The trucking industry is filled with men and women who need the Lord. Spend any amount of time in a truck stop and you will know this to be true. With long periods away from home, temptation runs strong and often those temptations can be easily satisfied at any truck stop. Christian drivers need fellowship and encouragement. It is great to be able to sit and visit with a fellow believer while away from home.

   2008 was a terrible year for the trucking industry. Over 2,500 companies closed their doors.  Many closed without warning leaving drivers wondering what to do. Fuel prices skyrocketed to well over $5.00 a gallon during the summer. At an average of 100 gallons of fuel used per day that brought serious financial strain to companies and drivers already hurting from soft freight volumes.

   God challenged me that I needed to be as involved as possible. I began to look at going on board with Transport for Christ to help them develop an OTR Chaplaincy module. As such, I felt I needed to return to the road. However, after much prayer I feel that I will continue to work with Truckstop Ministries even while on the road. I had struggled with leaving TMI as I enjoyed working with them and this would enable me to stay.

   So I have returned to the open highway looking for open doors to touch the lives of drivers. At this point I have had the opportunity to visit numerous chapels and a few churches near truck stops. My desire in visiting churches is to develop a network of truck-friendly churches near truck stops where drivers can go for a service. Most Christian drivers look for every opportunity to fellowship with one another and other believers.

   So what are the plans for ministry? Literature and preaching CD distribution is one of the key elements of the ministry. There are many great places to leave tracts for drivers to pick up. Phone rooms are a great place to leave Bibles. Many of these are located on the way into a travel center and drivers have the opportunity to pick one up out of curiosity.

   I also look for opportunities to enter a conversation with a driver, either in the truck stop or on the CB. Many drivers are struggling and need hope. This is one of the harder areas for me. It is often difficult to know what to say. Pray for me that God will help me in this area to be more effective in ministry to these drivers. They need to hear the good news and I want to give that to them.

   So how can you pray? Pray that God will give me the ability to speak every chance I get to share the Gospel with drivers. Also, pray that the literature and CD’s will end up in the right hands. Pray that God will send me where He needs me to be and that my eyes will be open to the opportunity. Also, pray that I will get the miles I need to meet our financial needs. This is a combination of work and ministry and I need the miles to pay the bills and get me to the places of ministry.

   Thank you for being a part of this ministry to reach the professional drivers of America with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!