Pastor starts free bike repair service after his bike was stolen [Video]

• Robbie Pruitt, a pastor in a Leesburg, Virginia church, started offering free bike services when his mountain bike got stolen.
• He thought that the man who took it might be badly needing it as work transport.
• His avocation sparked teamwork in his community and opened doors to build friendships.

“But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” This Bible verse might be the one that inspired this pastor to settle a robbery against him with a good deed instead.

Robbie Pruitt, assistant rector at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Leesburg, Virginia, experienced being robbed when his mountain bike got stolen last September.

He admittedly said that he got mad at first. When his emotions subsided soon enough, he rather looked at the incident as an opportunity to turn a misfortune into a greater purpose. He thought to himself that what happened could be pandemic-related and the person who took his bike did it because he seriously needed work transportation.

The pastor then came up with a plan to offer bike fixes for free, which he posted on a local Facebook group.

He also encouraged people to donate abandoned or broken bikes, which he would refurbish free of charge and donate to people who can’t afford but badly needed one.

On the day of posting itself, Pruitt received an inventory of 30 used bicycles, plus more than 500 inquiries on either bike repairs or bicycle donations.

By the end of 2020, the avid biker had restored more than 140 units — about 40 percent of which were for mere bike fixes while the remaining 60 percent were for donations.

Pruitt doesn’t probe on bike requests, but he tries to prioritize extremely struggling families.

His little project has positively made impact in the entire community. It paved the way for him to display resilience and teamwork, foster community mindsets, and build friendships in the neighborhood.

For him, it’s not just providing bike services, it’s more about forming relationships in the community.

The father of three also had the opportunity to show kids in his Loudoun County neighborhood how to fix their own bikes.

“All the neighborhood kids are spending a lot more time doing something that’s hands-on,” Pruitt’s next-door neighbor Danny Offei told The Washington Post. “Almost everybody in the neighborhood has a bike now, and he’s helped put those bikes together.”

Once the pandemic is over, Pruitt hopes to have his “bike ministry” be integrated as a regular activity of his church.

His regular group of helpers, whom he has trained, gather in his backyard where they channel their positive energy with a good goal in mind. For them, what they do is very fulfilling.

“Honestly, it feels great,” eighth-grader Hakim Aburami said in an interview with WDVM News. “Being able to help people in this whole situation, it’s just a really great experience.”

Source: Good News Network