Saturday I had the opportunity to go on bus visitation. A deacon who normally visits one of the bus routes was with his grandkids so I volunteered to visit for him. It had been a while since I had gone on bus visitation. I got what I needed: the addresses, the half sheet promotions, and a bucket of candy. I was ready to go.
What I forgot was how long it took and how tiring it was. I thought I would breeze through it in an hour or two at the most. Wrong. Although I came home feeling like I do on Sunday afternoons (exhausted) my heart had been blessed. Here are six lessons I learned Saturday.
1. A 10-year-old girl turned to her mom on the front porch and said, “He’s the guy that let me help sing!” Then I remembered a few weeks earlier I asked her to come up front and help me do the motions on a song. I didn’t even know this child’s name but she grinned ear-to-ear when I asked her if she would help me again. Lesson from 8th Street: What might not mean much to to me can me the world to a kid.
2. A 5-year-old boy ran out the front door and exclaimed, “You make balloons!” Lesson from 7th Street: Something as simple as a balloon can make a lasting impression.
3. A 16-year-old girl across the street yelled, “Hey Brother Ryan.” When I walked across the street I recognized her from when she was young and road the bus. It had been several years since I had seen her. She showed me her new 7-month-old baby. Lesson from McClure Street: Kids grow fast. Pray that the seeds you plant will take root and pop their heads at just the right time.
4. At one stop the kids weren’t home but mom and three other guys were sitting on the front porch smoking cigarettes. Mom told me that the kids would be riding the bus tomorrow and as I left one of the guys asked me to stop. He asked me to pray for his wife who is experiencing kidney failure in the hospital. Lesson from Nelson Street: Some needs you don’t discover until you get out of your office and rub shoulders with people.
5. I was able to witness a kid ride his bike without training wheels for the first time. Mom, or “Barbie” as her boyfriend called her, was a nervous wreck. A few minutes before this monumental event, I got out of the van with my “giant trophy” (a plastic planter I spray painted gold and attached gold handles on the sides) with Dum Dum suckers. Kids swarmed from everywhere. Within about 20 seconds, I was surrounded by 15 kids. Lesson from 10th Street: When you visit, carry your ammo (toys or candy). You’ll be a magnet to kids.
6. I thought the bus promotion would be the exciting topic at each stop. After all, we were taking the kids to Wendys after church and buying them each a Frosty. The Frosty wasn’t the exciting thing - I was. The kids were more excited to see me than to hear about the Frostys. Lesson from all the stops: Ministries are built on relationships.
I love the bus ministry. I know it’s not for everyone and for every church, but it’s one of the most rewarding ministries to “the least of these” that I have ever been involved in. “But I don’t have a bus ministry.” Well get out of that office anyway and go see your kids - in their world. Go to their home, their school, their baseball game, etc. You’ll discover ministry opportunities that just aren’t possible in the 45 minutes you have on Sunday.
i am glad to hear you did this… it is baffeling what a simple gesture, such as taking the time to just talk to someone, can do for that persons’s day, and our spirits!
If everyone paid attention to child’s this world would be a better place for everyone.
Awesome blog…The Holy Ghost is really using you to stir me up about our bus ministry, that really hasn’t gotten off the ground yet…
Any tips for starting off…We went door to door promoting outreaches 4 times within 3 months at a section 8 apartment complex in our town…We got 2 kids on a regular basis for about 3 months and one family came a handful of times on their own but we were not able to build on it and get other kids to come…eventually we lost the 2 we had…
We have several city parks inside neighborhoods. What we believe we are supposed to do is send teams door to door handing out flyers and candy etc… to kids inviting them to come to the event at the park…At the park we will have a moon bounce, team oriented games, maybe a skit or two and a 3-5 minute mini message…Our main goal will be making contact and we will have drawings that require contact information for follow up in attempting to establish bus routes…
Please elaborate on your experiences especially in the early stages…What I feel the Lord is showing me is that we will eventually run our buses on Saturdays for a special service similar to what COTM did. The main reason for the special service is many of our volunteers have other duties on Sunday but would be willing to assist on Saturdays..we’re a small church less than 150 members..
I will pray for your church as you try to establish this bus route. I was fortunate in the fact that I “inherited” the bus ministry at my church. It was already here when I came on staff. When I was 13 our church (where I serve) started running a bus and I immediately jumped on board to help. In fact, the bus would swing by my house first and pick me up.
Our bus ministry continues to grow every year. To God be the glory! We are now running three bus routes. Sunday the buses had 207 riders. Do the math and you will see that it’s about time for a fourth route.
It sounds like you are doing the right thing. The event at the park sounds great. I believe there are a few reasons why our bus ministry keeps growing. Maybe they can help you as you try to get yours off it’s feet.
1. The kids invite kids. The best way to get new riders is to sign up their friends. Going door to door, cold turkey, can work, but it’s ten times the work as your existing kids bringing their friends.
2. Our bus workers visit every Saturday. Every child gets a visit at their home on Saturday by a bus worker. This lets us know if they will be coming on Sunday, it lets us minister to the entire family, and it’s a good time to recruit new kids. If Billy, for example, is playing out back with some kids from down the street, that’s the “prime time” for signing up new riders.
3. There is a vibrant, exciting program waiting on the kids when they get to the church.
4. The workers are committed. If we didn’t have a group of 20-25 teenagers and adults who loved these kids and were dedicated, we could never pull it off.
5. Our church wants to pay the price. We decided a long time ago that we weren’t going to be able to keep our buildings perfect. We decided a long time ago that we didn’t get into the bus ministry because gas was cheap, so when gas prices go up we aren’t bailing out. We decided a long time ago that those bus kids aren’t going to throw money in the offering plate. The point is this - the pastor and congregation have decided to pay the price and reap the rewards.
I hope this helps! I’ll be praying for you church.
I certainly appreciate the information and more importantly your prayers…It just blesses me to no end that you guys are willing to take time out of your busy schedules and share your hearts, ideas, experiences etc…
The Lord put this on my heart years ago the timing wasn’t there and my Pastor would always say “That’s interesting let’s stay in prayer about it.” Within a year or 2 the Lord began revealing his plan and confirmed it to my Pastor through several 5 fold ministers that frequently minister in our church. So Pastor is committed to the vision and believes in this time in society that to win the family you must 1st win the kids…
One last question…for at least several hours…do you find most of your bus ministry kids to be in low income or poverty stricken areas and homes???
Yes. 95% of the kids are from low-income / poverty stricken areas.
Thanks for all you do Chris. I checked out your church website. It looks cool.
Thanks we just recently got it up and are still trying to learn how to get everything set they way we want…I don’t speak html…
Thanks Ryan
Pastor Ryan,
Interesting that you are writing about this subject at this time. I am currenlty trying to get our van ministry organized in a better way to protect the kids and the church.
Can you give some information on what you do to get kids “signed up” to be picked up by your ministry? What sort of information do you require? It sounds like this is something that happens during the Saturday visitation times.
I too inherited this ministry and God has blessed it in the last year without any work from us. i believe we can reach many, many more kids if we do this right.
Also, do you have prodecures/policies put in place for kids who have issues with anger and trying to hurt others? Or is this not a problem if you have enough volunteers on the bus with the kids? Our kids, too come from impoverished areas and sometimes when they first come they don’t know how to treat others well.