Local pastor rides Katy Trail to raise money for youth conferences

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Combining passion and purpose, a local pastor took on a bike riding challenge that raised money for youth ministry while pushing his cycling limits.

The Katy Trail is the longest rails-to-trail project in the United States, stretching 237 miles from Sedalia to Machens in Missouri. Jeremiah Johnson, lead pastor at Grace Pointe Assembly of God in Carthage, recently completed the bike trek in two days and raised $2,200 for youth programs at his church.

“I’m at that point in life where everything I do has to have purpose behind it because I don’t have that much free time,” Johnson said. “I love biking — how can I put purpose behind it? I got the idea that I can ride the Katy Trail for missions.”

Johnson developed a passion for mountain biking while serving as a pastor in Utah. He loved riding in the mountains and trails of that area, and when he moved to Carthage, it was an adjustment because there weren’t many mountain bike trails nearby.

After a friend told him about the Katy Trail, Johnson first biked the route last year in three and a half days. On that trip, he raised money for his church’s No Price Tag Conference, dedicated to helping teens make good decisions.

“I felt like this is what God wanted me to do for this endeavor that will have great spiritual impact in the lives of young people,” Johnson said. “After I got done, I was like, what’s the next mountain to climb, what’s the next challenge I want to present to myself? What if I do the trail in two days?”

This past March, Johnson rode the Katy Trail again, this time accompanied by the church’s youth pastor, Ben Askew. The two rode about 120 miles per day, longer than Johnson had ever biked before. Once again, Johnson rode to raise money for an upcoming youth conference.

Youth Explosion, a two-day conference to help teenagers connect to God in the challenges of today’s culture, took place this past weekend at Grace Pointe. The $2,200 Johnson raised went toward paying for the conference and sponsoring teens to attend.

“When I decided to follow Jesus, that was a big turning point in my life,” Johnson said. “My big life changes were as a teenager. That’s where Jesus met me and gave me direction and purpose. So now, to this day, I’m still a youth pastor at heart.”

Johnson said he loved the physical and mental challenge of riding 120 miles a day on a bike. The physical demands of the ride were exhausting, but he found it fun to push his body to another level.

“For 12 hours I was on a bicycle seat, moving, pedaling,” Johnson said. “You have to get to this place where your physical submits to the mental. You tell your body, ‘We are going to finish this thing we set out to do.’”

Johnson listened to podcasts, the Bible and worship as he rode to stay mentally charged. Much of the appeal in these demanding rides was that Johnson finds a certain beauty in the physical challenges, where the effort can bring spiritual awareness.

“My best moments with Jesus have been hanging out with him and talking with him on my bike,” Johnson said. “Sometimes I hit that moment where it feels like Jesus is riding a bike right next to me. I’ve found that to be a very peaceful place. Everyone is different, but I think we all have a meeting place with God. I tell people, ‘When you want to encounter God, just find what works best for you.’”

As he laboriously approached the final miles of the trail, Johnson remembers hearing two sounds. A train passed on one side and the bell at the end of the Katy Trail in Machens rang out, signaling that another person had completed their journey. Johnson felt a resurgence of strength at the end.

“Hopefully, when I rang that bell at the end and I was tired and ready to sleep, Jesus was like, ‘Good job, Jeremiah, now keep going,’” Johnson said. “I believe that’s the point of everything, of our journey of faith. We’re in this race right now, and sometimes it’s long, sometimes it’s monotonous, but you keep going. The goal is to finish. I want to go all out until the end.”

On the Katy Trail website, there is an exclusive club of about 34 people who have completed the trail in one day. Johnson said the next big challenge might be for him to join that club. He’s looking for another cause because while the challenge will be met, there will have to be another purpose behind it, he said.