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On August 6, 2004, a green and black 2000 Harley Davidson Road King left the Twin Cities for Sturgis, South Dakota. Brian’s Road King wasn’t the only bike making the trek: five other Woodland Hills bikers joined Brian on his third consecutive trip to Sturgis, a week-long Marti Gras for Harley Davidson owners. From the ninth through the sixteenth of August, bikers from all over came to party. Brian and the others went with a different agenda: to show the love of God.
The Woodland Hills team met a larger group of over 14 believers from around the country at Westling Church’s parking lot in Sturgis to witness to and pray for the bikers at the rally. Their plan was to simply show God’s love to these tough bikers by offering to wash their bikes for free. Brian explained the logic behind the ministry. “At Sturgis, everyone has a pocket full of money and they don’t get free. They don’t understand, so you have to compare our gift to the free gift of being saved by the blood – and they get blown away.”
Each day of the rally from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Brian and the others washed hundreds of bikes. Brian gave me the play-by-play. “A biker comes in and is greeted by someone who directs them to one of four wash bays. After parking, they are handed a Bible, two tickets for free hotdogs, a tract and a DVD (showing testimonies of hard core bikers who surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ). Before washing the bikes, washers tell the bikers they are praying for their safety and ask if prayer is needed for anything else. Some bikers say everything is fine, but many have requests, which are prayed for on the spot before their bike is washed.” Bill, a volunteer in charge of cooking and serving hot dogs, then treated the bikers to food and more conversation before they left the parking lot.
Several lives were changed this year in Sturgis. Thursday morning two people came to the wash and surrendered their lives. Another night a man was driving back and forth between the bike wash and the porch of the church, obviously struggling with an inner conflict. Eventually, one group member approached and talked with him for a while, and that night he gave his life to the Lord.
At Sturgis in 1998, before his own salvation, Brian recalls standing outside the church where the bike wash is now held, picturing believers washing bikes. Still in awe of this God-given vision, Brian isn’t sure of his plans for next year. The first year he prayed about the trip, and God made it clear six months into the year. “Immediately, after that I started relying on that. But this year I went through a spiritual battle and wasn’t sure if I was supposed to go or not. However, even before I sent out sponsor request letters, a sponsor sent me the total amount needed to finance the trip!”
Brian said the whole experience has been such a blessing to him, and he encourages new believers who are into motorcycles to consider Sturgis. “The first year I went out it changed my life. I did not come back the same person.”
Welcome back Sturgis team! And thank you Brian for sharing your awesome testimony with us and giving us a glimpse of the incredible ministry at Sturgis you are a part of!
article by Rachael Rydbeck
contact her about this article at rachael@rydbeck.com
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