RV Ministry Report for 2021 Book of Reports for LBHA
Since May 1, 2019, we have traveled over 20,000 miles in or through the edge of 40 states. We have talked with and given out Gospel tracts, Gospels of John, and pieces of jewelry to over 1,700 people. Only six have turned them down. We have stayed in at least 100 campgrounds, including national parks, state parks, and private RV campgrounds, and at about 40 boondocking sites. Boondocking includes store parking lots and public lands, with no electricity or water connections.
We have discovered various characteristics of RV ministry. The primary characteristic is that it is almost always a brief contact with the people with whom we are sharing. Longer conversations are usually not possible, as the people are willing to take a tract, but not an extended conversation. So we focus on planting Gospel seed in the form of the interesting tracts, etc., that we give to the campers, the store clerks, the gas station clerks, and the like. This does not discourage us, because God has promised that no Word of His will return void. He will use it in His Kingdom’s work. This is our faith and trust in Him. For example, one of the most prolific missionaries in Christian history was Hudson Taylor, who started the China Inland Mission organization. This organization reached and won to Christ literally millions of Chinese people. But who led Hudson to Christ? No one knows. In fact, not even he knew. Why? Because a tract handed to him led him to salvation! That is the trust we have in the tracts, etc., that we use. We know that God is faithful to His promises in Kingdom work.
Other characteristics include that there are mostly three groups of campers: 1) on Friday to Sunday, who are mostly younger couples, often with kids; 2) on Sunday to Friday, mostly older couples, who are mostly retired, sometimes with grands or great-grands; and 3) vacationers on random days, who are usually families. The first and third groups usually leave on Sunday mornings, so we make sure to try to talk with people sometime on Saturdays in the middle of their stays.
Other groups include homeless or somewhat homeless people, often in tents or older RVs. These are often working at local jobs of various types. One often unnoticed group are the park and campground workers, who need the Lord and salvation, too. We try to talk to them at slow or slack times. Another group includes clerks at gas stations, stores, restaurants, etc. They are always happy to get an interesting tract.
We watch for the lonely, discouraged, depressed, hurting, and/or people in some sort of transition or crisis. Billy Graham said, “When I preach—no matter where it is in the world—I can always count on five areas of human need that afflict all peoples: emptiness, loneliness, guilt, fear of death, and deep-seated insecurity.” These people need someone to listen and pray with them.
We usually use low-cost, interesting tracts we buy from Living Waters. They have over 40 types, often a hundred tracts for $6 a packet. We also use our testimonies, the free phone app Share Jesus Without Fear, and Gospels of John from the Pocket Testament League.
We have missed you in the association so much! Thank you especially for your prayers! We have seen God work as the direct result of these in our travels. Please continue to lift us up to God as we go. Richard and Lane Graham, RV Missionaries, www.godzfriends.net. Email is rgrahamdom@yahoo.com.
