Bikers hear story of God’s saving grace

By: Major Frank Duracher

Three Christian motorcycle clubs in North and South Carolina converged at the Hendersonville, North Carolina, Corps one Sunday in February to worship and support the ministry of Captains John and Andrea Sikes, special guests welcomed by Majors Brian and Loretta Gilliam, corps officers.

Captain John Sikes delivered the sermon, which recounted his potentially fatal motorcycle accident on I-68 in West Virginia in April 2018.

Decked out in their motorcycle jackets, bearing Scripture verses and the names of their respective clubs, the three groups included the Sons Of The Savior Motorcycle Ministry, the Guardians and the Chrome Angelz Riding Club (Smoky Mountains Queenz Chapter). The clubs gather at an area church on the third Sunday each month, dubbing their combined ministry "The Pew Crew."

At the time of the accident, Captains Sikes were corps officers in Clarksburg, West Virginia, and he was en route to Camp Tomahawk for men's camp in the Maryland-West Virginia Division. The purpose of the weekend camp was to introduce the motorcycle ministry in place in the Carolinas.

Sikes and a Clarksburg Advisory Board member were on their bikes, leading a vanload of men down the highway when the unthinkable happened.

"I was cruising down the highway at 70 miles an hour, when I just passed out!" Captain John said.

To the horror of the men riding in the van behind him, the captain's bike flipped onto the median, and he was tossed through the air, landing on the opposite side of the interstate in the path of oncoming traffic.

The board member, who was in the lead, did not see the accident and turned back only when, in his mirror, he saw Sikes missing.

Incredibly, a big-rig trucker heading west saw Sikes in midair and managed to turn his 18-wheeler across both lanes, blocking oncoming traffic from running over the captain.

"I can only describe that trucker as an angel sent from God!" Sikes marveled.

Sikes sustained four broken ribs, many cuts and bruises and severe life-threatening brain trauma. With no memory of the incident, he spent the next several months in the hospital. Intensive rehab followed well toward the end of the year, and he is still monitored by his doctors.

"First Corinthians 13 reminds us that ‘faith, hope and love remain; but the greatest of these is love – but to love I would add that equally great is prayer!" he said.

"The outpouring of love and prayers from across the territory is incredible," Captain Andrea Sikes testified. "God is good and he truly answers prayer!"

Major Frank Duracher is a former Southern Spirit and War Cry reporter, now retired and living in North Carolina.