12 More Blessings & Challenges from the Road
Blessings!
Here are some fantastic blessing we experience as we travel.
Getting a Panoramic View
We have the opportunity to see a wider cross-section of our churches and their condition. This is an enormous help as we see trends wash across Bible-believing churches. It gives us perspective.
Meeting new people & making friends
This is one of our favorite parts of traveling. We now have so many people that we’ve gotten to know hundreds, even thousands of miles away. Technology makes it nice to be able to keep in touch with them.
Times of financial feast
In the last list I wrote about financial famine. There are also financial feasts, too. Perhaps a church gives an extraordinary love offering. Perhaps an individual feels prompted to bless in a certain way. This happens, usually when we least expect it but we need it the most.
Unique opportunities to minister in music
It may not be this way for everyone in our “line of work” but we have a very active music ministry. We are able to do live concerts and write music and see it impact people almost immediately. This is a blessing.
Many opportunities to preach
I am called to preach, and having the opportunity to proclaim the Word of God is a great honor. As an evangelist, I am able to preach many times throughout the year.
Not a lot of pastoral stress
Not all stress is the same. Pastors can face tremendous stress in the course of ministry. While we do face stress, it comes in waves and is generally not as constant as what we have seen with most pastors who live with it day in and day out. We do face stress, but it isn’t quite the same.
Challenges
Breakdown of equipment and vehicles
This is a big one. The many miles of the road wear on truck and trailer. There isn’t any way around it. Unless you purchase a high-end trailer or are extremely good at repair work, a 5th wheel trailer doesn’t last long. You are constantly dealing with maintenance and fixing things. Now that we aren’t in a 5th wheel anymore, we don’t face this quite as much as we used to. That’s part of the reason we left 5th wheeling!
Few people who understand
This is probably true of any profession. There are some things about living life full-time on the road that few people can comprehend. Even the concept of “going home” has a different feel. For years, our kids didn’t know what to answer sometimes when someone asked where they lived.
Not being able to see people grow
You simply cannot disciple people on the road. Social media does help, but rarely do we find ourselves being able to long-term disciple.
Not having a permanent residence
We haven’t been paying down a house over the last 20 years. Even now, we rent. We would love to own a home with some of our own property. We will continue to trust the Lord on this and see what He provides in the future.
Tight schedules & health requirements
Constant travel, no give in the schedule to “push it back a day” and health make a difference. There is no time for sickness, especially me. I can still do a meeting if the whole family is sick, but if I get sick, then we’re in real trouble. You have to be always on your toes.
Little safety net
Income for an evangelist on the road is mostly generated by holding special meetings. The very week you don’t have a meeting, you don’t have a paycheck. We have a small core of churches and individuals who help us in this regard by supplementing us so if we go to a struggling church or can’t fill every week out of 52 we can stay afloat. But it can be a faith-building experience!
These are some additional blessings and challenges that people like us face on the road. Hopefully it gives you some insight into how you can better understand and pray for traveling families as they come across your path.