In 2015, Bruce Walker and his son took a motorcycle trip across the TransAmerica Trail.
“Most of the time, we really didn't know where we were going,” Walker said. “That's magical.”
A decade later, Walker will ride the trail again with a larger purpose.
Twelve motorcycle riders will journey from Trinidad, Colorado, to Port Orford, Oregon, on July 25. The group hopes to raise $1.2 million for Trailhead International to build churches around the world.
“It’s that we needed something worthy of adventure so people would say, ‘OK, I'll donate to that, that's crazy enough,’” President Brian Weed said.
In 2017, Weed, Walker and a few others took a 17-day ride to Nicaragua from Pilot Point.
“But we didn't just ride,” Weed said. “We decided to promote missions on this trip.”
The motorcycles were sold, and the profits were donated to Trailhead. The trip raised $330,000 and led to the building of three youth sports complexes in Nicaragua.
“Our goal at that time was to build a couple of churches a year,” Walker said. “If we could build two churches a year, that would be fantastic, right? Last year, we built a church every seven days.”
Since 2017, Trailhead has built over 300 churches in 46 countries.
“There's a heaven, and there's a hell,” Walker said. “There's billions of people on planet Earth, and they're going to spend eternity in one of two places. We’ve got to do something about it.”
Trailhead typically builds a multipurpose building for both church and youth sports in an effort to bring Christianity to a younger audience.
“We're watching these people have success just because of the generosity of those people that give to the significant purpose of Trailhead International,” Weed said. “It's not only helping the church and the community from the church but putting economy into those communities.”
In 2021, Trailhead organized a scavenger hunt fundraiser in the Square.
“We raised over a million dollars doing it, but we didn't get other people involved in it,” Walker said. “Everybody kept asking us, ‘When are you gonna go on another one of those motorcycle rides?’” The group plans to visit the Rock Harbor Church in Meridian, Idaho, on Sunday to attend church and garner more attention for Trailhead’s mission.
“To be honest, there's two things to look forward to at the same time,” Weed said. “One is raising the money to build more church facilities around the world. The other side of it is we have a group of guys that want to do something together.”
The group plans to videotape their journey and post it on YouTube.
“That way we'll be able to then kind of take you on the trip,” Walker said. “If you read the gospels, you know Jesus doesn't always say come and do this—just come and see. With our mission trip, I could take you on this ride virtually and you kind of just get a little idea about what it is that we're doing.”
A million dollars from the trip's goal is dedicated for building churches and $200,000 is to be put into an endowment.
“The idea is to build up funds within that so that one day we can perpetually build church facilities around the world without us even being here anymore,” Weed said. “Now we've just started that so that we don't have a whole bunch of money in them, but one day we will.”
The trip has raised $501,000, and a businessman has agreed to price match the largest donation. Donations can be made until Dec. 31.
“I hope that people see what we're doing and say, ‘Hey, I want to do something significant with my life,’” Weed said. “‘I want to have a purpose for my life. I want to do something that matters.’” To donate, go to trailheadinternational. org/take-action.
