Bikers win fellow bikers by getting outside church walls

Mike Patterson is living proof that God can use any interest or talent one is willing to offer to reach others for Jesus. Patterson is interested in motorcycles and has a talent for reaching out to unchurched people — so that’s what God has used.
   
An enthusiastic Patterson, accompanied by some of his biker friends, gave his testimony to messengers at the Alabama Baptist State Convention at Hunter Street Baptist Church, Hoover, during the Nov. 14 evening session.
   
When he and his wife joined Cottage Hill Baptist Church, Mobile, Patterson, who had taught Sunday School for most of his life, thought he was going to take a break from teaching. But God had other plans, or in other words, “God got hold of me,” Patterson said.
   
He was out riding one day when he realized God was calling him to start a ministry to bikers. For a while, it was a call Patterson chose to ignore. In the meantime, he met Bubba Wilson, another motorcycle enthusiast, at church and shared his thoughts about a Sunday morning biking ministry. The two proposed the idea to the Sunday School leadership at Cottage Hill Baptist and received not only blessings to form a new class but also a place to meet.
   
It wasn’t long, however, before Patterson and Wilson realized they had a problem on their hands — the bikers weren’t coming to church.
   
Patterson told his wife, “There’s all kinds of lost people out there. They’re not coming to us, so we’re going to have to go out there.”
   
Despite his wife’s concerns about a Sunday School class not meeting on church premises, Patterson and Wilson decided to go out and find some bikers. Once they did, their mission was simple: teach the Bible to those who knew nothing about it.
   
Among the people they encountered was Jason Rojeski, a rough-looking biker who didn’t like Patterson — and Patterson didn’t like him. The two had words and it looked like they’d be enemies for life.
   
Patterson, however, went back and apologized to Rojeski and ultimately led the young man to Christ. The two have since become friends, and Rojeski, in fact, accompanied Patterson to the state convention and stood with him on the podium.
   
“As sweet as Jesus is, do you know why people don’t get saved?” Patterson asked convention messengers. “Because they don’t know. We don’t tell them.”