RRJ National Director Carl Crackel Opens the 2010 All Officers Meeting
On March 12 & 13, your board made the cold, wet and, yes, 4-wheel trip to St. Charles, Mo. to attend the 2010 All Officers Meeting for the International Road Riders for Jesus. For some of us it was the first, and for others it was the last. Marilyn, Darlene, George and John were there for the first time and the first thing we heard was that this was the last All Officers Meeting. The group has gotten too large, with over 70 chapters from all of the U. S., Europe and soon even China! So from now on, the State representatives will attend an annual meeting of the International RRJ organization, and then they will hold state meetings for the local chapter officers.
Arkansas State Coordinator Bill & Fran Patrick(r) & Assistant Coordinator Warren & Lois Symonds (l)
We were blessed to have four of our own honored in the opening session of the meeting. Bill & Fran Patrick and Warren & Lois Symonds were appointed to the International Staff. Bill is the Arkansas state coordinator and Warren is the assistant state coordinator. In addition to their duties as President and Secretary of our chapter, they will have responsibilities for organizing and coordinating chapters all over Arkansas. It’s a big job, and we all need to pitch in and help.
One thing we learned right away was that RRJ is growing at a fantastic pace. Founder and National Director Carl Crackel told us the great news that we have over 70 chapters now, and he expects the membership to top 4,000 by the end of of the year. There are new chapters all over New England, and now Europe, and even China. Carl was very excited to see this kind of growth in an organization that is just 13 years old.
Carl went on to outline his vision for the group in the future. He is more energized and dedicated to the vision than ever before, and he is hearing great things from the Lord. He plans one day to have a building and some land for meetings, retreats, a camp ground and worship center. Motorcyclists from all over the country would be welcome to visit, receive our hospitality and hear of the Gospel and the great things the Lord is doing. What an opportunity for evangelism and ministry!
Coffee and Fellowship Time
During Coffee and Fellowship time, we had a chance to visit with chapter officers from all over the country. We compared notes, got great ideas and even talked about organizing rides to sister chapters. The St. Charles, MO. chapter 40, wants to schedule a ride to visit us sometime this summer, and maybe we can return the visit.
One of the most exciting things about the meeting is the number of folks who are pitching in to help Carl and Sally as RRJ grows. There are plans for many new ministries which we will be reading about in The Rider’s Call as the details are finalized. One is R.U.T.H.S., which stands for Riding Under The Holy Spirit, and will be a womens ministry as part of RRJ. They have a new patch designed and plan to start the ministry at the Days of Praise Rally this September.
We were all encouraged to sign up for the Days of Praise Rally, September 8-12, 2010. This will be the 1st International Rally, and it’s going to be an exciting time at the Pinecrest Camp and Conference Center, Cherokee Pass. MO. Check out the details in The Rider’s Call. We were also encouraged to do our best to organize a successful Sonrise Ride. There are a number of individual and chapter incentives that will help us get going.
Sally's Sundries
We also got a chance to pickup some RRJ clothing at Sally’s Sundries, which was setup in the lobby just for us. You can see the full list of items that Sally has available in The Rider’s Call, and Marilyn would be happy to help you with whatever you want to order.
It is a tribute to the Lord, to see how this organization of Christian Motorcyclists has grown into a thriving ministry that glorifies His name all over the world.
