Heaven On Wheels: The First Year

Thank You, God, for letting us share your Word

Photo by Jackie Hope on Unsplash

At the beginning of 2022, I started Heaven On Wheels with the thought of ministering and evangelizing to those that Barb and I meet on the road while RV camping. It seemed like a way to thank the Lord for the blessings we had received during our lifetimes and for His wonderful creation that we marvel at whenever we camp.

It started as a weekly podcast, first audio, then video. Those podcasts followed a template in which I cited Scripture, then followed up with a call for listeners or viewers to support a charitable organization near a popular camping site. I quickly felt the Lord telling me that it was a good start, but I needed to do more…

At the beginning of March 2022, I started writing daily devotionals using Substack as a publishing platform. Substack sends emailed copies of each devotional to subscribers, it has such helpful features as a built-in text-to-speech reader for those who would rather listen than read, and it also support audio and video podcasts… Oh, and it’s free to use — that’s something important for a non-profit.

Pretty quickly, I realized that a daily devotional requires a lot of time, and fortunately the love of my life - Barb - stepped up to help out. She enjoys writing serial articles, digging deeply into a topic (like her current series on the miracles of Jesus), while I write where the Holy Spirit sends me. Literally. I’ve mentioned before that I use a random number generator to send me to one of 16 major themes of the Bible in the Bible app. That gives me a list of associated Scripture verses, and I pick one. Boom!

We both love what writing for Heaven On Wheels has done for us. To write about a topic in a manner that is both understandable and readable, you need to research your material. In this case, that material is the Bible and the many commentaries that have been written for every verse. As a result, we gained more knowledge about the Word of God than many years of “Bible in One Year” reading had provided.

Where do we go from here? Well, you may have noticed in my last devotional that I referred to an online evangelism certification course that we’re taking. We want to go from just writing about our faith to actively bringing others to Christ. To be honest, we’re both somewhat unsure of our ability to evangelize; we’ll keep praying that God points us in the right direction and puts the proper words in our mouths at the right time!

Here are some things we hope to do in year two of Heaven On Wheels:

1. Never, ever charge for our content. It’s God’s Word, not ours, and we won’t profit from it. If we ever do make a single cent from this ministry, it’s going to our church and to charitable organizations (see #2).

2. Create a “Year of Prayer” ebook or calendar. On November 15, 2022, we began adding a Daily Prayer to each devotional. As soon as we have a full year (plus one day, since 2024 is a leap year), we’ll create an ebook or printed calendar — perhaps both — with those daily prayers and the Scripture verse that prompted them. We may sell the calendar and/or ebook, but every cent goes to church or charity.

3. Start a “Sub-Substack” that documents our travels. Yeah, it’s getting a little bit on the secular side, but we know that our friends love hearing about where we’re going and what we’re doing. Substack has thoughtfully provided a way to create a lower-level blog… ahhhh, it’s too hard to explain, you’ll see it soon because we’ll be on the road next month.

4. With God’s help, we’ll document our success at bringing non-believers to Christ!

OK, what can YOU do to help! First, please share Heaven On Wheels with friends, relatives, enemies, you name it. We want to get God’s Word out to as many people as possible, and it won’t happen without your help.

Second, send us your stories, testimonies, and feedback. We won’t know what you like, dislike, or would like to see unless we hear from you. Either leave a comment or send an email. Either way, we’ll respond.

Third, pray for us! We pray for our readers, and the best support we can get from you is your prayers!

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Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:

Father in Heaven, I thank you each and every day for Your Word, which is the guidebook for my earthly life. I pray that my life is a constant tribute to You, and that You will correct me when I stray from righteousness. Thank You for Your unending love for me, manifested in the sacrifice of your Son Jesus to atone for our sin. In Jesus holy and precious name I pray, AMEN.