Newsletter for:
September, October, November 2009
Dear Friends:
You received the August newsletter a couple of months late and now you are receiving a three-months-in-one newsletter because the donations coming into Steering Wheel Ministries are way down so we have not had the funds for postage. I know it has something to do with the economy but it is made worse by us not being able to get the newsletters out every month. When people don’t get the newsletter the financial support goes down.
On August 22nd we started setting up for our Trucker's Afternoon Of Jubilee at the Rice Hill Pilot at 9:00 that morning. There was a truck parked next to us and the driver was sleeping, so when he got up I went over to apologize for waking him up. Turned out that the driver, Ronnie, is a Christian and was disappointed that he had to go to make his delivery because he wanted to stay for the program, but he wanted to talk for a while. Ronnie told me, "We drivers who are already saved need your ministry too because we need the encouragement to keep going," that statement was very encouraging to me. I prayed with Ronnie before he left.
After the program got going three of us grabbed a handful of gift bags and went from truck to truck out on the parking lot inviting the drivers to come over for free food and live music. I did not go far before a driver, Tracy, said he was a new Christian and he had some questions about how to handle some people he had been talking to. I can say this, it had to do with spiritual warfare and he also had questions about current events and how they fit in end time prophecy. Well over an hour later I prayed with him and went to the next truck and that driver, Dean, also said he was a Christian and we also talked about current events and how they fit in end time prophecy. When I prayed with him that made three drivers I had prayed with at their truck that day.
When I got back to the tent it had been about two and a half hours since I had left. It was not long before a driver, David, came up to the tent and Chaplain Jim greeted him and brought him over to get some food. Jim sat with him and after a while Jim called me over and said that David wanted to get saved. We prayed with him as he gave his life to Jesus Christ. David getting saved made it worth all the work we did for the Jubilees this summer. The Jubilees take a lot of time and money and as you can see it is worth it all.
A couple of us then went to the trucks on the fuel Islands. The first driver I came to was Bill and he said, "I know God is after me because He keeps pulling at my heart." Bill had some misunderstandings about salvation and other Biblical issues that I was able to explain to him. He has to sort this out now, still I could see a relieved look on his face after getting his theology straightened out.
Don, our chaplain at Love's, who had been with us for a number of years, has stepped down due to his health as he could not keep up any longer. When this happened I asked the Lord what I am to do now since we don’t have any one to step into Don’s place and God told me, "I removed him because you are still too focused on being permanent in the truck stops when I have told you to be mobile. So get that Chapel finished and get it on the road and put this truck stop on the circuit." I shared this with a pastor friend in Klamath Falls, Oregon; he told me that he was going to take some men from his church down to Arizona to the Navaho Reservation and do some work at a mission there. This pastor said, "Why should we go all that way when there is a mission right here in Oregon that needs our help?" The pastor told me that his dad was a truck driver and that is why this ministry is so important to him. This means it should be very easy to have this 18-wheel Mobile Chapel on the road by the end of February if not before. There is still some material we need to buy, and we need to get it painted and lettered as well as some body work on the Freightliner and the trailer. As I write this I am working on getting 2x4s donated. I also need to get the glass door to the glass shop and get it put in a frame. This costs money and just like the Jubilees every driver who gets saved from Hell is worth every dollar. I know it is going to cost a lot to keep this chapel on the road but God told me to be obedient and faithful in what He has called us to do in getting the 18-wheel chapel on the road and He will supply the fuel, maintenance, license and insurance. So we are being obedient to what God has said and trusting Him.
I encourage you to go to our web site at www.steeringwheel.org and see all the pictures on our “Happening” page and our “Chapel Construction” page. You will find a lot of good stuff on every page of our web site.
Mike Robbins, our driver/chaplain, he was a chaplain out of his truck, went Home to the Lord on October 3, 2009. When I first met Mike it was not long before I saw that God had a call on him to ministry somewhere. Over the months as he and I prayed about this I came to understand that God was saying Mike was to be a chaplain out of his truck. When I told Mike this he asked me how this was to work and I told him I did not know of this being done before so we were going to learn together and that we did. Now we do not have a driver/chaplain so, in Mike’s memory as the pioneer of driver/chaplains here at Steering Wheel Ministries, I am extending the invitation for men who know God is calling them to be a chaplain to call me at (541) 643-1989 for more information.
We will be at Rice Hill Pilot truck stop, Love’s truck stop and Chemult Pilot truck stop again this Christmas Day. Once again we will be there giving out packages of homemade cookies with a Gospel booklet on each package. It is not too soon to start making cookies and getting them to us. This is also a great time to get signed up to help give them out at one of these truck stops. Christmas Day is divided up into two hour time slots to give the packages to the drivers. For more information please call me at (541) 643-1989.
In the above picture a volunteer just gave the truck driver a Gospel-cookie package. As you can see the driver is surprised to get this gift, and just think, he has to go through Jesus to get the cookies he wants to eat.
In behalf of the drivers, thank you for giving to the Lord so we can stay out here reaching drivers for Jesus Christ. Without your help we cannot stay out here because God is the One Who supplies but He is not the one who writes the checks to support this ministry. So thank you for letting God use you to help us reach so many more for Him.
From time to time I am asked if I get a check from elsewhere to support Debbie and me. The answer is “No we do not get a check from anywhere else”. We are only supported by what comes in to the ministry. The amount that comes into Steering Wheel Ministries each month is less than what the average couple lives on at home and this amount supports the ministry and Debbie and me. God is faithful and we are willing to sacrifice so drivers can get saved and spend eternity in Heaven instead of Hell, it will sure be a lot easier when we can pay the bills on time though.
Once again, thank you for your faithful support and sacrifice as we work together in this great work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Christ's service,
Merwin Rhoades
Chaplain/President
Steering Wheel Ministries
Is recognized by the IRS as a 501[C](3) non-profit Ministry
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