Participating in a weekly motorcycle ride was merely a hobby for Buddy Newsome for most of his life.
That was until 2001, when God called the former law enforcement officer to start a motorcycle ministry that has grown from a handful of people to thousands of members throughout the United States today.
“Seeing this ministry grow has been amazing,” said Newsome, national director of F.A.I.T.H. Riders, based out of First Baptist Church at the Mall, Lakeland, Fla. “God has kept me excited about this ministry all these years. He called us to start a ministry 10 years ago, and we just ran with it.”
Founded by Newsome, wife Michele and friends Tom and Holly Rogers, F.A.I.T.H. Riders is a network of 216 chapters in 22 states. F.A.I.T.H. is an acronym for Forgiveness by Christ, Available forgiveness for all, Impossible for God to allow sin into heaven, Turn from sin and Heaven is eternal life.
Though chapters vary in size and activities, they all share a common mission — enjoying a love for motorcycles while serving Christ.
Each chapter is based out of a Southern Baptist church and becomes a ministry of that church. Chapters hold a wide range of activities from monthly meetings to bike rides. Some chapters have even participated in missions trips to the national motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D.; New Orleans; and Bay St. Louis, Miss.
One of Newsome’s fondest F.A.I.T.H. Riders memories is a Hurricane Katrina-related missions trip to Bay St. Louis in 2005. A group of F.A.I.T.H. Riders had planned to minister in a Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer park, but after several failed attempts to gain access inside the park, it ministered in a Wal-Mart parking lot, and 17 people made decisions for Christ.
“That’s a great example of the work we do as F.A.I.T.H. Riders that is not motorcycle-related,” Newsome said. “Doing those types of service to the Lord and others is a very rewarding effort.”
In the beginning, Newsome never intended to expand the ministry beyond his church.
But in 2003, he attended a motorcycle event in Clearwater, Fla., and met Jim Wigh, who expressed interest in starting a chapter at his church. After praying, Newsome scheduled a meeting with First Baptist at the Mall Pastor of Evangelism and Missions Dave McClamma, who agreed that the idea was worth exploring.
Newsome said the ministry’s most fruitful year in terms of new chapters was 2008, shortly after he retired from his full-time job at the Lakeland Police Department to become the national director of F.A.I.T.H. Riders. He said most of the growth occurred in Oklahoma, which added 20 chapters that year.
“That partnership with the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma opened the door for them to promote us statewide, a way we could not have done by ourselves,” Newsome said. “It exploded from there.”
Oklahoma is now home to 54 F.A.I.T.H. Riders chapters, the most of any state.
“It continues to grow here and has been a great tool [for] reaching the lost,” said Keith Burkhart, family and men’s ministries specialist with the Oklahoma convention. “These chapters have been very intentional about sharing Christ with fellow bikers and others they meet on bike rides or on a missions trip. It’s been fun to watch as each chapter tries to reach its community with the gospel.”
Though F.A.I.T.H. Riders has experienced strong growth in its first decade of existence, Newsome believes the ministry is poised for more expansion in the future. He cites a low awareness of F.A.I.T.H. Riders in the West as an opportunity for growth, though he said a booth the ministry manned at the recent Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Phoenix, Ariz., allowed for a great amount of exposure.
“We’ve grown a lot because of exposure and word-of-mouth,” Newsome said. “I don’t see any reason why F.A.I.T.H. Riders [can’t] continue its growth as long as we honor the Lord.
“My desire is to have F.A.I.T.H. Riders in churches throughout the United States, which would give us both more chapters to help evangelize the lost [and] more churches for young Christians to be discipled,” he continued. “That’s one thing we can’t miss is discipleship in Christ.”
For more information, visit http://faithriders.com.
CLICK HERE to read about Alabama's newest F.A.I.T.H. Riders chapter.
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