Bikers hit road for Jesus

By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion & Ethics Writer

•	Run for the Son Calvary Chapel's motorcycle ministry Meets the second Saturday of the month at the Pro Park parking lot, across from the church, at Beretania Street and Nu'uanu Avenue Contact: Russell Takaezu, assistant pastor, 524-0844

Espinoza, in his black leather motorcycle vest and red bandanna, looks a little scary from far away. Get up close, though, and you'll see that one of those colorful markings on his burly arms is a tattoo proclaiming his belief in Jesus, and that chain around his neck has a cross dangling from it.

Espinoza won't be riding with his crew, the Run for the Son Motorcycle Fellowship, because he and his wife, Silvia, are on a short-term island-hopping mission to Vanuatu in the South Pacific for Calvary Chapel, spreading the word of Christianity.

The assistant pastor at Calvary, Russell Takaezu, admits looks can be deceiving for the year-old motorcycle ministry he started with Bill Stonebraker, the church's senior pastor. The group meets the second Saturday of each month for outings that mix the business of ministering with the pleasure of the open road.

"When Bill Stonebraker got his bike, that was like putting gas and fire together, and the motorcycle ministry was ignited," Takaezu said.

About a dozen riders regularly take part in the Run for the Son, Takaezu said, and not all of them are Christians. Some just like the company.

"I had one lady tell me, 'I enjoy riding, but I don't want to go from bar to bar,' " said Takaezu, who has had a motorcycle license for half of his life.

His transformation from outlaw biker to pastor was interesting: Twenty years ago, Takaezu was getting into trouble. Then he came across some kids from California telling him about Jesus (they were so clean-cut, "They could make an Ivory commercial," he recalls with a laugh), and he felt the hole in his heart begin to fill.

Today, the Run for the Son gang will set out at 9 a.m., stopping at motorcycle shops to hand out fliers for a July 19 Christian crusade at the Waikiki Shell. Then it's out toward Waipahu, to deliver the word to folks at beach parks. They'll return to the church at about noon.

Not every ride is about evangelizing. "We're not force-feeding anybody the Gospel," Takaezu said.

He recalled his biker crew stopped recently for lunch at Chili's. They swarmed in, boisterous and loud, much to the chagrin of some patrons. Then they found seats.

What was probably the most shocking was when silence descended, and the gang joined hands to say grace before the meal.

"It might blow some people away, but it's pretty clean stuff," he said.

This is the real meaning of fellowship.

"When you ride with these brothers and sisters, you just grow closer," Takaezu said. "When you're riding down the highway at 50 miles per hour, you're not talking, but you're close."