Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/1491406
Ministry Miles Tom Sheltraw, Orange County, CA I had the privilege of riding 44,700 miles in the year 2022. This may sound crazy, and it is…but there's a story behind it. I bought my first motorcycle at 19 years old and started riding. I rode for about six years after that, and during the time purchased two other motorcycles…although not all at the same time. Life happened plus five kids later and I somehow took off about 22 years from riding. In the summer of 2021, I decided to get back into riding and somehow ended up with two Harley - Davidson motorcycles. I joined the Irvine, California HOG chapter and quickly realized there was a lot of miles being ridden by that chapter. Two of the members were sharing how they did a 50 cc ride from California to Florida and they finished it in 44 hours. It still baffles me how they were able to accomplish such a great feat in such a short time frame. I remember, thinking to myself, "There is no way I would ever do such a thing." They were also sharing about some of the other long rides they took up to the Arctic Circle and back. Again, I remember thinking that there is no way in the world I would ever do such a crazy thing. I did know that I would start riding more and it would be important for me to get a new Harley-Davidson in order to keep up with some of the long-range rides that were scheduled for the next year. October 29, 2021, I brought my first new Harley-Davidson, a 2021 Ultra Limited Electra Glide. I remember my wife asking me, "Why in the world does any man need three motorcycles?" I've been married for 27 years, so I know the right answer. "Honey, don't worry, I'm going to sell one of the bikes, and I plan on using the other two bikes for ministry." I guess she bought the answer because she didn't ask about it anymore. Now I had to make good on my promise! I remember seeing a couple of Black Sheep members in my chapter so I thought I would press in and find out more about this ministry. I talked to Steve " Rushmore" Allmand and started praying about if this is where the Lord was leading me. After riding with the chapter and praying about it for a couple months, I decided to move forward. At this point, I closed out the year with 5000 miles, which was a lot for me to ride in two months. I started the mentoring process and six months later, I was officially a Black Sheep. One of the things they tell you when you are mentoring with Black Sheep, is that even though you are not officially a patched in member, ministry starts right away. I took this as an opportunity to start my ministry journey. I loved riding, and the passion that my fellow HOG members exemplified rubbed off on me very quick. For those of you who know me, I only have one mode, EXTREME! When I do something, I don't just dip a toe in the water, I jump in completely…full speed ahead! I also realized if I was going to be riding a lot, I didn't want to spend that much time away from my family…so I had a plan. At the time, my 12-year- old daughter, Taelyn, enjoyed riding with me and I used every opportunity I could to ride with her. I felt good about riding because I knew I wasn't away from my family, I just brought my family with me. In April, 2022, my 15-year-old daughter, Trinity was mentoring this boy that had the same cancer she had had a year prior. She made a comment mentioning that it would be great to go pray over him. He was in a hospital in North Carolina. I told her, "Let's go do it, let's ride the motorcycle over to pray for him!" She responded, "Really? That's awesome! Let's do it!" One week later, we set out on a 5000 mile journey to pray over a boy we had never met, in person. It was definitely the ride of a lifetime. We made it there from California in four days. Still not the two days that my friends made it in but it was a good start. As we started that journey, she said, it would be so cool if we could pray over someone in each state, so we did just that! We made a pact that within the next year or so, we were going to ride all 50 states together and pray over someone in each state. This year will be an exciting year when we make good on that pact. During 2022, I took three trips to Texas, one trip to North Carolina, Sturgis, Washington, Idaho, and many other states. It has been such a blessing to go to the different states and meet my fellow Black Sheep brothers and connect with them for their events. Although this whole ministry journey started as a justification to my wife to have multiple motorcycles, God had different plans. My wife asked me if I was going to ride another 45,000 miles this year, and I quickly responded, "Heck no! I already made that goal! I want to ride 50,000 miles!" I'm not sure that was the answer she was looking for, because there was no response. b