Motorcyclists lined up at local churches around Tucson on Sunday, March 22, interrupting the still morning with a chain of engines roaring to life. One by one, kickstands went up and a variety of leather-jackets dotted with Christ-centered patches faded into the distance. 

It’s called the Jericho Ride – bringing together local church leaders, volunteers and families to pray over Tucson in an effort to unite Christians throughout the city. 

While many don’t associate motorcycles and Christianity, several local Christian ministries are breaking down common stereotypes about who Christians are, what they should look like and what they can stand for. 

“Jericho ride was one of those very creative ways that we can just shake the model of what a Christian is supposed to be,” Lekisha Deon said. “Events like this crush the paradigm, and one thing I love to do is find creative ways to crush that society model of what a Christian looks like and how we’re supposed to act.”

Deon, 46, is a wife and mother of four, a Christian and leader of the local nonprofit 4Tucson, a ministry that unites local Christians and encourages those inside and outside of the church to engage with the Bible and help align Tucson with what she considers God’s ways to fix systematic issues like poverty, homelessness and above all, spiritual apathy.

Deon and the 4Tucson team recently hosted the Jericho Ride, which united local Christians, churches and Christian motorcyclist ministries, like the Christian Motorcyclists Association (CMA) and Full Throttle ministries, to pray over the city for a day by riding around on their bikes, stopping at checkpoints around the city, and engaging in prayer over streets, houses and areas within the community. 

Deon said she named the event Jericho Ride after the story of the city of Jericho in the book of Joshua in the Bible. 

In that story, the Isrealites – God’s chosen people – are tasked with overcoming the impenetrable, walled city of Jericho to obtain their promised land. Joshua, the leader of the Isrealites, led his people in a silent march around the massive walls of Jericho for six days. On the seventh day, they shouted and the walls of Jericho instantly collapsed. 

Deon said every motorcyclist, prayer station and volunteer at the Jericho Ride embodied that mission, hoping for spiritual walls to fall in Tucson.

John and Valerie Smith, both pastor’s of Faith Christian Fellowship of Tucson, said they were honored to host the motorcyclists because, though seemingly unorthodox, their mission aligns with the church and opens up the door to more people.

“We have a group of guys that come here every Thursday from all around the city from different churches who are just out of prison, who probably have a lot of gang experience and are in the hip hop community,” John Smith said. “So many of the outward expressions of how people dress and what they wear, those aren’t really indicators. The reality is that our faith is something that takes place on the inside.”

The Smiths believe CMA and Full Throttle ministries help open the faith to a broader pool of people – something many churches are missing today.

“Having these communities I think is beautiful because it’s created an opportunity for people to connect in another way beyond the walls of a church,” Valerie Smith said. “It demonstrates that character matters, and character can look differently than what people think.”

Restyling the streets

Best friends Gabriel Rascon, 48, and Jamie Cazares, 45, are Christians, fathers and husbands whose ministries also show another face of Christianity.

They run two ministries: Water Walkers Worldwide, which serves nearly 300 men in Tucson through Bible studies, and Men of God, a ministry band. They also own a streetwear brand born from ministry work called Men of God Apparel. 

Both leaders were formerly incarcerated and said they found change in their lives through religion.

Rascon was raised in a Christian home, but said during difficult times in his life he distanced himself from the principles he was raised with and landed in life-threatening situations.

“I started doing things like getting into gangs, drinking, stealing and drugs,” he said. “Before I knew it I was a whole different person, and I eventually ended up in jail. I had a couple of overdoses that I thought I wasn’t going to make it through.”

Now, he’s married, a father, a nurse and a ministry leader. 

“Seventeen years later it’s a blessing to be where I’m at because I shouldn’t be where I’m at, to be where I’m at right now, it’s all God,” he said. “The further you push closer to God, the least you recognize yourself.”

Cazares also came from a Christian household and was baptized as a child. But as he grew up, he got into trouble and spent years in prison or halfway houses. 

He said he was saved in a jail cell in 2015 and has never looked back.

“I thought I was going to be in prison for the rest of my life but God gave me a second chance,” he said. 

Rascon and Cazares said those experiences help them to reach others struggling with similar challenges.

“Ministries like ours focus on this idea, on understanding the difficult life of prison and drug addicts,” Cazares said. “I can reach the inmates, the convicts and the drug addicts because I was them.”

Their ministry focuses on reaching people who are incarcerated or struggling with addiction but welcomes all men, no matter their backgrounds, within their Bible study, Rascon said. 

“What’s beautiful about Water Walkers, is that it’s not just for people from the streets, although it is, but there’s people from every background coming together,” he said. “You can still be you, still have fun, and still enjoy life and be yourself when following Jesus.”

Efforts like Water Walkers Worldwide and the Jericho Ride seek to unite people of faith even when they don’t fit the norm, Rascon said.

Deon agreed. There is a lot of need in Tucson, she said – poverty, loneliness and fear. She believes coming together as people of faith can help combat those issues.

“Living in Tucson, we’re so spread out, and one of the things that we’ve found in interacting with each of our churches, each of them have a love for our city,” she said. “And these ministries we work with enjoy coming together and praying with others outside of the church wall to generate solutions that will help and benefit our city.”

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.