Sunday, September 20, 1998
Transport for Christ reaches out to truck drivers
By Cathy Willoughby
Staff Writer
A brightly-painted semi truck is home for a ministry that believes in moving to its people.
It has been parked in the lot at Rainbow Muffler over the weekend and is a unique arm of the church, reaching out to a community of people that are always on the road.
Mobile Transport for Christ is a non-denominational, evangelical missionary program that reaches out to truck drivers where they are most likely to be, the nation's truck stops.
Although the truck appearing at the Heritage Festival this weekend moves from place to place, the other units do stay permanently at the other locations. According to Chaplain John Mitchell of Tiffin, the trucks transformed into chapels are mobile in the same way a mobile home is: it is always capable of being moved.
Gary and Pearl Nusbaum, Great Lakes regional directors for the ministry, maintain the base of the operation and take care of scheduling. There are two truck stop locations that they serve in Ohio - one in Lodi, that was established in 1990, and one in Toledo, off Ohio Turnpike Exit 5.
Mitchell will serve as lead chaplain to a new location, at the Stony Ridge 76 truck stop at Exit 5 on the turnpike. He still is recruiting volunteers to work with him. ''If anybody would like to volunteer, they should contact me and let me know. They can come up and see what it's like. They may see that the Lord says that He can use them here,'' he said. ''We are not just here to seek prayer and financial support but to bring life back to the church and community.'' Mitchell can be reached at 448-7554.
Mobile Transport for Christ serves 3,000-5,000 drivers at each stop annually, depending on the location of the truck stop and the number of truckers that come in.
The ministry was established in 1951 by Jim Keyes, who began the concept in Canada, traveling to truck stops to spread the Lord's Word. In 1966, it spread to the United States, setting up in Akron and becoming incorporated as a charitable organization. In 1986, the group started placing mobile units permanently at truck stops.
''It was in the 1960's that the mobile chapel concept of ministry began,'' Nusbaum said. ''But it was structured differently then than now.'' There are now 24 truck stop locations that are served throughout the United States, Canada and even two locations in Russia.
It is the group's third year participating in the Heritage Festival; they have been in the parade, passing out brochures.''We wanted to expose people to the ministry in this area - creating support and looking for potential volunteers,'' John Mitchell said.
Nusbaum said that the truck drivers describe the chapels as their church on the road. ''They say that it is a vital part of their life on the road. But we are not here to be a church and we are not in competition with their church.''
With all of the hours required to be on the road, it is difficult for drivers to participate in traditional church services. ''Usually churches are looking for people, instead we are bringing them to us by being in the work place of the truck driver. If they have a problem, they come in. We will share the Gospel with them and show them the reality of life and sin and that they will be taken care of by being born again,'' Edna Mitchell said.
A lot of the drivers have family problems due to spending so much time away from their families. And many of the drivers seek out the chaplains forfellowship. The chapels provide services on Sunday mornings, and one-on-one ministries during the week.
They are open for as many hours as they can be manned by volunteers and a lead chaplain. He is on missionary support with a faith promise; they rely on monthly donations from friends and other churches. The chaplain gathers the volunteers and trains them to work alongside him.
A news magazine is produced, ''Highway News and Good News,'' that includes articles that would appeal to that population, as well as columns dealing with scriptural teachings. And the chapels provide the drivers with a number of Christian products that they can use while they are working.
''We try to have a significant number of helps available,'' Nusbaum said. ''They don't know where a Christian bookstore would be, so we have some teaching Bibles, basic teachings on cassette and the Bible on cassette for sale.''
''And we have a log that has the listings of all the Christian radio stations,'' Mitchell added.
Both the Nusbaums and Mitchells have seen the presence of the chapels change truck drivers' lives. ''When the chapels are placed permanently, they serve as a deterrant to evil. Prostitutes and drug dealers have left locations. We had a driver who came in to accept the Lord in his life; he had been a pimp for one of the prostitutes. Four years later he gave his heart to the Lord; it changed his occupation and his life,'' Nusbaum said.
''You do see the drivers' lives being changed,'' Mitchell said. ''After you sit with a driver for awhile you can see him change; the countenance of his face will change because the burden of sin will be lifted off him.''