Feature: A Bus Ministry in Reverse
Tommye Morrison
by Tommye Morrison, assistant women's editor. The High Point Enterprise
In the distance, a train whistle sounds. Children pause and listen intently, their faces brightening as they hear the shriek and familiar music approaching.
Toys and games forgotten, they converge on the meeting place. Excitement builds as the brightly painted vehicle lumbers to a stop.
Dozens of children scramble aboard—the oldest helping tiny toddlers up the steps. Inside they are greeted by a smiling engineer, personable puppets, and welcoming friends.
After 30 minutes of songs, Scripture, prayers, and a story, the children leave—a bit more reverent, a bit more thoughtful—and the Heaven Train departs for its next stop, where lines of children await its arrival.
The Heaven Train, in its own unique fashion, is accomplishing a mission previously ignored by many churches: bringing the Bible and Christianity to the people in an eye-catching, appealing way.
An outreach ministry of First Wesleyan Church in High Point, North Carolina, Heaven Train is of special interest to Gene Riffell, children's pastor, who has long recognized the importance of ministering to children in High Point's low-income neighborhoods.
And while the style is upbeat, the flavor contemporary, the underlying message is as old as salvation.
"Many churches today are not meeting the needs of these children," Riffell says. "The traditional church is often something these kids can't comprehend."
Riffell, whose wife, Phyllis, serves as coordinator of the entire program, is the "engineer" when the Heaven Train visits the Clara Cox and Daniel Brooks projects. Assisted by a team of 12-year-old puppeteers from the church—Mark Boulware, Michelle Chambers, Lynn Godwin, and Renee Godwin—Riffell greets the ...
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