For the second year in a row we returned to the Black Hills Bike Rally at the invitation of the Dakota’s Baptist Convention to minister to the vendors set up in Sturgis, SD. As with last year, our drive up was a 17 hour time of fellowship between the seven of us. We were excited and filled with expectations of what we might see from last year and how we would be received again this year. However, nothing could have prepared us for what we were about to witness!
We arrived at the Black Hills Baptist Church in White Wood, SD around 11:00 PM Saturday night. This church graciously gave us a place to sleep and fed us each morning. We were on the streets of Sturgis as soon as morning church services were concluded. From the moment we started “working the streets” we knew this year would be different. It was a complete 180% change from last year!
Possibly a statement made by a vendor, who brought a lady to our midnight worship service, best describes how we were received this year in Sturgis. The young lady was from Rapid City and had been left behind in Sturgis by the friends she had ridden with. She had been going around asking various people if they knew how she could get back to Rapid City when this vendor heard her story.
He approached her and said that he didn’t have transportation or any way of helping her, but he “knew of some people in town preaching Jesus” and he knew that they could help; so he led her to us. We were just starting our midnight worship service and the vendor knew we would be there!
Where last year we had to look for and “pray” for an opening to speak with the vendors, this year they were excited to see us, invited us in, stopped what they were doing to talk with us, and asked us to pray for them. Vendors even chased chaplains down the street to speak to them, to ask them a question or to ask for prayer. Even while their shops were full of customers, venders asked for prayer…right then, right now!
On Tuesday Chaplain Don Hunter approached a young lady, Jennifer, who has tattoos starting from just below her chin line and going all the way down to her feet. She was in Sturgis last year and is basically used as advertisement for the Buddha Tattoo Parlor by standing in front of their shop on Main Street. People gawk at her and take pictures of her. I had been under tremendous conviction to speak with her since our arrival, but had put it aside for the cursory hellos as I past by on the sidewalk.
When I did finally approach her we had a great conversation and I was convicted for having taken so long to do so. One of her first comments was, “I saw you guys all last year but none of you ever talked to me. But that’s okay because most people like you (meaning Christian groups) find it difficult to approach people like me because I’m so different. But you probably know what I mean because you guys walk around in those yellow shirts in this crowd and you’re the odd balls sticking out. Not many people want to approach you.”
I was truly regretful that no one had spoken with her before now. I asked her if she knew the Lord and she said that she knew about God but not enough. She agreed to take one of my Bibles and read it and asked if I would come by and talk with her some more throughout the remainder of the week. I assured her that not only I, but the entire team would be by to check on her. She also took a first aid kit and said she would like to go online and read my testimony.
As far as we know, Jennifer has not accepted the Lord as her Savior yet, but she is much closer and has the right tools in her hand now that will assist her in finding Him. She was missing from work for a couple of days due to an illness and several of the Chaplains inquired about her health daily. Not only did that provide an opportunity to witness to other employees, but she was truly touched by our concern for her and expressed her gratitude when she returned to work.
Tuesday was sort of a day of extremes. Not only did we have the humbling experience with Jennifer, but we were blessed by a young couple who worked for Dust Bandits. They sought out the Chaplains about having a Christian wedding ceremony on Tuesday evening. Don Hunter ended up speaking with them and they explained that they had gotten their marriage license and were going to get married at City Hall, but that plan changed.
Once Chaplain Hunter made sure it was legal for him to perform the ceremony in Sturgis he went to speak with the young couple again and to make sure of their desires, walk with God, and other important issues.
Amy and Lance discussed how they had lived together and considered trying to have a baby, but decided against it. They said, “We knew better and didn’t want a baby before we were married and we wanted a Christian ceremony.” Throughout the day Tuesday, a friend of theirs who worked next door in the tattoo parlor continually asked to do the ceremony because he was ordained by some “mail” organization and it would be “neat” to have the wedding in the tattoo shop.
Lance and Amy however resisted all the temptations and around 11:15 PM on the sidewalk in front of the store where they worked, on Main Street, Sturgis, SD, a Christian wedding ceremony was conducted! To top it off, Lance and Amy Schmidt chose to attend our mid-night Worship Service that night. I just know that God will bless their marriage for the decisions they made in how they wanted to start their marriage.
Just 90 minutes before the wedding, the chaplains were involved in a serious domestic dispute between a woman and her boyfriend who happened to be a member of the Cossack Motorcycle Club (gang). At the request of the Sturgis Police, she was counseled by a chaplain and the chaplains were able to secure her a safe room with the Hell Fighters Christian organization for overnight safety as well as a secure place for her motorcycle. The next day transportation to Rapid City and a way to get her bike back to Texas was taken care of and she was on her way back home to Texas.
A couple of nights later Sturgis Police again solicited the assistance of Chaplains. The officers had a married couple in an alley preparing to arrest them for a public disturbance. They had gotten into an argument over the husbands wandering eyes. The officers asked the Chaplain to counsel with the couple and gave the couple a choice of listening to the Chaplain “until he is through talking” or go to jail. Needless to say they took choice number one.
It was simply a super week of service to God! I know we should never be amazed at what God can do but we cannot help but be so when we look around us and see the miracles being done daily. Last year we were only able to hand one Bible to a Hells Angels member; this year they gladly received five Bibles and six First Aid Kits. Friday afternoon, one of their members even asked for a prayer request for his daughter.
Last year the police department was very friendly towards us; this year they called on us twice to assist them in domestic abuse matters. Where we really had to look for opportunities to share with vendors last year, this year they literally chased us down at times in order that they might have time to speak with us! Also this year we began to hear something that we never heard last year…praise reports. As the team leader I heard countless, “You don’t know how much you all mean to me/us.” Or “My day automatically brightens up when I see one of those yellow shirts walking toward me.” We had 12 praise reports from vendors about answered prayers concerning illnesses at home, needs needing to be met in order for a spouse or business partner to join them in Sturgis, and even a praise that everything had come together which allowed a vendor to keep his house. We had praises for the prayers they had asked us for earlier in the week and had now been answered…answered by God and they knew it!
I will close with two quick stories. We had a young man that we had met one day at lunch come to our mid-night service. He was late and almost missed us completely. He said that he had just quit his job due to the fact that his employer was supposed to have been paying him for the past three weeks, but had failed to do so. After three weeks of 15-hour days and a long argument, he was only paid about 1/3 of what had been promised. The young man, Eddie, was from Houston and very distraught over how he was going to get home, where he was going to spend the night, and how he felt he had let his family down.
He said, “I knew if I could get to you fellows tonight things would be okay because you know God!” We were able to help him get a place for the night and we took him to the bus station in Rapid City the next morning. We even gave him some money to help get home so he wouldn’t have to spend so much of what little he had been paid.
Lastly, Kathy and Curtis Green were sharing with a gentleman on Thursday and his conversation started off with some foul language. Within a few minutes however that changed and he was convicted of how far he had drifted from God. By the time the two chaplains had finished sharing with this man; he had turned and began to share with the young gentleman next to him. It wasn’t just a quick word or two either; it was a long and heartfelt sharing of God’s love.
As far as the numbers go, we far exceeded everything from last year. Again this year most of the team took half of Wednesday off for some rest and sightseeing. There were also some down times for a couple of chaplains that became ill and needed to stay off the street for half a day for a total of 3 half days. Even with all of that, God did a mighty work and allowed us to be a small part in what He had planned for Sturgis this year. We made 1505 contacts, handed out 280 Bibles, 738 First Aid Kits, 767 prayer requests taken, received 12 praise reports, performed one wedding, and assisted police twice.
There is no way to adequately express the wonderful experience we had this year. I was much honored to be in the company of the chaplains that I worked with! Their dedication to doing Kingdom work shined brightly in everything they did and they lived a tremendous testimony every day with every person they came in contact with! We can’t wait for next year!
The Dakota’s Baptist Convention had 160 volunteers from across the country share testimonies with over 5,000 people under their tent on Main Street and saw 1,365 people make professions of faith from those efforts.
