A Parking Lot Full of Grace
If they were to give out a trophy for the ugliest church van at TNT @ TNU, a regional youth event that has been going on for 30 years, we might have taken first prize. We have just purchased what we have nicknamed “old blue." Old blue is a 1994, two toned (three if you count the rust), paint peeling, bumper dented, windshield leaking, backseat missing, fine piece of machinery. We bought it, because the price was right. Although the she’s not the best looking, she drives great and helps get our growing youth group where it needs to go. “Old Blue” was not the only old van in the parking lot. Some of those church vans have been making their way to TNT for years and years. Today, they are often driven by those who at one time were the wide eyed, hyper, mischievous teenagers in the back seat. Take a close look at them, look past the paint, the rust, the fast food wrappers and cups all over the interior. A closer look reveals something more.
Parked over by the football field sat the van from the Cookeville Church of the Nazarene. Fifteen years ago their youth pastor at the time, Michael Mayfield, made a connection with an eleven year old boy from an unchurched family named Ryan McDermott. Ryan would spend many hours riding on that church van. Over the years, it took him to camps, retreats, mission trips, and the yearly trip to TNT. Through the activities of the church, Ryan not only experienced the love of a church family, he experienced the Love of Christ. At a camp, he gave his heart to Jesus and later accepted a call to ministry. After years of coming to TNT, it seemed only natural that he would go there as a student. Ryan graduated from Trevecca and is now our youth pastor. He now invests his life in young men and women, many of who come from homes just like the one he grew up in. He will take them to camps, retreats, mission trips and yearly trips to TNT and the same God that transformed him in those places can and will do an amazing work in their lives as well.
Parked over by the gym, sat the van from the Lenoir City Church of the Nazarene. I was the youth pastor when it was bought brand new in honor of wonderful man of God who had recently passed away. We broke that van in well, as our youth group quickly grew to over thirty in attendance. I would make two trips every Sunday and Wednesday night before and after church to pick up teens and take them home. One of those teens was Jan Rothman, a red headed girl who was probably about fifteen years old. She too came out of an unchurched home. Jan was a leader in our youth group and would often ride “shotgun” in that van as we scoured the apartment complexes and trailer parks of Lenoir City to find teenagers that needed to hear about Jesus. We took that van to camps, retreats, mission trips, TNT, and Bible quizzes. God began to do an amazing work in Jan’s life. Jan became like a little sister to Kelly and me. She would often spend time with our family and was a great babysitter. A few years after we had left Lenoir City we took a new assignment in Summersville Kentucky, (I saw their van at TNT as well). Jan decided to visit us the very first week we were there. Jan met our youth leader that week, and they fell in love. To make a long story short, she is now married with three children serving in the local church and on the district as the Kentucky Teen Bible Quizzing director. I enjoyed seeing my “little sister” at TNT as she had to coach against those same McCormack boys that she used to babysit. That Lenoir City van took Jan places that changed her life, and now she is working in those same places to help change the lives of others.
One van that was not there on campus was the van from the Jamestown Church of the Nazarene. I believe it was probably in the shop. I couldn’t help but think about it though as I looked during the award ceremony at the row in front of me and saw a set of 12 year old twins. Four years ago I got into our church van there in Jamestown and began going around town with candy and invitations to Bible School. I met Audrey and Brianna Marcum that day. They ran to ask their mom if they could come to VBS, and she said yes. Every night they begged me to go fast over the speed bumps that led into the government housing where they lived so that they could fly up out of the back seat. Come to think of it, that may be why the van is currently in the shop. Although Kelly and I have been gone from Jamestown for over a year and a half people have continued to invest in the Marcum girl’s lives as they pick them up for church and keep them involved in youth group activities. My heart swelled with pride, and a tear filled my eye as I heard their names called to receive an award for their interpretive worship performance. I hugged them and told them I loved them and would be praying for them as they headed back home to Jamestown. I hope their new youth pastor remembers to go fast over the speed bumps.
There is something about going to TNT that makes me nostalgic. It has been a constant in my life for thirty years. Surrounded by those church vans, I can’t help but think back to the hours I spent on them as a teenager myself. I remember that we often sang songs to pass the time. One of my favorite songs as a young teenager was “You can’t get to heaven." One verse said, “You can’t get to heaven on our church bus, the wheels will fall off and the parts will all rust." That statement may technically be true, but I am thankful for old church vans and buses that have helped get teenagers like me, Ryan, Jan, Audrey and Brianna and thousands more to places where God can make a difference in our lives as we all make our journey toward heaven.
