In the
1970's bus ministry was used by churches across the nation to reach
children for Jesus. The largest Sunday school in America, FBC
Hammond, Indiana, had a bus ministry that had 1,000
workers using 230 buses to bring as many as 10,000 people to church
every Sunday.
Baptist
Temple's bus ministry was launched with the purchase of a 1970 blue
Chevrolet van to pick up Sunday school
students from East Terrace and Victoria Courts. In 1971 a used Dodge
school bus was added to the fleet followed by
a used Chevrolet school bus in 1972. This
soul-winning ministry resulted in a record 151 baptisms in 1972. The
previous high mark was 121 in 1933. A record number of new members
was also set in 1972.
The
first drivers were Jimmy Walker, Ed Flynn, David Evans and Arland
Ames. Walker drove for 35 years and participated in many aspects of
the ministry including evangelistic visitation, phone calls,
follow-up and training.
Steve Grinnell became part of the bus ministry in the 1980s. During those
years two buses picked up student as far south as Military Dr., north
to MLK, east to WW White and west to Roosevelt. Grinnell remembers a
big operation involving phone calls and visitation.
Ernest Dominguez was one of the children who rode the van to Baptist Temple
Sunday School. As he got older he strayed away from church but, when
God began to speak to his heart, he returned to the place where he
first heard the gospel. Dominguez was baptized on Easter Sunday 2013.
Bus ministry is still used as an evangelistic tool by many churches today. In 2001, FBC Hammond still had a fleet of over 200 buses in operation.
Outreach
to children is a vital ministry for a soul-wining church. Most
Christians become followers of Christ as children. Furthermore, the
fastest way to reach families is by ministering to children.
Check
out this resource: The
Bus Ministry Manual
Then the master told
his servant,
"Go out to the roads
and country lanes
and compel them to come
in,
so that my house will
be full."
Luke 14:23 (NIV)
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