Posted on 05/15/2008 12:23:47 PM PDT by Between the Lines
Motorcyclists in town for the Harley-Davidson spring bike rally are being pinched at the pump like all drivers.
The economy is down, gas costs are up and the bike rallies are traditionally the start of the tourist season, when prices at hotels begin to rise.
An organized campaign
One group has specific goals this week - to save as many bikers' souls as possible. And the Baptist missionaries are playing to people's pocketbooks to do it.
At the Citgo gas station on U.S. 17 Business South and Farrow Parkway, bikers can get $10 worth of gas, a "Biker Bible" and information on where to get help if they need it this week for the price of three minutes of their time.
Todd Wood, a "resort missionary" who works with the S.C. and Southern Baptist conferences and the Waccamaw Baptist Association, said churches have given $10,000 to put toward the mission this week.
Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. each day until Sunday, bikers can fill their tanks in exchange for listening to Baptists tell them about "the most important thing that's ever happened in our lives," Wood said.
He said $10 usually tops off a tank, and the bikers who've stumbled on the giveaway have been receptive so far.
Wood said many of the people who minister to the bikers have been bikers themselves.
"I love to ride, but I don't have a bike at this moment," Wood said. "My wife says she loves me too much to let me ride."
NASCAR, Harleys and God, it is turning out to be a strange week here in South Carolina.
Hooligan ping.
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