GALVESTON — During his years as a road captain in a motorcycle club, Thomas Postel said he easily would spend up to $15,000 a month on alcohol and drugs.
Tucked away behind the rows of vendors and sporadic roars from motorcycles during the Lone Star Rally, Postel and a group of bikers gathered for a church service held by the Christian Motorcyclists Association on Sunday morning at the Pier 21 stage.
Postel, of Pinehurst, changed about two years ago, when a fellow biker who happened to be a devout Christian, urged him to reform his life and turn to God. Postel began going to church, and his drinking and drug habits waned.
Postel, better known by his biker name “Brother Taps,” said he is lucky to be alive today. He said he had a vision of the new patches he was meant to wear on his leather vest; the fish symbol associated with Christianity with the words “born to serve.”
“I thought a preacher preaches in a church, but God used me to spread his word from a motorcycle,” he said.
Postel founded Born to Serve Christian Ministry last May and hands out gospel literature at biker rallies, bars and convenience stores.
Eleven years ago, pastors Joe and Julie Guebara founded the Ambassadors for Jesus Christ, a motorcycle ministry that aims to spread the word of God throughout the local biker community. Their church, Sword of the Spirit, 2317 Hartwick Road, in Houston, has about 150 members and welcomes bikers who wear any patches, Julie Guebara said.
“Bikers share a brotherhood. They take care of each other no matter what,” she said. “I think people can relate that to their belief in God, because he loves you no matter what and teaches that we’re supposed to be our brother’s keeper.”
Catherine Leblanc, of Magnolia, has been a member of the ambassadors’ ministry for about seven years. She belonged to another Christian motorcycle group before attending a service led by the Guebaras, but has been a follower ever since.
People too often tend to form stereotypes of bikers based on their appearance, she said. Following the gospel is for everyone, whether they wear suits or leather vests and chaps, Leblanc said.
“A lot of people are surprised there are Christian biker groups,” Leblanc said. “It’s definitely a growing community within the biker world.”
The Lone Star rally drew to a close Sunday afternoon.
Organizers did not have an official attendance number, but the weekend drew crowds close to the size of rallies before Hurricane Ike, organizer Melissa Penland said. The weekend’s clear skies and mild weather made for a great rally, Penland said.
“All indications show people came back in force this year,” she said. “We were so happy to see motorcycle enthusiasts returned to Galveston.”
One of the areas rally organizers focused on for improvement was controlling noise levels for residents.
The number of citations issued for bikers revving their motors would not be calculated until today, police officials said.
