For years he raced motocross professionally as a teenager, manifesting his God-given talent into a career.

But at 19 years old, he was led on a different path using his love for the activity to share his love for Jesus Christ. Brad Bennett now uses his motocross skills as a platform for his ministry. The former motocross racer is coming to Sidney on Sunday (today) and staying through the week to visit Richland County schools. At the end of the week is an all-nighter youth party at the Assembly of God Church in Sidney.

“We’re using these action sports as a means to grab their attention,” said Bennett, president of Real Encounter outreach. “Once we have their attention, they’re more apt to listen to us.” Bennett, along with stunt man Brent Longenecker and DJ Courtney Ennis, use acrobatics and multimedia to speak to students about life choices in an unconventional way. “We go in with a good character-based message, making good choices, and we’ll actually do stunts in the school assemblies,” said Bennett, whose outreach began in 2000.

“After I accepted Christ as my Savior, that changed everything,” he said. “You know, it changed my direction and it changed my desires, and I wanted to make an impact for Him and for the Kingdom of God. The only way I knew to do that was start doing ministry and using the talents and gifts that God’s given us to get the message out.”

Bennett says he has witnessed thousands of lives change through his ministry, families included. “People of all walks of life, they come to our event because it’s something that’s different. It’s usually something that’s never come to their town before.”

The Sidney Assembly of God Church and the Richland County Evangelical Ministerium, along with assistance from Partnership for Promise Coalition, have set up the week-long event in the hope of reaching out to the area’s youth.

“They use disciplines of their sport to talk about disciplines of life and help kids understand that the decisions they make today will greatly affect their goals and being able to reach their dreams tomorrow,” says Greg Ledgerwood of Assembly of God and coordinator for the event.

The event kicks off Sunday at the Assembly of God Church’s service, with Bennett presenting a faith-based message and retelling his story.

Then throughout the week, Bennett will travel to all the schools in the county presenting his character-based message, doing stunts like nose wheelies, bunny hops and 360 power slides to capture their attention. He’ll be inviting students to attend the Winter Blast all-night gathering at the church where Bennett and his team present the gospel.

Ledgerwood says he hopes, first, that people will understand the difference Christ can make in how they live their life. “The second thing, on a non-faith based side, is to help kids understand that their life is worth making good decisions today.”

Sunday service is open to everyone at 10:30 a.m. For those who want to participate in the all-nighter, the cost is $15. They will need a signed parent permisssion form to attend. For more information, contact Ledgerwood at 433-2550.

reporter@sidneyherald.com