Main Street in Sturgis, S.D., the first week of August each year becomes a sea of motorcycles parked row upon row, block upon block, restrained only by sidewalks lined with vendor booths selling everything from T-shirts to tattoos, and people from around the world wearing “do-rags,” ripped jeans, leather and Harley-Davidson T-shirts.
It’s a massive “party” known worldwide as “Sturgis,” which brings up to a half-million people to the Black Hills for a week of motorcycle competitions — a far bigger crowd than virtually any sporting event in the world. This year’s rally began Aug. 6 and ran through Aug. 12.
The rumbling procession of big, bad Harleys and Harley wanna-bes entering one end of Main Street can be deafening, drowning out most conversations. At the other end of Main, volunteers at the Dakota Baptist Convention’s evangelism booth call out to people walking by, offering them a chance to win the gleaming black 2007 Harley Dyna Glide parked on the sidewalk.
“Have you guys signed up yet? Get a free ticket for the drawing,” a volunteer said to two burly bikers walking by. “Seriously, we’re giving this bike away on Friday.”
What do they have to do to get a free ticket? Give up three minutes of their time and listen to a person give his or her Christian testimony. At Sturgis this year, 4,677 people listened to a three-minute gospel presentation at Dakota’s evangelism booth. Of those, 870 made professions of faith.
Daniel Buie, 29, was one of those. Buie and his fiancée, Kelly, rode their bike from Gardner, Kan., to Sturgis expecting, they said, to have a “good time, meet good people and see the beautiful country.” They did not expect to hear Russell Evitt tell his story.
As Buie and his fiancée strolled down Main Street, looking at the bikes and the people, they passed the sign at the Dakota evangelism booth that said, “Bike Giveaway.” Giving it a cursory glance, they walked on. But something compelled Buie to turn and walk by again.
Buie and his fiancée allowed themselves to be drawn under a hot, noisy booth as volunteers shared three-minute-long testimonies with people from all across the country. They were introduced to Evitt, a deacon at First Baptist Church, Williston, N.D.
As Evitt shared his testimony of how Jesus Christ makes a difference in his life, Evitt said later, he looked into Buie’s eyes and knew: “He got it.”
Evitt asked if they wanted to invite Jesus Christ into their lives and Buie said yes.
“Russell didn’t tell me anything new,” Buie said with tears running down his cheeks. “Others have told me about the same thing, but today, today, he got to me; he connected with me. Today, I got it.”
In 2006, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally also became the site of the Sturgis Motorcycle Evangelism Ministry, a cooperative venture of the Dakota convention, other state conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board.
Jim Hamilton, executive director of the Dakota convention and a former hard-core biker, said, “[P]eople never think about Jesus at Sturgis, but I guarantee you Jesus is here at Sturgis.” (BP)
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