STURGIS, Ky. (BP) — For three days in July, the population of Sturgis soars from 1,650 to more than 10,000 people when the western Kentucky town hosts the Little Sturgis Bike Rally. Along with the motorcycle enthusiasts, ministry opportunities abound for Sturgis First Baptist Church, the Ohio Valley Baptist Association, Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief (DR) and other ministry partners.

Showers of Blessings ministry provided showers to more than 400 bikers, said Barry Yates, associational mission strategist for the Ohio Valley Baptist Association (OVBC).

This marked the eighth year for Sturgis FBC to be involved in ministering to visitors in the town. Showers are provided throughout the event, and DR shower units and a laundry unit were on site for the benefit of bikers.

“We partner with Baptist Bikers and Pennyrile Faith Riders, who greeted motorcyclists as they arrived,” Yates said. “We also partner with a Faith Rider chapter from Crossett, Ark., which set up a booth at the rally — witnessing and inviting people to come shower.”

Kent Sayle, a layman at Sturgis FBC who has overseen the church’s volunteer effort for the past eight years, said those attending the rally were “very receptive and thanked us. We see a lot of familiar faces (from past rallies) — they make a point to talk to us and we make a point to talk to them. It’s a win-win situation. They are very thankful for what we do and provide for them.”

The church has as many as 20 members who volunteer during the event, where New Testaments are handed out daily.

Both Sayle and Yates told of a man who attended the 2023 rally and returned this year with an unexpected gift for the volunteers. Last year, after using a shower unit, he was standing near a tent after a heavy rainfall when workers started punching tents to remove water, resulting in the man getting soaked.

“His clothes were dried in the laundry trailer, and while he was waiting, Disaster Relief chaplains and Bike Club members witnessed to him,” Yates said. “He came back this year to tell us he had accepted Christ because of the interactions of that day.”

The man showed up on the first day of this year’s rally and presented a homemade plaque to Disaster Relief and thanked them for their work.

“He said that because of the work we did it changed his life and he was a different person,” Sayle said. “Because of the kindness we showed, he made an effort to do that. You don’t realize sometimes how many lives you touch.”

Yates said another impactful time came on the eve of the rally start. It was on Wednesday night while workers were setting up.

“A young man walked up to us and said he decided he was through partying. He tore his wristband off, and we wound up at church, where the pastor and I talked to him,” Yates recalled. “He knew Scriptures and he had gone to a Christian school, but said he couldn’t understand how God could forgive him when he couldn’t forgive himself. We talked with him for a long time.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE — This article originally appeared in Kentucky Today.)