Jesus. The Bible. Missionaries. Evangelists. Mountain bikes. One of these things is not like the other. Religion and mountain biking may not seem like a natural fit, but some Christians are using the sport as an evangelical tool. They’re called Believers On Mountain Bikes, or BOMB, and they have branches in eight different countries and 22 states, including North Carolina.

According to BOMB’s web site (www.ridedirt.com), the organization is an “outreach ministry, sharing the Gospel in an alternative manner.” They are mountain biking missionaries-evangelists on two wheels-sort of like the white-shirt-black-tie-wearing Mormon kids that knock on your door in the middle of the afternoon, but with better gear. John Brookie, leader of BOMB’s North Carolina chapter, insists their evangelism is less in-your-face than most would expect.

“We try not to make our faith an overbearing issue,” Brookie says. “If we cross someone on the trail that’s interested, we’ll try to present the Gospel and invite them to ride with us.”

Other chapters of BOMB aren’t quite as low-key. One California chapter even goes so far as to make a direct connection between singletrack and Christianity. “The fire road is where all of us start out in life,” their website reads. “The road is wide and typically easy.…The singletrack is the life Christ has set before us…fast, fun, and it calls for commitment and focus. Even with that, you sometimes come home bloody, black and blue, and broken…He has cut the trail for your spiritual journey. This trail will push your comfort zone.”

It may sound a little too “road less traveled,” but members of BOMB aren’t the only ones to connect Christianity and extreme sports. Stephen Baldwin, the youngest of the Baldwin brothers, is producer and host of “Livin’ It,” a 30-minute evangelistic extreme sports film featuring BMX bikers and skaters doing death-defying routines and giving religious testimonials. And a handful of traditional evangelists are using extreme sports to give their ministry an edgy facelift and reach a traditionally un-reachable crowd. Imagine a tent revival with a half-pipe.

And why not? Some Native American religions combined outdoor athletics with spirituality, and Jesus himself went on a really long hike through the desert in order to test his faith. I know every time I pull an endo, I say a little prayer.

But Brookie downplays the direct connection between Christianity and extreme sports. “We use mountain biking as a great way to fellowship. We were already into mountain biking and we were Christians, so it just seemed natural to combine the two.”

Brookie and his fellow Charlotte based BOMB members “fellowship” on the trails about four times a week, all over the state, rain or shine. They’ve got some hardcore riders and some folks that bring their young children. A couple of their riders even compete in the Cane Creek race series. No matter how low-key Brookie’s evangelism is, he has the same goal as all missionaries: expansion. “We’d love it if we could have a BOMB chapter in all 50 states,” Brookie says.

He’s particularly interested in expanding in the Southeast, so keep an eye out for an evangelist at a trailhead near you.

–Graham Averill