What I Learned as a Bus Driver in the 1980’s

Back in 1980’s, I came upon an opportunity to serve at my church, Twin City Baptist Temple in DeKalb.  I led a local church bus ministry. I became something like a youth leader in the community. This ministry deeply impacted me, and it shaped me for the rest of my life. 

As part of this ministry, on Saturdays my fiancée (now wife) Debbie and I would go knocking on doors in the community and introducing ourselves to parents and their families. We would ask if they were part of a church, and if they weren’t, then we would invite them to church. Frequently the parents would accept our offer to take the children to church even if the parents themselves could not or would not come. On Sundays, we would return to those homes and pick up riders, filling the church school bus with as many children as we could and bring them to Sunday School and church. We would sometimes pick up seniors and others with no means of transportation and bring them to church also.

Years later, in my job as a police officer, I would cross paths again with some of these children, especially those who came from broken homes. And because of that previous  relationship where we had formed a mutual respect, I was sometimes able to help them in their situations. Years ago, I had prayed over each of these kids. I felt God opened the door for me to help them where other officers might not have been able. I believed some of these children’s lives would have turned out differently had we not known each other from the bus ministry. 

I didn’t initially understand the significance of some of those early experiences that I had when trying to minister to these kids. But I found that when we allow Christ to guide our lives and trust in him, he will open doors for us, and he will work in people’s hearts. We may not immediately realize the impact we have made. But someday you may encounter these people again, like I did. And only then may you realize that helping them with their material and physical needs opened the door to helping them with spiritual needs. That’s why I feel that the work we do here at Love INC is so important. It is just like my children’s bus ministry from so many years ago. It opens the door to building relationships with people that will transform both your life and theirs for God’s glory.