and we need contributions to come in to the fund now, so it can begin earning interest that can be used next year at Sturgis.”