The only sound was the whispered anticipation from the crowd. The roar of the dirt bikes had faded off momentarily as Ryan's bike, which was barely functional at this point, had disappeared around the corner and behind the last jump. The other two riders had gone several seconds beforehand, but had never popped back up, over the table top, to win the race.
The flagger, holding the checkered flag that would end of the race, and show who had won, stood at the crest of the Table Top. He looked down over the blind side of the hill, and we waited. What could he see? What was happening? Why hadn't Shawn or Jimmy soared over the last jump and ended the race?
Just then, he straightened and tensed. The sound of 3 loud engines buzzed to life. A cloud of dust proceeded the racers. Then, in perfect unison, all three bikes came over the rise together! Side by side!
Shawn and Jimmy, realizing Ryan's bike had broken and that it was all he could do just to finish the race, much less actually compete, had stopped at the very end of the run to that last jump, and waited for him. Who knows what may have transpired between the three when Ryan came around the corner and found them sitting there! They finished together. No winners! All winners!
The crowd of MotoCross fans, American, Honduran, riders, kids, and adults went crazy! That was so amazing!!! A perfect end to an incredible week of camp and racing!
But it can't all be Stellar Jumps, Autographs and Movie-Made-Moments. This trip started months ago, with patience, fundraising, and phone calls. Emails back and forth between missionaries, translators, and dirk bike riders. FCA, FPCC, and OEM. But I won't go back that far. Let's just glance back over one week. The first ever FCA MotoCross Camp held Internationally. An effort motivated by a shared love and respect for Dylan First, whose dream we were chasing. One week, in Honduras.
We arrived in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on Sept. 22, 2012. The first two days we spent adjusting to the climate (hot but beautiful) and attending a Sunday evening church service. This was one of the most exciting parts of the trip. In a church service, 1666.8 miles from here, Ryan, a professional MotoCross Rider and FCA-Camp-Instructor-To-Be, accepted Jesus Christ into his heart for the first time! God had answered our prayers on day one. Many of us felt successful and whatever else happened was just extra!!
The next several days we visited lots of Malls, TV Stations, Universities, and schools. The Pros signed autographs and we gave out FCA stickers and posters. We talked about Dylan First, and his passion for MotoCross and his love of Jesus Christ. We talked about the race and that it was free. (No one could understand this!) And we got used to speaking through an interpreter. We went shopping for family at home, and God used this as an opportunity for Shawn and Courtney to witness to a little boy outside of a shop. He prayed and accepted Christ, there in the street.
Several of us visited a Foster Care home called House of Hope on Tuesday. We got the chance to deliver LOTS of suitcases full of clothes, costumes, and toys to the girls there. They are ages 4 months-11 yrs old. They melted our hearts. Then we left there and went to a "school" which is a concrete building with no doors or glass, in the windows. They had wooden desks, but not one other thing in the room. Not even paper or pencils. We gave the kids backpacks that Forestpark kids made during VBS this year. They were FULL of paper, pencils, toothbrushes, candy, toys, etc, etc. Courtney told them the gospel using an EvangeCube, and asked them to pray. 12 kids told us it was the first time they had prayed to ask Jesus into their hearts!
Finally, Wednesday came. At 11am we began signing riders up and sending them to find their bunk house. We all met for lunch and headed to camp. The next 2 days were spent on that track. In fact Thursday we didn't even leave the track for lunch! They brought it in!
The campers were separated into Huddles ("Juntos") with one of our team serving as "Huddle Leaders" in each group. They stayed in their Huddle for the entire camp. Each Huddle stayed in a certain zone (area of the track,) learning an aspect of dirt bike riding, such as starting, cornering, hills/jumps, etc. Then after about an hour they rotated to another zone.
The first night of camp, we played a game, then held a simple chapel time together. We had nearly every person in the camp come forward to pray and give their lives to the Lord. The second night, I think all the rest of them came forward and did the same. Plus, all the people from the first night, came back up to say, "what's the second step?" There may have been one or two who didn't step up, but when almost ALL 27 people at camp want to know more, it's a raging success by anyone's standards!
Friday morning they got another hour on the track, and then we had awards and certificates to hand out. They all asked us to please come back next year! We had the rest of the day off, so some of us (Sunday School Teachers...) went off to give out more backpacks to another school! We had at least 5 or 6 raise their hands this time that they had made a commitment for the first time, but it was hard to tell, because the teacher began saying "Put your hand up! Put your hand up!" Which of course they all did. Oh well. :-)
Saturday was a quiet day with the track being set up for the races and practice runs going on! Then came race day! Sunday, the track was packed!! We held the first race, for 12-14-year-olds. After that, they stopped everything to let Matthew First ride around the track alone on a Hot Lap, in honor of his brother, Dylan. Shawn Clark and a translator explained to the crowd who Dylan was, and what his dream had been. He told them that this whole trip was because of Dylan. He explained who Jesus is, and that Dylan's life was devoted to Jesus. He told them the gospel, and led them in a short prayer. Lots of people raised their hands that they had prayed, and we passed out ALL our New Testaments!!
The rest of the races went on, separated by age or experience, and ending with the Americans. Ronnie and Mike raced with a couple of Hondurans, and then, as we mentioned before, Ryan, Shawn, and Jimmy. It wasn't until the race was on lap 2 that Ryan discovered his bike was having a major problem. But, just like everything else God has planned, even this was a chance for the guys to show the Hondurans, Christians live life differently. We couldn't have scripted it to all go more perfectly, and more glorifying to God.
We pray that this time next year, the biggest group we've ever sent to Honduras will have just gotten back, from a race three times the size of the one we held last Sunday. Thank you for all your support, contributions, and especially prayers. All I can say is, "Topela Papa!!"
No comments:
Post a Comment