Night lights Transport for Christ truck show lights up the night in Amish Country
The Transport For Christ Ohio Truck Show and Festival of Lights rolled through eastern Holmes County on Friday, June 15, bringing with it a light show like few others.
A total of 91 semi trucks took off on a parade of trucks from Wayne Dalton in Mt. Hope, traveled south along SR 241 to Fryburg, took CR 201 to SR 39 just west of Berlin, traversed through Berlin to Bunker Hill, where they then headed north on CR 77 back to Wayne Dalton.
The tour took nearly two hours, and featured horns blaring, plenty of waving from drivers and their families, and most importantly, thousands of truck lights, which glowed in the darkness, lighting up the night sky.
That in itself is a true symbol of what Transport For Christ (TFC) is all about... shining their light.
The organization's mission is to lead truck drivers as well as the trucking community to Christ and to help them grow in their faith, but those involved do so much more than just that.
They also provide an effective ministry to truck drivers throughout the world, and span the nation from their main post in Lodi.
The TLC mobile chapels travel all over the continent, and according to Jason Nussbaum, TFC's head chaplain, the organization's ability to reach out to the trucking community continues to improve and evolve for the better.
Whether at the permanent site in Lodi or in one of the mobile units, TFC's mission is an ever-expanding one.
"Truck drivers are often away from their families and their communities for long periods of time, and they oftentimes just need to connect with someone who cares," said Nussbaum. "Whether it is counseling, stress relief or just sitting down to chat for awhile one on one, we offer a place to connect."
The Lodi site is open 24 hours, seven days a week, and the mobile units give drivers a chance to be within easy driving distance no matter where they are. While Nussbaum said that they tend to see more Christian drivers than not, they have made plenty of new faith connections over the past years, noting that they saw eight drivers come to Christ in 2011.
"It's interesting to see how God works through this ministry and brings people into our midst," said Nussbaum.
As for the light show, which begins with the trucks pulling out of Wayne Dalton in late daylight, allowing people to get a better view of the trucks, and ends in the dark, where the lights on the trucks take center stage as they travel along CR 77 back to Mt. Hope, it was similar to seeing fireworks on wheels.
"We started doing this just to provide a way for drivers to give back to the community, and as a way to create some awareness of what we are all about," said Nussbaum. "A lot of people aren't aware of what we do, even though we have been at it for 21 years."
The light show on wheels was in Lodi, but when TFC moved the show to Mt. Hope, it began to grow in leaps and bounds. Numerous people set up lawn chairs along the route, some early on to see the trucks, others back in Mt. Hope, where they could see the trucks both in the daylight and when they came back into town at night with lights shining bright.
Of course, along the way, there were plenty of children, arms raised, pumping furiously in the universal 'blare your horn' symbol.
They got their wishes fulfilled plenty, since there were nearly 100 trucks in the parade of lights, all of whom were more than willing to hammer their horns along the route.
It had to make people wonder if traffic in Holmes County was this massive all the time.
"People have really begun to realize that this show is something worth seeing," said Nussbaum. "We've gotten better and better participation over the years, and it has become a much more festive atmosphere."
While the festival of lights transformed the nighttime in eastern Holmes County, the following day brought an auction that helped raise money for the organization to continue to do what it has done for the past two decades.
Whether providing light during the festival of lights, or letting their light shine to truckers out on the roads, Transport For Christ continues to make its mark in the world today.
Check out this cool video, narrated by writer Dave Mast, from Transport for Christ on the Graphic Publications, Inc. YouTube page, found online at www.YouTube.com/GraphicPubs!