My brother from the same mother.
Sermon: The Bruises of Disappointment – Paul Wright.
Pastor Paul, touching lives at the Biker Church and beyond
One might not immediately associate bikers with the church but perhaps we should ask ourselves, well why not? Surely it doesn’t matter what the physical appearance or what mode of transport is chosen. Isn’t it really, at the end of the day, simply about a person’s heart?
Pastor Paul Wright is one such person who might just surprise you, in a good way. The Pastor of the Bikers Church in East London, there is nothing that Paul hasn’t seen and, moreover, hasn’t done. He has lived a life that many of us couldn’t even begin to imagine, with heavy involvement in the ‘dark side’ … and we mean the ‘really dark side’, details of which he is happy to share in his forthcoming biography. The most important thing however, is that Paul was able to walk away from that dark side into the light.
Born in Worcester, Paul was adopted as a newborn and grew up in Cape Town. He discovered that he was adopted at a young age via an inappropriate source, before his parents had a chance to talk to him themselves… he admits that he then rejected them and was never able to accept them as his flesh 
and blood. Feeling a sense of rejection by his birth parents, Paul felt lost and the need to prove himself was overwhelming – he took to the streets of Cape Town and lived a life of crime, the whole time simply wanting to be accepted by society.
By the time Paul had reached Standard 4, he was a classified alcoholic and was receiving treatment in hospital. Upon leaving school after Standard 5, he worked on the railways, stoking fires up and down the coast and then on the tug boats at Table Bay Harbour. Eventually kicked out of his job, Paul began mixing with the wrong type of people and in the early 1970’s, he became involved in gang warfare at nightclubs. He was violent and he was angry at the world.
During his military career from 1976 to 1977, Paul was assigned to the hard labour camp, a period which he says affected him enormously. When he came out of the Army, he went straight back to the only life he knew at that time, a life of crime and drugs, even running a brothel for a period of time.
Paul was eventually arrested for drugs, after managing to evade the police for many months, and was sentenced. In the years that followed, he spent time in and out of both prison and mental institutions, having been declared criminally insane. His longing to be heard and to be accepted
Paul with some of his CMA family at the Pondo Rally
had led Paul into such an extreme lifestyle that he no longer felt able to control it – he knew which path was the right one to take, the one that would take him out of the dark side, but he couldn’t get to that point from where he was.
A huge turning point for Paul came while he was carrying out a sentence in Pollsmore Prison … he had been given some books by Nicky Cruz (ex-gang warlord and now Christian evangelist) and, as he read these books with his back to the 19 other men he shared a cell with, he wept. He felt his heart soften and the realisation of just how lost he was hit him very hard. Remembering where he was, however, Paul knew that he had his reputation to uphold and so he dried his eyes, faced his cell mates and continued in the same vein.
Some time later, once released from prison, Paul came across a preacher on the streets of Cape Town, somebody who struck a chord within his spirit. Paul describes what followed as an outer body experience where, as he closed his eyes in prayer with the preacher, his spirit was taken into God’s presence. He knew then that he was faced with a decision about his future, he needed to commit to following that right path. To do this he realised that he needed to establish a brand new foundation and remove the rubble from his life. Despite his yearning for better choices and a better life for himself, Paul was torn between the old and the new and ended up back in mental institutions and in prison for drugs.
It took time but eventually, Paul got back on track with his life and in his relationship with God. He married his girlfriend Beth and worked for some time selling jewellery, bags and shoes on Green Market Square. A job offer came from a jewellery manufacturer in Newcastle and, together with his wife and two small children, they relocated and made a fresh start. Involvement in a church there saw Paul minister and work with others who were where he had once been in his life.
Paul and his wife, Beth
After 8 years in Newcastle, with Paul and his wife both having been ordained as Pastors, they relocated to Kimberley with their children and worked there for 3 years in full-time ministry. 3 more years as Associate Pastors in Cape Town followed and then a call came which took them back to Newcastle again and the beginning of Paul’s involvement with the Christian Motorcyclists Association (CMA).
The CMA is a ministry with a vision, an aim to reach out to those often immediately labelled because they are motorcyclists. But men and women from all walks of life are part of the CMA and the organisation is currently represented in more than 30 countries worldwide. With their bikes and the word of God, people from the CMA travel extensively and touch lives. With their ‘biker’ image, they are able to use it as a tool to reach out and minister to those who need it.
For three and a half years, Paul and Beth preached at rallies, youth camps and schools and had the opportunity to give one-on-one ministry to friends from their past who wanted better for themselves. Then, 9 years ago, Paul received a call from East London and he was asked to take over as the Pastor of the Biker Church. In those 9 years, he has built the church up and taken it from strength to strength, opening its doors and welcoming people from all walks of life. And for the record, you don’t have to ride a motorcycle to attend the Biker Church!
One of the campaigns run through the CMA is ‘Run For The Son’ and each year they hold an event to raise funds, enabling them to not only support other ministries but also to fund the printing of Biker Bibles and other ministry tools. In 2011, Paul set off on a ‘Hope For The Highway Big Walk’ to assist in the fundraising, a 1,000km walk from East London to Cape Town. Now, it is one thing to walk 1,000km but it is another to walk 1,000km with a metre-high wooden cross strapped to your back… this is exactly what Paul did after God had placed it on his heart.
Paul with his sons, Joe (left) and Josh (middle)
Throughout his arduous journey, Paul, along with a small team of volunteers, touched thousands of lives and received not only monetary donations along the way but also food and drink for sustenance on their trip. Of course, there were questions from many people along the way, people wanting to know why he was doing it, why he was walking along national roads with a cross on his back… Paul was more than happy to answer all questions and says that he valued all reactions, including the negative ones, because they made him realise what it must have been like for his Saviour who carried a much heavier cross.
As the CMA’s Eastern Cape Regional President, Paul has travelled extensively, ministering to thousands of
Paul with his daughters, Sarah (left) and Keilah (right)
people and building bridges along the way. He has also reached a place of complete healing himself, as he has recently had the opportunity to get to know his birth mother and will soon be meeting, for the very first time, one of his sisters.
Currently busy writing a book about his life aptly entitled ‘Nothing But The Truth’, Paul’s unshakeable faith makes him positive about the future and he believes that his life is one worth preserving as there is so much more good work he has to carry out. He is also sure that there will be another walk at some point, as and when he receives the calling to do so.
Paul is however very clear that change does not come easily, as he himself has found all too many times. Repeated failed attempts to reach for the life he wanted, for many reasons, could easily have given him the excuse not to try again. Making the changes needed and denying his old habits and weaknesses is a daily struggle, but one that he is winning, with the support of God, his family and friends.
‘Changing the world, one heart at a time’ is the CMA’s dedication and something that Paul Wright lives by. He can take his own experiences, no matter how bad, and turn them into something positive… enabling others to heal themselves, one heart at a time.
1000km walker has the Wright stuff
Faith can move mountains, they say; sometimes it moves one pair of feet, a long, long way.
Paul Wright, 53, is the pastor of the Bikers’ Church in East London, and regional head of the Christian Motorcyclists Association, a man whose ‘day job’ sometimes involves as much administration as ministering. But underlying that is a simple, unshakeable faith.
“God speaks,” says Wright, “and I listen.”
Some years ago, he felt called to build a wooden cross, a simple metre-high structure neatly bound together with rope. Three hand-forged iron nails completed the symbolism and a harness allowed Wright to wear the cross on his back “when I walked the streets trying to lead people to the Lord”.
“Then one morning the Lord asked me to take that cross down off the wall and walk a thousand kilometres with it.”
Wright didn’t hesitate, he says, although his wife took a bit more convincing. Nevertheless, it was she who made up dozens of ‘sponsor packs’, each containing a copy of the Bikers’ Bible, Hope for the Highway, and a letter explaining the purpose of Wright’s walk and asking the public to sponsor Wright at a rand or more per kilometre in aid of the CMA Run for the Son campaign to fund a new printing of the bible, which is never sold, but given free to each rider who commits to the church.
By the time Wright left East London to walk the 1000km to Cape Town, the appeal had raised R53 000 and he is confident that when the books are closed, there will be more than R100 000 in the bank.
He set out on December 1, accompanied by a small team of volunteers, a bicycle, a BMW R1200 GS and a small van with all their supplies. Real life had intruded, however, and he had managed less than three months of training, with only one full day of walking during which he completed 42km.
As he said later: “I got fit on the road.”
By the time he reached Port Alfred, there were blisters under the blisters on his feet and in Jeffery’s Bay he had to seek medical treatment. The doctor told Wright to stay off his feet, so he allowed himself a day of rest (one of only five during the entire journey) and the next day put in a personal best of 52km in 14 hours of walking.
Every night they had a place to sleep; one night they had arranged to sleep in a barn but when the farmer and his wife met them on the road, they simply took them to the farm, threw open the doors of their home and went to stay with family.
They touched thousands of lives along the way, as people waved and hooted, often stopping to give them food, drink and even money, and to ask why Wright was walking along the national road with a cross on his back. Many asked for sponsor packs; Wright reckons he raised about R13 000 for Run for the Son during the walk, with more to come.
Asked if there had been any negative reactions, he said he valued them because they gave him some feel of what it was like for Jesus when he walked through Jerusalem with a much heavier cross on his back.
Even the weather was kind; only once did he walk through 20km of torrential rain, but there was some cloud cover for at least half of most days on the road – although Wright’s deep tan is evidence of countless hours of walking in blazing sunshine.
A personal highlight for Wright was walking through Worcester; he knows he was born there but has never met his parents.
“It was like coming home,” he said. “Not to this place, but to who I am.
“Now I’m at home in my skin.”
Wright reached the Bikers Church in Brackenfell, Cape Town, late on the afternoon of December 30, having walked 1003.8km in 25 days on the road, an average of 40km a day, getting up at 4am and trying to be on the road by five.
During the walk he went through four pairs of running shoes and two pairs of aluminium walking staves, and developed a steady, relaxed stride that made him very difficult to keep up with.
“I don’t feel any sense of self-achievement,” he said, paying tribute to his support team. “If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here.”
Greg Phillips cycled the whole way with him, carrying his own and Wright’s water, while Dale Simmons was always at hand with his big BMW to provide the nutritional supplements that kept them going up the long hills and through endless afternoons. Simmons actually wore out a pair of hiking boots, getting off the GS at least once a kilometre.
Wright said the team had learned much about themselves and each other along the way. Asked if it would be difficult to go back to everyday life after such an adventure, he simply said: “I’m a disciplined person now.”
Contributions to Run for the Son can be made to FNB account number 514 2002 3487, branch code 25 01 17, in the name CMA Run for the Son, using the reference Big Walk and your name. Please email proof of payment to Beth at 0866 147 321.