Mission Lone Star presents gospel to bikers

GALVESTON—When motorcyclists from across the country wheeled to Galveston Island in search of a weekend of good times, about 400 found eternal joy in Jesus.

When more than 400,000 cyclists crowded onto the Gulf Coast island, Mission Lone Star volunteers shared Christ with more than 1,000 who stopped at a booth and heard a presentation of the gospel. About 400 made professions of faith in Jesus Christ. (PHOTO/ David Williams, Trinity River Baptist Association)As more than 400,000 cyclists crowded onto the Gulf Coast island, Mission Lone Star volunteers shared Christ with more than 1,000 who stopped at a booth and heard a presentation of the gospel.

“The numbers represent people,” said Jim Hamilton, executive director of Golden Triangle Baptist Network. “The stories associated with many of these who prayed to receive Christ are just amazing and reflect the greatness of our God.”

He realizes follow-up on the decisions is crucial.

“Those folks who led them to Christ will call them next week. They will be the first contact they have in follow-up and an attempt at assimilation into a local church,” Hamilton said.

That stems from a lesson learned from a similar evangelistic outreach to bikers at the Black Hills Motor Classic in Sturgis, S.D.: If the new believer gets a call from someone they don’t know, it doesn’t work as well as hearing from someone they already know and trust.

“Then I can say: ‘Hey, I’ve got some friends—because us Baptists have friends everywhere—I’ve got some friends right where you live. I’d like to have one of them give you a call. Can I do that?’ Chances are, they are going to say, ‘Sure,’” Hamilton said.

Chaplains contacted more than 3,000 vendors at the rally, four of whom prayed to receive Christ as their Savior. (PHOTO/ David Williams, Trinity River Baptist Association)
Fifteen chaplains also ministered to the many vendors who flocked to the island. Chaplains contacted more than 3,000 vendors, four of whom prayed to receive Christ as their Savior.

Volunteers from Golden Triangle, Galveston and Trinity River Baptist associations and beyond staffed the evangelism booth for the Mission Lone Star outreach effort. Everyone who stopped and heard a three-minute gospel presentation became eligible for a drawing to win a $1,000 cash prize, given away each evening during the three-day event.

The money to fund the effort came from the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ Mary Hill Davis Offering, as well as local associations and churches.

“Two things create relevancy for bikers—bikes and money,” Hamilton said. In the future, organizers may offer a chance to win a motorcycle as the incentive to listen to the gospel presentation.

The Galveston rally outreach was inspired by the success of witnessing efforts at the popular Black Hills Motor Classic in Sturgis, S.D. (PHOTO/ David Williams, Trinity River Baptist Association)
Hamilton moved to Texas two years ago from South Dakota, where he was instrumental in beginning witnessing efforts at the huge bike rally held annually in Sturgis.

When he discovered no Christian group reaching the masses flocking to Galveston Island, he prayer-walked the event last year. Then he began talking to associational and church leaders in the area about what could be done, culminating in Mission Lone Star.

Evangelist Ronnie Hill of Fort Worth trained the volunteers to give their testimony in three minutes.

“I’ve realized the personal testimony is the most effective way to share your faith. Paul did it before Festus and Agrippa in Acts 16, so I train people to do the same thing,” Hill explained.

“Basically, when you share your life before you met Christ, you are connecting with that person, so they don’t feel like they’re being preached at. But the most important part is to get the gospel in. The power is in the cross. So we get to the death, burial and resurrection and that we’ve sinned against God and the only way we can have a relationship with him is through Jesus Christ.

“It’s the power of the cross. I tell everybody: ‘Your story doesn’t change people’s lives. I can read your story in Reader’s Digest. It’s the gospel.’”