Mustang Missions – Simply Driving Souls to Christ…
The late, great Dr. Jim White said: “It’s hard to catch a fish if you don’t have bait on the hook”. If we are to be fishers of men (Matthew 4:19) then perhaps we need to put a little bait on our hook.
Working in children’s ministries for many years we always face the challenge of how to get kids to come to church; visitation, incentives and promotions all seem to yield results but there was always “that kid” who was just too macho to go to church.
So one day I was making a follow-up visit in my ‘86 Mustang GT convertible with a young man who insisted that church was for sissies; when he heard the car pull up (was running straight pipes and headers) he said “I’ll go to church, if I can go in that!”.
So began Mustang Missions.
To date 14 children have come to church just to go for a ride.. stayed, heard the Gospel and received Christ as their personal Saviour!
American Muscle is known all over the world.
So it seems that as Missionaries, Evangelists and Pastors visit our church.. they want to go for a ride in the Mustang (or Moostang if you are from Honduras)… So it has began a tradition of a sort to come, visit… go for a spin and have a little fun.
Many of these national Pastors and Missionaries have never been in a car; let alone a Mustang GT. It is a blessing to have a time of fellowship with these great men of faith who sacrificed so much to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.
Putting a little “Horsepower in your Ministry”
Part of developing this into a ministry program is getting others to participate. Many churches have members that of been blessed to own a cool sports car, muscle car or even a show car; perhaps use those blessings as the bait to win souls for Jesus!
Incentives
We have found that providing an incentive for those children already in church can help boost attendance and participation. The Mustang challenge program allowed us to provide a goal for children to obtain such as taking the winner out to lunch in the Mustang. In 2015, through Slater Road Baptist Church, the grand prize winner got a trip to Disney World in the Mustang! This incentive package brought in a record number of visitors and parents; the two children that were front runners memorized several dozen Bible verses each! So be creative with your incentives and let the kids do the rest!
Program Goals
- See Souls Saved
- Break through social barriers
- Encourage others to use the resources God has already Blessed with
- Get Christians in local Car clubs to join in this model of using their Show Car, Muscle Car or unique vehicle to bring souls to Christ.
- Give national Pastors something to write home about…
Missionaries
Countries represented so far are Philippines, Honduras, Venezuela, Africa, Korea, England, Trinidad, Thailand, Granada, Vietnam, Amsterdam, Nigeria, Burma and Peru.
From Across the Street to Across the World
One night at a missions Conference the Pastor ask me to drive the Missionary from the Philippines to Cracker Barrel.. He started to call his wife.. take selfies… When I ask him what was up.. he said he had never gotten to ride in an American Muscle car before. When we got to Cracker Barrel he began to tell the other missionaries about the car ride.. so I spent the evening giving joy rides… Now Missionaries look forward to a visit to our church; to experience a little American Muscle.
The Next Level
So now we want to take this concept and share it with the world. Do you have a Muscle Car? Show car? How about using it to bring kids to church? We are dealing with a generation that has been taught that Church is boring! Show them that being a Christian is the most exciting thing you can be! Combine your love of cars and passion for souls and put some HORSEPOWER into your outreach!
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