Hoka Hey 2015 - Memorial Ride

Hoka Hey, "A Good Day To Die", a motorcycle ride to push you to your core. A challenge that will challenge all that is with in you. A ride that will remind you of the pains of the Native American.

Last year the ride took me 8,471 miles in 11 days, sleeping by my bike, no showers, eating what we could where we could. We rode from Key West, FL to Homer, AK. Incredible journey. One that has grabbed my heart and made me think often of the Native American and what we did to them, the life cycles that are hard to break, the ongoing misery that it has produced. 

This year we rode for the four men who died attempting the Hoka Hey Challenge. One hundred twenty-five us made the 506 mile ride on Friday, July 31, from Red Cloud, NE to Lebanon, KS (the exact center of the USA) and then on to Hot Springs, SD.

Hoka Hey is to remind us of the pain of the Native American when we drove them off their home lands and took away their way of life. It is also to bring awareness of the plight of suffering that continues today on many of the reservations. So, camping is in order. No comfy motel or soft bed.

 It was an honor to pray the opening prayer, three Memorial Prayers and the final due to the Medicine Man getting sick. I never take these type of opportunities lightly, the Holy Spirit is requested to speak thru this earthen vessel to reveal intimacy with our Lord and to bring abundant peace.


This year the Holy Spirit brought Joe Conners aka Chicken Joe (pictured with me to the left) and I together for the ride. Words cannot express the deep thanks it was to have him stand with me during these prayers. He and wife Jennifer prayed for the prayers that would be prayed everyday before he came and when I was praying, he was praying silently for me. There is power when two people join together in the Name of our Lord.

Then to top it all off, my first trip to Sturgis Bike Week, the 75th Anniversaary of this gathering of bikers and motorcycle enthusiast, Hoka Hey was allowed to 'parade' down Main St, this is huge. The Police had to block pedestrian and motorcycle traffice for this to happen. They claim that over 1 million people showed up for this event and here we are, parading in front of thousands of people.

Then on August 3, I rode across the Badlands to Kyle, SD on the Pine Ridge Reservation to meet with Ivan Sorbel, pictured to the right, Ivan is on the far left and Steve DeBray, Oglala Sioux Sundance Chief (standing in the middle) about the crisis on the resevation. My heart broke as these two men shared with me seemingly their dilema that is over one hundred years old. Unemployment rate of 80% on the reservation, teen suicide and teen pregnancy, alcoholism, and overall poverty. We spoke of building a community building where all types of events, celebrations, prayer meetings, etc could be had without a lot of tribal paperwork or cost to the people. I mounted my bike feeling the Holy Spirit had lifted these two men, if for no other reason, I showed up to listen and learn, show compassion and attempt to make a difference.

My final ride of the day was to stop by the location of the Wounded Knee Masacre site. This is always very moving for me. The words of both of these men stung my very heart as they spoke of the defeat as the 'end of our resistence against the overwhelming forces of the United States Military'. The thought of men dying to preserve their way of life, will we see that day come? IF so, how long do we have to prepare? 

Prophecy or Papa?

Kol Matthew Burd, arrives at 7:30 am, July 29, 2015 weighing in  at 7 pounds 14 ounces and 18" long. Carolyn and I were blessed to be present moments after his arrival. Big brothers, Lukas & Max joined us at hospital to celebrate with Dad, Matthew and Mom, Amy Burd. 

This generation of Gary & Carolyn Burd's family is now complete with seven grandsons and one baby doll!

A brother in Israel, Saar, sent me a message stating Kol meant sound, voice. This caused the old man to start thinking, could it be  our Kol has a destiny that we know not of? It is our belief that everyone was formed in their Mother's womb by the Hand of God. So, could it be Matt & Amy were led of the Almighty to name their third child Kol? 

Cautiously let's look at some possibilities: 

SOUND, could he produce a sound of joy and hope that brings light in a dark world. The world he was born in seems to be diving deeper into the darkness. A world that danger lurks everywhere, the schools, the theaters, the church, etc. Could it be that Kol will remove some of the heaviness by the sound he produces?

VOICE, could it be he will be a voice that stands against the compromise, complacency, and callousness of our society. God always has a voice, could Kol be a voice in his ? generation? 

His middle name, Matthew was taken from his father, named such because the Lord spoke to Carolyn six years before he was born that she would bare another child. This child would be born having something to do with the number "10". She carried him in our tenth year of marriage, born in the tenth month of the year on the tenth day and the tenth hour. As I looked at this beautiful grandson, again I am reminded of the meaning, "a gift of God". 

Do I dare summarize? Could this 'gift of God' have the purpose of being a sound of hope and a voice of direction? This Papa truly hopes so! Whatever path Kol Matthew Burd has before him, we will enjoy watching him place ball, skin his knees, get some bruises playing in the yard and be proud of the man he is destined to be. It would never be my intention to plan his destiny but on this day I chose to dream.