Putting their Feet where their Mouth is.
In the biking community overall we often hear these comments from fellow bikers and or their clubs—”people just don’t understand us” or “we’re tired of people thinking we’re just a bunch of hoodlums, drunks, outlaws or perverts” or “we do good in the community”. Yet we continue to see the same types of actions, lifestyles and mindsets that fail to give those in our community (whether they be citizens, family or government leaders etc) reason to believe anything else about the biking community Sure we can do charity or toy rides, take up donations, help with traffic flow at events a few times a year, etc, but other than that, aren’t we coming up short at doing something that has real community impact on a day-to-day basis that helps change that communities perception of this brotherhood of bikers community? I think so. Fortunately someone, like Rev. Ron Baptiste, who leads the Covenant Confirmers Ministries in Springfield, TN is picking up our slack by putting his (and his groups) “feet where their mouth is“. Check out this story!
Tennessee – Take a trip to the Springfield Wal-Mart and you might see an unusual sight this Christmas shopping season. Riders with Covenant Confirmers Motorcycle Ministries are patrolling the parking lot after dark to deter any criminal activity and keep shoppers and their belongings safe. Men and women on foot approach shoppers to offer an escort to their cars and a hand carrying bags. The “Biker Escort Service” began in early December. It is the idea of the Rev. Ron Baptiste, who leads the Covenant Confirmers Ministries in Springfield.
Baptiste says he was looking for a way to give back to the community that has been so accepting of his motorcycle-riding church congregation. A Wal-Mart official says the store has no objection to the church’s offer of extra security. Even though members of his church have been providing escorts for weeks, Baptiste says the recent fatal stabbing of a man trying to help a woman during a purse-snatching in a Nashville Kroger parking lot illustrates the need for this kind of community ministry. “It’s a sad state of the world that we need to do this,” Baptiste says. “But people are so grateful.” In addition to protecting shoppers against crime, Baptiste has seen the volunteer work strengthen the faith of the bikers in his church and change the image some in the public have about men and women who share a passion for the culture of riding.
“My guys are no weekend warriors,” Baptiste says. “My guys are big guys with tattoos. They are hard-core bikers. And as formal rejects from society, they’re being appreciated for what they’re doing. What matters to me is what’s happening to their hearts.”
The offers of aid from bikers wearing leather vests and sporting tattoos have not always initially been understood, Baptiste says. So the bikers work in male-female pairs when they approach shoppers at the Wal-Mart entrance so as not to appear threatening. Other bikers cruise the parking lot. Baptiste thinks the community has become so familiar with his church’s works – which include a free medical clinic for bikers and communitywide support and youth groups – that shoppers catch on quickly that they are there to help. “The awesome thing to me is to see these great big old bikers help these little old ladies,” Baptiste says. “And then to see the old ladies so appreciative about it. “They went out in the sleet and rain last weekend. It’s given them a purpose.” For more information about Covenant Confirmers Ministries, visit www.covenantconfirmers.org.
Source: The Tennesseean
