Motorcycle Ministries

What can you do in three minutes? Clear out your inbox, start a load of laundry, clean out the trash in your car? All are minor tasks that can add up to major accomplishments.

If you attend Bikes, Blues & BBQ today, in three minutes you can hear a member of F.A.I.T.H. Riders share the story of how he accepted Christ into his life. Those three minutes might be the start of your new life.

NWA F.A.I.T.H. Riders Motorcycle Ministry, the local chapter of the Christian motorcycle ministry based at Cross Church, is set up for the fourth year in the parking lot at Dickson Street and West Avenue, across from the Walton Arts Center in downtown Fayetteville. Volunteers -- from the local chapter and from other chapters around the country -- who are trained in giving three-minute testimonies, will share their stories. Those who listen will be entered into a drawing to win a prize, such as an iPad or a gift card.

"Three minutes doesn't sound like a long time, but God has a plan," said Jeff Hairston, director of the NWA F.A.I.T.H. Riders. "He knows who is going to be coming into the tent, who needs to hear the testimony."

During the previous three Bikes, Blues & BBQ rallies, the ministry has seen more than 200 people give their lives to Christ, Hairston said.

The three-minute testimony is based on Acts 26, when Paul is on trial and he appeals to King Agrippa, Hairston said.

"The first minute is telling about your life before Christ. The next minute is telling about your conversion. The final minute is telling about your life since accepting Christ," Hairston said. "That's the exciting part."

If a biker chooses to also accept Christ, the F.A.I.T.H. Rider will lead him in a basic sinner's prayer, he said.

"We try not to use churchy language," Hairston said. "It doesn't have to be a huge flowery thing, it just needs to be very real."

Not everyone who listens to a testimony accepts Christ right afterward, he said.

"God will be knocking on the door, loud and clear, and they will still reject him," Hairston said. "At least we've planted the seed. This could just be the beginning of the process. We have to be faithful and not be disappointed."

University Baptist Church, which is on Maple Street, just north of Dickson Street -- the center for rally activities -- has offered free parking and free food to bikers for the past eight years as a way to interact with the crowd and spread the gospel, said Ryan Martin, pastor of missions and administration.

"We want to be 'gospel intentional' through everything we're doing through this outreach," Martin said. "We just want a few minutes of their time, for conversation and a hamburger or hot dog. We want to sit with them, pray with them and share the gospel."

Free food is available from noon to 4 p.m. today.

The church also offers patron parking for $10. Proceeds from the paid parking will benefit the church's Second Mile Ministry, a community outreach ministry. Martin said, that throughout the weekend, the church parks about 1,000 cars in its paid lot and about 1,000 bikes in the free lot.

NWA F.A.I.T.H. Riders also uses the rally as a fundraiser. The money it receives from recycling all of the drink cans from the entire weekend goes to Restoration Village, a program in Little Flock that offers safe long-term housing for women and children. Last year, the group donated $1,450, Hairston said.

The F.A.I.T.H. Riders began the recycling effort after its first year at the rally, he said. It's an exchange with the rally -- the ministry gets a bigger booth space and the rally management gets help with waste.

"We are well known as one of the cleanest and most family friendly rallies," said Carmen Newberry, Bikes, Blues & BBQ volunteer coordinator. The work of the F.A.I.T.H. Riders "makes the rally that much more pleasant."

Apart from the NWA F.A.I.T.H. Riders, members of Cross Church also will share three-minute testimonies today at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale. Church members also will set up inflatables for children to play from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.

"It is such a large community event, and it affects several of our cities," said Richard Cox, associate minister of missions at Cross Church Springdale. The church has four other campuses -- two in Fayetteville, one in Rogers and one in Neosho, Mo. "Seventy percent of those who come through our evangelism tent are from Washington and Benton counties. It helps us build relationships with people in our community we may not reach at other events."

Cox said the church has been involved with the event for the past four or five years.

"Any time we can grow our volunteerism through our church, get involved in the community and meet new people, that's a win for us," he said. "Cross Church loves our community. We are a part of it. Getting out of the church and into the community is what matters. "