EDITORS’ NOTE: Names in the following story have been withheld due to World A security; with most team members expecting to enter vocational service in this area of the world.
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)–When the spring semester ends, many Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary students will catch planes for home or jump into cars for summer vacation or get in moving trucks headed for new ministries. Few will consider a cross-country trip by bicycle — except the small group of Southwesterners comprising the B.I.K.E. team.
The team, whose name stands for “Be Involved in Kingdom mobilization to the Ends of the earth,” will travel on bicycles from Dallas, to Washington, June 1 through July 15 on a mission endeavor named B.I.K.E. for the Nations.
The team will stop at churches and other group meetings along their route to equip Christians to join God in his work around the globe. With 1.7 billion people who have never heard of Jesus and more than 2,000 isolated, unreached people groups, the B.I.K.E. team will help Christians find a link in reaching the entire world with Christ’s message.
The vision of B.I.K.E. for the Nations came through the prayer of a group of Southwestern students who have met consistently for two years to pray specifically for World A, spanning from North Africa through Asia, and the Muslim world. Out of their fellowship and a desire to put feet to prayers came the plan to help churches become involved in kingdom mobilization.
“We want to help Christians understand the needs overseas,” said one team member who recently returned from two years of service in the Middle East. “We hope to motivate churches and groups to take action among the unreached people groups of the world. When 2,000 churches commit to praying for one unreached group each, it will be exciting to see God move. Our heart is for God’s name to be praised in every language throughout the whole earth.”
The B.I.K.E. team will link churches and groups directly to a field coordinator familiar with a specific unreached group.
“Once churches adopt a people group, they can discover resources within their own body that may help these unreached people hear the gospel,” said a team member. “They may be able to send basketball, medical, hygiene or veterinary teams. They can pray intelligently. Whether a group of Christians has lost their Great Commission motivation or whether the whole church is ready to pack up and head overseas, we want to offer encouragement and communicate needs and resources.”
“We desire to help people understand that the Great Commission is for them,” said another team member. “We want the `Yes’ to already be there when God gives mission tasks. We hope to help Christians see how God’s mission is practical in their everyday lives.”
The team will travel 30 miles a day, five days a week. They currently are seeking to book speaking engagements with college and youth groups, congregations or any interested small group along their route through Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington.
The group can be contacted at (817) 923-4782.
