It occured this Sunday. A ministry valuable specially in our time. Ride ministry.

When we see the list of giftings and calling we don;t see it there. Can we call ministry something that is not listed in the Bible? I think yes.

Ministry is to help, to support, to advance the Kingdom. But what relation has the ride with the ministry? I think many North Americans will remember the time when the church has a van or a bus to pick up people who wanted to go to church. Now that almost everyone has a car, we don;t need the ministry, right? Wrong.

When a person can’t come in a church meeting just because of mobility issues, the ride ministry is needed. It’s not only when we have disability issues, it’s also when we have far distance issues. Most committed Christians can ride for one hour to go to a church meeting, but do you think someone else will do that? When you invite a Muslim or Hindu or just a “normal” atheist to attend one of your church services, do you think that they will come easily? Not adding that if they don;t have a car and they need to use the bus the traveling time just doubles. If you live in Toronto and need to use the bus you pay $3.5 one way only. If you invite the unbeliever and his family of four, all the trip to the church service will cost them $ 16, at least. If they are newcomers than the situation might be more difficult.

I’m detailing this because that is normal, and I’ve experienced it. SO many times I receive invitations and I would like to go, but I can’t because I need to spend more than half the day using the bus around the expanding Greater Toronto Area.

Last Sunday one of the believers did something amazing that inspired me to write this post. I connected her with another Albanian who was interested to visit the church gathering. They communicated by phone and my friend went to pick the woman and her mum. After the service she drove them home and had some great time together.

You can do ride ministry once a year, or more often. I don;t think needs a special revelation from God, just a desire to serve, open eyes and open ears. You will never know what God has prepared for the passenger in your car.