Hellfighters' Mission at The Cross is really an inner city mission servicing a million person party attended by people from every state in America. Wives and girlfriends are abandoned, women are abused, men get picked up on public intoxication and disturbing the peace charges, and junkies get strung out on whatever they can find. Many of these end up at The Cross; not a few delivered by the Sturgis Police Department. 100% of those who end up at The Cross are loved on, witnessed to, and an effort is made to assist them with physical needs. One example is Robert (36), a drifter who came to Sturgis from Seattle and was delivered to The Cross by the Sturgis PD. Robert was fed, housed, and witnessed to and ended up leaving town courtesy of Hellfighters on a bus to his hometown in LA where he could reconnect with his mom.
The sections of each day we were at The Cross, our team was on call for this kind of ministry. As people arrived needing help, we simply hosted them and assisted them in any way we could. I was reminded of biblical hospitality--the act of hosting strangers--all were welcome in any condition and loved on. It was not uncommon to hear those who experienced Hellfighter love comment, "there's a lot of love in this place". There is.
One example of how the Lord challenged me was Seth. It was our last night at The Cross and I thought I'd experienced everything I would for the week, when someone got my attention and pointed out a drifter who had just walked into The Cross. Turns out Seth is a 31 year old rocker from Chicago on a 10 year drifting spree, riding an even longer drug habit. He was stoned when I introduced myself. He wavered between shouting and talking softly. I sat him down for dinner across from me and endured him spitting his food on me as he shouted at me and jammed to music. He became borderline belligerent when I brought up Scripture and the message of salvation. His eating was so gross I completely lost my appetite. Seth lives on the streets of whatever town he decides to drift to next. The Lord forced me to love on someone I don't ordinarily love. I felt deep conviction as I ate dinner with Seth. I realized that all too often I love people by reaching down to try and lift them up to where I am instead of lowering myself to go and be with them where they are. The former kind of love sounds good, the latter actually works. Jesus modeled that when He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but lowered Himself, taking on the form of man and coming to live with us. I want to love people like Jesus loves people. I'm not entirely sure I do.
When we weren't at The Cross in the early mornings and evenings, we were on day trips. Several nationally known landmarks are just an hour from Sturgis: Devil's Tower, Mt Rushmore, Badlands National Park, Deadwood, Spearfish Canyon, Crazy Horse, Needle Highway. Each day, we were divided into teams of 5-10 and sent on a trip to one of these destinations. Along each route are many pull offs where the bikers congregate throughout the day as they travel to each famous site. Our team would work these pull offs--whether scenic outlooks, parking lots, or small towns. We handed out tracts and bibles and attempted to get into conversations with people. Its fair to say I didn't quite fit in with the biker crowd in my running shoes, cargo shorts and South Beach ball cap. I was way out of my comfort zone, but that is what I needed. Sometimes, in the moment, getting stretched is not that fun, but the spiritual ramifications and results are worth it. I pray in my life they are lasting.
On one occasion, I was working Mt Rushmore. Our team had a strategy where we would offer to take photos for a family with their camera so they could all be in them. Then, when we handed back their camera, we would also give them a gospel tract and try to get into a conversation with them. By and large, this strategy is fool proof and almost can't miss. But, on one occasion, I went through the camera routine for a couple in their 50s. Then, I handed the wife the camera so I could give the husband the Hellfighter tract entitled, "Satan Sucks". Immediately, I could tell he didn't want it, but was too polite to give it back. So, I gently encouraged him to put it in his pocket and read it later. His wife did not suffer from shyness in the least and demanded he give it back to me while informing me he is a Jew. To which I replied that we could then both affirm that "Satan sucks". At that point, the man had thought about it and liked it and wanted to keep the tract, but his wife was still boisterously insisting he give me the tract back. Finally, as he went to put it into his pocket, his wife snatched it out of his hand and roughly gave it back to me. I was reminded how divisive the name of our Lord is. Instead of just taking the easy route and putting it in their pocket until they found a trashcan, they wanted to fight with me right there at Mt Rushmore. The life of a disciple of Christ leaves little room for cowardice.
One day, we did a large "cross walk". I was more than a little unsure about this because the way I have seen it done at Mardi Gras in New Orleans seemed to be highly ineffective, if it did not undermine legitimate evangelism. But, we were there under the authority of Hellfighters so I submitted and went along and I'm glad I did. It was nothing like the Mardi Gras cross walk. Yes, we were a large group with someone at the front dragging a large cross down the main drag of Sturgis. But in our case, we were all in the same red shirts armed with many bibles and tracts and we weren't doing the walk to drag a cross, we were doing the walk to use the momentum of a very large group of believers to get out a very large number of bibles and it worked! The cross merely identified us as Christians. I've never seen anything like it. The very same main street along which it had been very difficult to pass out bibles turned into a bible distribution bonanza. Thousands and thousands of bikers had no idea what to do as a mass of people in red shirts blitzed the crowds. The large numbers of us overwhelmed everyone and made them very receptive. Bikers were coming up to us asking for bibles! I'm not sure how many thousands of bibles and tracts were passed out during the cross walk, but it was a bunch.
I was reminded of what an impact can be made by a large number of believers banding together to do the work of the Lord. It isn't just the increased man power which enables our output to be on a larger scale of economy, there is something about the witness of a large community of believers, unashamed of the cross, working together to advance the Kingdom. It is powerful in the eyes of unbelievers. I'd do that cross walk again any day.
Before the Sturgis trip, I was unsure if we would do it again in 2010. The Lord showed me this week NEHBC must go back in 2010. Not only because people from every state in America are in the Sturgis area for a week, but because of the spiritual challenge and growth to be had by doing evangelism there. I'm already praying for folks from our congregation to be led by the Lord to go in August, 2010.
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