As in most Australian sports, it is hard to stand out as a Christian in the mountain bike community.
So as the 24-hour World Solo Championships begin in Canberra in October, it is encouraging that some of the world's elite riders will use this biggest of stages to declare their Christianity through a new network for Christian riders.
Gary Eastment, rector of Helensburgh-Stanwell Park Anglican Church, is a keen mountain biker and recently started a program to help Christian riders clearly show their faith.
JesusMTB is a network that allows Christian riders to pray for each other, encourage other Christian mountain bikers and to show other riders what they believe.
Eastment began the program because he saw a need in the mountain bike community for Christians to stand up and say they are Christian. He also saw it as a great opportunity to share the gospel at big events, which can attract up to 5000 people.
"It's about being salt and light on bikes," he said. "It's a network for the encouragement of Christians and to encourage a Christian presence in the mountain bike community for the glory of Jesus."
JesusMTB does not hold meetings or have any regular events; the only formal part of the program is the stickers members are given to adorn their bikes with, as a way of showing they are not ashamed of their faith in Jesus.
Jason English (pictured right), a PE teacher from Port Macquarie, currently holds the 24-hour World Solo Championships title after winning the 2009 event in Canada. English will line up to defend his title with a few new stickers on his bike.
"It's about believers being together on their bikes and praying for the community," he said. "It's not an overtly evangelistic tool but just the fact that the stickers are on there, people ask you questions and they can check out the website which is a great opportunity for people to do their own research on Christianity.
As a world champion and three-time national champion English, 29, is well known within the masculine mountain biking fraternity and publicly identifying himself as a Christian was something he thought hard about.
"Initially I thought I can't sticker my bike up, my sponsors provide me with all these products, so my bike is already all stickered up," he said. "I guess I've always thought that I don't want to be too overt with Christianity and that's something I haven't been proud of. But three or four months ago I thought that God has given me this ability to ride and I want to use that as a platform to show off my faith."
English, who grew up in a Christian home, believes the JesusMTB program is a great way to non-confrontationally challenge people about Jesus, without overtly evangelising.
"Having a "JesusMTB' sticker on my bike; it's not me getting out there and giving people an ear bashing every time I get on the podium but it's more… if they have questions they can come and have a chat to me," he said.
Fellow Aussie Mike Israel (pictured right) will also be participating in 24-hour World Solo Championships after qualifying earlier this year "” and will also be sporting "JesusMTB' stickers on his bike.
"Having the Jesus sticker on your bike allows you to declare your belief and it shows other guys around you that not all Christians are Jesus freaks, they're just normal guys with normal interests who are actually pretty good mountain bikers," he said.
Interested in joining JesusMTB? [url=http://www.jesusmtb.org]http://www.jesusmtb.org[/url]
