Bikers meet Baptists in the Black Hills

The bikers come from near and far to the world’s largest Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, S.D. on the first full week in August each year. The 2009 Rally drew more than 400,000 motorcycle aficionados to this burgeoning community near the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The variety of motorcycles is almost as diverse as the people wheeling them into town. Harley Davidsons seemed to dominate the landscape in and around Meade County for this outlandish spectacle.

The custom-made “hogs” attracted a lot of attention and held a great fascination for motorcycle enthusiasts and even casual observers. One was decorated with buffalo skin and looked like something from Ted’s Montana Grill. There were three-wheeled vehicles called “trikes” with creative and clever designs. One looked like a classic Harley Davidson in the front, but had ’57 Chevrolet fins on the back.

The first rally, known as the Black Hills Motor Classic, took place in 1938 and involved a race with nine participants and a small group of spectators from nearby biker clubs. With the influence of J. Clarence “Pappy” Hoel, considered the founder of the rally, the event has grown and become one of the most spectacular multi-day events in the nation.

In 1989 Pappy Hoel died at 85, but the rally has continued to flourish, with more than 500,000 visitors and participants converging on Sturgis in recent years.

When the first vendors were permitted to sell their wares only nine set up shop to sell items catering to the needs of bikers. Now Sturgis blocks off Main Street so that bikers can have a place to park and hundreds of vendors line the main thoroughfare and other streets to sell their goods.

One merchant had set up a large tent in one of the most desirable locations and admitted that renting the space for three weeks cost more than $100,000. The 21-day tent emporium sold bikers’ T-shirts, bandanas, helmets, leather vests and chaps, and a wide variety of goods conducive to the taste of Harley owners.

Other vendors were hawking “artistic” tattooing, creative body piercing, and everything else from shaved ice to hard liquor.

In some respects the city of Sturgis looked like a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah. The local newspaper reported that 110 people had been jailed within the first weekend of the event and that the highway patrol had issued 281 citations of all types. Most Baptists would find the experience both fascinating and horrifying.

But in the midst of this “Vanity Fair” the Dakota Baptist Convention had a strong Christian witness. On the first day of the first year in which the DBC had a presence for the Bikers’ Rally, 125 professions of faith were recorded. Cara Gunnells, a Baptist mission volunteer from Cleveland, Texas, said, “That’s not a bad day’s work in hell.”

Thankfully, the Dakota Baptist Convention’s witnessing efforts this August were greatly facilitated by mission volunteers from other states including Georgia. Liberty Hill Baptist Church in Hampton as well as Cross Roads Baptist and Orchard Hills Baptist churches in Newnan sent representatives from Georgia to help with this year’s outreach in Sturgis.

The Georgia Baptist Convention also provided $10,000 to help with the rental fee for the space used by the mission volunteers at the Bike Rally.

Phil Pilgrim, one of the GBC’s missionary resource consultants, was also in South Dakota to prayer walk, assist the DBC leadership, and help train volunteers. Pilgrim stated, “This is the fourth year I have come to this rally, because Georgia Baptists have made it possible for me to be a part of this outreach experience.”

Pilgrim agreed that the atmosphere during the Bike Rally must have a striking resemblance to the atmosphere of the Old Testament’s Sodom and Gomorrah, but professed, “Sodom and Gomorrah were ripe for judgment, but we are not here to judge. We are here to show them the love of Jesus.

“We do a lot of seed planting. Last year the gospel was presented 5,184 times and 1,367 made professions of faith.”

Mike Patterson, pastor of Liberty Hill Baptist Church in Hampton, traveled to Sturgis for the second straight year and was accompanied by associate pastor Mike Henderson and two laymen Rayford Plummer and Dewell Barnard. Each of the men rode his own Harley Davidson to Sturgis from Hampton.

Patterson stated, “We left our church in Hampton after the second Sunday morning service at 12:30 p.m. and rode for the better part of three days. We arrived at our hotel in Rapid City at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday after traveling 1,553.7 miles.”

Patterson rode his Harley Ultra Classic Tour Bike, a vehicle he has affectionately named “Clyde the Electra Glide.” Henderson rode his Road King Harley Classic.

When asked about his church Patterson remarked, “Liberty Hill is not a ‘bikers’ church, but a church that loves bikers.”

On the second Thursday of each month Liberty Hill has a Bikers Night with live music, food, and a devotion that includes a presentation of the gospel.”

Knowing the pastor’s love for motorcycles, approximately ten men in the church have bought motorcycles in the three years Patterson has been the church’s pastor. Dewell Barnard has become the coordinator for a F.A.I.T.H. Riders Chapter in the Liberty Hill Church.

F.A.I.T.H. Riders is an organization for Christian motorcycle enthusiasts who are committed to sharing the message of God’s love. Buddy Newsome started the ministry in Lakeland, Fla., in February of 2002.

The Dakota Baptist Convention attracts people into their tent by offering them a chance to win a Harley Davidson motorcycle if they will but listen to a brief presentation of the gospel.

Once any individual takes the time to listen to the testimony of one of the mission volunteers he or she is given a free ticket for the opportunity to win the coveted prize. They are not under any obligation to make a response, but are simply asked to listen to a gospel witness.

Patterson and Henderson started their week of ministry in Sturgis by being on the front line at the DBC tent. Patterson referred to his responsibility as a “catcher.” He and Henderson were assigned the responsibility of “catching” people as they passed by the tent or inviting them into the tent so they could hear someone share the gospel.

Don Bigham of Mount Vernon, Ill., was sharing his faith in the DBC tent and joyfully announced that he had just led a “thirtysomething” man named Charles to the Lord.

Bigham said, “I introduced myself, gave my testimony, and immediately there was a connection. After sharing my faith experience I asked him if he had ever been saved.

“He said, ‘I’ve never had an experience like that, but I pray the Lord’s Prayer every day.’

“I told him he needed to get the order right – that you can’t pray effectively until you’ve been saved. And when I told him that he didn’t look startled, but interested … like he wanted to know more.

“I continued to share the gospel with him and told him he needed to get this thing fixed – that he needed to repent of his sins and trust Christ as his Savior and Lord and pray the sinner’s prayer.

“He said, ‘I can do it.’ And he prayed, ‘God, this is Charles. I’ve missed it. I have broken your rules and I am sorry. I want you to forgive me; and I want Christ to come into my heart.’”

Bigham then added, “Then he prayed a second prayer, thanking God for allowing him to be saved.”

After a time of mutual sharing and fellowship Bigham offered Charles a ticket for the motorcycle, but Charles refused the ticket, saying simply, “I don’t want the ticket.”

“Why?” Bigham inquired,

“I already got what I came for. That is far more important than the bike.”

“That is so indicative of the way the Spirit is at work here,” concluded Bigham.

Some may question the methodology of baiting people with a bike “giveaway” to attract them to a gospel presentation, but one mission volunteer explained, “We would very likely have no one enter our tent if we did not have some means of attracting them to our presentation. Jesus often used miracles to gather a crowd for his message of redemption.”

Garvon Golden, Sharing Christ team leader/SW regional missionary for the Dakota Convention, explained, “Our executive director, Jim Hamilton, says there are five steps to effective evangelism.

“First, there is relevancy. You have to find something that is relevant to those you are trying to reach.

“In Sturgis it just happens to be a motorcycle.

“Then there must be receptivity. Once the relevancy is established they will often be receptive to what you have to say.

“Thirdly, there is the matter of redemption. Their ultimate receptivity is to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

“In the fourth position is relationship. Once they are redeemed they have a relationship with Jesus, which is far more than a religion. And this relationship opens up relationships with others of like mind and spirit.

“Finally, there is the goal of reproduction. We want to see the new believers discipled until they can reproduce themselves, seeing other people born into the family of God.”

The Dakota Convention is working hard to follow up with those who make decisions by using the resources of the North American Mission Board Response Center and other state conventions.

One biker came into the DBC tent saying, “They told me last year that good works wouldn’t get me to heaven. I decided to prove them wrong and went back home and did a bunch of good works throughout the year, but it didn’t relieve my guilty conscience. I came back to this tent this year to find out what I have to do to rid myself of my guilt and go to heaven.”

He gladly listened as a mission volunteer gave her testimony and shared the gospel. He, too, prayed to receive Christ and went on his way having been delivered from the grey ghost of guilt and heaven bound.

Erick Hernandez is the pastor of two churches in Rapid City: New Beginning Baptist Church, an English-speaking church, and Nueva Esperanza Mission Espanol (New Hope Spanish Mission), a Hispanic church.

While working under the “salvation” tent Hernandez had the opportunity to lead people to faith in Christ from Guatemala, Uruguay, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. He said, “Most of them had a Catholic background and insisted on calling me ‘Padre’ (Father), but I asked them not to call me that, because it is a name reserved for God. I told them that they were to learn that everything changed at Calvary.”

In reflecting upon the DBC’s ministry in Sturgis Patterson explained, “When I was a student at Southeastern Seminary Alvin Reid stressed the importance of having affinity groups in order to facilitate evangelism endeavors. He taught me the importance of lifestyle evangelism. Now, wherever I am or whatever I am doing I try to be conscious of people so I can relate to them where they are.”

Patterson, a third generation Southern Baptist pastor, proclaimed, “Having a bikers’ ministry is not for every church, but church members should not be critical of churches that are endeavoring to have such a ministry. It is not good for people to sabotage something just because it is not their thing.

“I fear that God may judge the church for self-righteousness and self-centeredness. We have got to get out of the four walls of the church and touch the lives of those who are not being reached.”

 

Modification vs. transformation

Hamilton added, “So many churches are into behavior modification instead of life transformation. Here we want to intentionally emphasize life transformation.”

Patterson characterized bikers as people who love the open air and the freedom that is inherent in riding a motorcycle. He indicated, “Bikers are not trying to prove anything or please anyone. There is little or no hypocrisy in the biker community. They are genuine and their lives are mostly void of arrogance.

“I also find them to be very generous. In Henry and Spaulding County they will dig deep to help someone in need. When there is a child who has been diagnosed with cancer or someone whose home has been destroyed by fire they will champion the cause to provide financial help by organizing a bike ride or giving personally to help the cause.”

Patterson finds that many bikers are open to the gospel, particularly those who come to Sturgis. He emphasized, “In Georgia we are saturated with the gospel – the stories of Joseph, David, Peter, Paul, and Jesus are familiar to most people in the South, but here it seems that people are more receptive and there is definitely a potential for a great harvest.”

Patterson continued, “I was the pastor of Stewarts Town Baptist Church in Pennsylvania before I came back to Georgia. In fact, I was the chairman of the Convention’s Executive Committee, but that was not a big job and there was very little we could do to help other states. It is great to be in Georgia where we have the resources to share short term missionaries and finances in the ministry that is being accomplished by the Dakota Baptist Convention.”

One biker, who introduced himself as Tommy, rode his motorcycle from San Diego to Sturgis. He visited the DBC tent on Saturday at the beginning of the Rally and prayed to receive Christ. He came back to the tent every day. One volunteer worker asked him why he kept coming back each day. He said, “Since I got saved this is the only place in Sturgis where I really feel comfortable. I just love standing around listening to the different Christian workers give their salvation stories to those who visit this tent.”

By the end of the week the folks under the “salvation tent” indicated that the gospel had been presented 4,393 times with 836 individuals praying to receive Christ as Savior. It is a beautiful story of God rescuing the perishing.