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Courtesy Whispering Hope Chapel, Transport for Christ
Whispering Hope Chapel is located on Intersate 20 in Columbia, S.C., and offers truckers a place to stop and worship.
In a secular season when one jolly old soul is hailed for transporting presents in a sleigh, a Christian outreach program is again reaching out to the guys who haul the rest of the stuff.
This is the 60th year for Transport For Christ, a Marietta, Pa.-based evangelical organization operating 34 North American truck stop chapels in 19 states and five Canadian provinces. They aim to keep our nation’s highway rollers holy.
“Today’s interstate truckers face a host of difficult personal and physical challenges,” said TFC spokesperson Jane Evans. “They’re confined to their rigs for long stretches at a time, far from their homes and families. A lot of times they really just need someone to talk to. Anyone feeling the stress of the road is welcome, but we really reach out to our truckers.”
The chapels were established in 1951 and, much like the truckers they aimed to serve, they were out on the road. It wasn’t until 1986 when the first permanent chapel was established at an Interstate 81 truck stop near Harrisburg, Pa.
Evans said they invite truckers to worship in a place where many of them often feel most at home: the inside of a truck. It costs $20,000 to $30,000 to convert an old rig into a house of God.
All the chapels are painted alike so they become familiar to weary truckers. Evans says the TFC’s goal is to locate a mobile ministry within one driving day of anywhere in North America.
“The drivers know we’re there and they look for us,” she said. “Our chaplains were involved in more than 67,000 contacts last year.”
To most every American, the open road has always meant freedom. To truckers, it can be the exact opposite.
“It can be very lonely,” said 56-year-old Nelson Martin, who for the past 35 years has driven interstate trucks an average of 125,000 miles a year from coast to coast. “I have 10 grandkids and really miss my family.”
Truckers have a saying that the only thing they don’t deliver is babies. For instance, Martin is hauling eggs throughout the Northeast from near his home in Meyersdale, Pa. You may think about chickens when you have eggs, but you probably don’t think about guys like Martin.
“The schedules and the miles can be grueling,” he said. “You have to have these eggs delivered by a certain time, no matter what the weather or the traffic problems.
“It can be real sad for guys to be far from home when there’s an emergency or family trouble. There are temptations of prostitution and the urge to drink or take drugs and that can get you fired. These chapels can be real lifesavers and I mean that in every sense of the word.”
Bob Thompson is the owner of the Perkins Restaurant at the original location for the TFC truck stop in Harrisburg. He says the chapel has a spiritual sanitizing effect.
“The chapel really helps keep the illegal activities at bay,” said Thompson, also a TFC boardmember. “Prostitutes have told police they aren’t comfortable working the areas where the chapels are. The chapels set a tone that lets the drivers know this is a place that’s trying to run a respectable business that cares about their well-being.”
Chris Rodell is a Latrobe, Pa., contributor who blogs at www.EightDaysToAmish.com.
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All I can say is "It's about time!" Glad to see this is being done.
I feel a good song coming on. Salvation in a converted rig; and he rides the road with me......
Amen Brother Ben Killed a Goose and shot a hen.
They have had these mobile chapels for years, across the U.S.
Why don't the people that put this story together dig into the debacle that occured a few years ago where 5-6000 drivers had their commercial licenses just "cancelled" by the state of Tennessee?? Its all great to have the Lord in your life as I have seen many numerous chapels for drivers throughout the U.S. but after I lost my 75,000 dollar truck because of Tennessee and that trucking school I don't even get to see those anymore! Thank You Tennessee for making me almost homeless, and for taking my livelyhood away from me, because as we ALL know, I have tried to regain my license THREE times since, in three different states, and you are STILL saying that my CDL license exist but that I am "ineligible to drive"!! I cannot even get my license "privately" because of the geniuses up there.....Appreciate it......Before long you will have to answer to the man that this story is about! It may take the rest of my life, but I will finally receive justice.....Because as the Lord knows, you people up there sure are good at ruining peoples lives!...
Huhh? 5 to 6000??? is that the best reporting you can do? I suspect it was closer to 5 ... 6000? really? Once you obtain a CDL, you can not go anywhere else to obtain another. There are procedures to follow to surrender and obtain another.
Tennessee revokes CDL for life if convicted of DUI.
I know, I suspect the poster above is leaving out certain bits of key information in an attempt to wallow in his misery at having f%*cked up and is trying to make himself and others think he is "yet another victim of society and big brother"
Chris Rodell
Thank you for posting this article . God wants us to plant seeds of faith . May your posting this story help , many decide to get out of their truck and hear the message given in one of these chapels .
My first 5 years of driving , was over the road . For the last 28 years , I've been mostly local .
I'm trying to remember where I saw one of these chapels in the early 1980's ?
About that sane time , I remember sitting in a truck stop restaurant , and hearing them announce , there would be a service in a half hour . I don't remember why I didn't go . I think I got in my truck and got back on the road .
Keeps the prostitutes away? Reminds me of the phrase "sweating like a prostitute in church". But I do very much like the idea of spiritual support for these hard working people.
This is an old story being rehashed! Please MSNBC could we get some real news?
I know I've seen at least two chapels here in OKC area, one off of I-35 in N. OKC and one off of I-40 in Western OKC. I think it's great, can remember when truckers didn't have the best reputations because of their mobile life.
The last thing this world needs is more people with a low education level who are easily indoctrinated with religious crap being targeted by opportunistic idiots who are just looking to take a buck from these guys. Shame on them. The only thing that can reveal the TRUE nature of the universe in science. It has been proven time and time again that the higher the education level the less likely people are to be duped into religious belief. The truckers are good people; they are also highly vulnerable to religious freaks. I would pray for them but since that will do no good I will just hope that they are strong enough to resist such nonsense. My intent is not to offend, just to speak the truth.
Just to let you know a few facts from a trucker's wife, not all truckers have low education levels. My husband is very well educated, and has met other drivers who at one time were teachers, office managers, small business owners, etc., etc., who because of the over-educated idiots running this country, lost their jobs when budgets were cut and businesses were forced to close down.
Also, several months ago, my husband was at one of these truck stops that offers religious services. He felt inspired to listen to the preacher, and lo and behold, sat in his truck and listened to the entire sermon on his c.b. radio without spending a dime.
So, in closing, when you're standing up at the Pearly Gates, you might want to ask St. Peter if he would cover his eyes for a moment so you can shove your scientific b.s. up your backside, along with your opinionated, stereotypical personality.
I think that maybe some would be amazed at the number of college educated truck drivers