God And Greasy Bike Parts

Can you talk about human trafficking among piles of greasy bike parts?

Picture an enormous convention hall filled with vendors selling any cycling-related product you can imagine. Brand new, expensive, high-end bikes and used garage-sale wrecks. Endless varieties of clothing and accessories. Year-end clearance specials. Rows of specialized wheels, components, and other associated gear.

If it had anything to do with cycling, you could likely find it at VELOSWAP. So last Saturday, thousands of cycling folks wandered the aisles seeking bargains, looking for that special component, and renewing friendships.

Our friend Woody thought a booth at VELOSWAP would provide an opportunity to build awareness among an almost entirely new audience. So we created a display that combined FRONT RANGE FREEDOM TOUR information and products and information from the U COUNT Marketpace.

Our booth was unique even among the other non-profits. The unconventional combination of U COUNT product and FREEDOM TOUR materials drew a steady stream of folks who were interested for a variety of reasons.

Attendees at the event were probably 80% men. Lots of them stopped and read our signs, clearly impacted by the notion of cycling for this sort of cause.

We cycle to bring hope and freedom to kids rescued from human trafficking.

We engaged a significant number of them in conversation, several of whom were either unaware or only marginally aware of the issue of human trafficking. If nothing else happened all day, those conversations would have made the investment worthwhile.

We also made connections with folks from at least two churches who want follow-up discussions about presentations regarding the FREEDOM TOUR and the HOME OF HOPE. Who knows how many ripples might extend from those contacts? Finally, people asked for a good deal of U COUNT and FREEDOM TOUR literature. We’ll likely never know who visits a website or takes a next step.

When we combine these intangible benefits with the email signups we received and almost $600 in Marketplace sales that will directly benefit women rescued from trafficking, we’re excited about the impact of this unconventional, but potentially powerful, outreach.

Woody was right. I wouldn’t have thought of VELOSWAP as an evangelism opportunity. But there we were talking about building a community around the notion of following Jesus and God at work in the lives of kids rescued from sex trafficking.

Amazing what happens when you’re willing to try something different and focus on possibilities rather than unknowns. Jesus hangs out in the places we don’t expect Him.

God hangs out among piles of greasy bike parts, too.

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