I've worked on bus routes for years and have been driving a bus route since before I graduated Bible College. Every church I've ministered at has run buses (or vans) to pick up kids, adults, and really, anybody that would come. Bus ministry itself has been around for a while and seems to be a staple among the more conservative IFB churches. In fact, many have used it as a point of pride to prove that they really do care about kids, or really are making an impact, or really are far more spiritual than many other churches. That, however, is not the subject for today.
Through my own experience, I've noticed two very different kinds of bus routes. Both bring in kids, both get those kids to church, but one thrives while the other falters. One tends to have faithful, excited children, the other leans toward bored and disinterested children. One is remembered fondly, the other hardly remembered. One makes the difference, the other simply makes a drive.
Which matches your bus ministry?
Is it simply a Taxi service to haul kids to church, with the ride being only a means to an end, (getting to church) or does it rise to be something more?
You could allow free reign for any kind of chit-chat, picture taking, phone playing, and music listening. That would be no different than a school bus. The kids lean toward that. That's the easiest thing to do. However, you could instead actively take advantage of every minute God has given you with those kids to teach them, train them, and love them.
The stats speak for themselves. There are 168 hours in a week, that being 24 each day. During a normal week, the children you minister to will be in school for 35-40 hours, will watch 28 hours of TV(1), and spend many hours on social media and video games. Many struggle to read their Bibles at all, most don't have any godly influence at home, and few are able to make any other church program. That means the only Bible influence they have is Sunday morning.
Assuming the typical set-up in IFB churches of one hour of "Sunday School" and one of a "Children's Service" they only get two hours of Bible influence to help them through their long, long week. What if there was a way to help them? How could we help them more?
What if I told you there is an easy way to nearly double that time?
The answer lies in this next question.
How long is your bus route?
While, obviously, some kids are really close to the church, perhaps only a few minutes away, others can easily be on the bus close to an hour every single trip. Even if you mirror your route going home, the average kid could be on the bus an hour or more, even if that time is split between before and after church. Most routes I've driven required leaving an hour and a half before the service. That's a lot of time each Sunday morning.
Some "bus captains" choose to take advantage of that time. A couple I know that helped run a bus route commonly stuffed the ride full of Bible memory time, a mini-lesson, singing songs, and trivia games to help the kids learn and remember Bible truths. In reminiscing on that experience, they frequently noted, even after reaching the children's families, the kids (and even their parents) would insist on riding the bus to church rather than driving in. That's the huge impact they had on those souls. That's the love they developed, that's the passion they cultivated for ministry and enjoying learning about God.
Others, however, seem to ignore the kids sitting behind them, or at best, play silly, pointless games and sing equally pointless and empty "bus songs." Even with a captive audience, some are too blind, or too unwilling, or perhaps too ignorant, to invest in the children even when they are right in front of them.
What are some ways you can begin to cultivate this atmosphere?
Rather than ignore the kids, begin your ride home by asking them what they learning in Sunday School or church. Having a candy bucket ready for the participants also helps getting them started.
Rather than pathetic "bus songs" that only generate frenzied chaos, begin teaching some Scripture Songs and asking the kids what the verse may mean.
Rather than sitting there apathetically, have a special time where workers can tell their testimonies, maybe one worker a week and encourage kids to prepare to tell their testimony in following weeks.
Rather than unofficially allow a "nap time," where disinterested kids roll over and sleep, have a memory verse ready that you run over before and after the service. Perhaps even have an incentive ready for those that can return the next week and say it.
While these aren't hard rules, they are designed to help cultivate a mindset, an atmosphere if you will, of redeeming even that time on the bus. Those hours ever week are precious. they are not to be wasted.
Is your bus ministry, your route, a Taxi, or a testimony?
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