I was hanging on to the back of the motor bike with one hand and grasping an umbrella with the other. I had been with a local pastor all day doing house visits. Now the rain had come and it was coming hard. As we zipped through the traffic we were completely drenched and shivering from the cold wind. We were high in the mountains of North India where the pastor was accustomed to riding his motor bike through the rain and snow. The motor bike was all he had so like most pastors he “made do.” But as the rain poured down my back and I shivered from the cold and the umbrella whipped me in the face, I thought, “Wouldn’t a car make this pastor’s ministry a lot more effective?” Shortly after, we were able to help this man purchase a car which allowed him to take teams of people into nearby villages to start new churches.

During the past 6 years I have met many dedicated people who have sacrificed so much to take the Gospel to where it has never been preached before. These men and women have committed themselves fully to do whatever it takes to advance the Kingdom of God. But one of the greatest hindrances to fruitful ministry is the inability to get to those they are trying to reach. It is a simple truth – hundreds of thousands of people remain unreached because Christians do not have transportation to get to them. The gift of a bicycle, motor bike, car or 4wd SUV can do more to advance the Kingdom of God than we can imagine.

There are pastors that will walk more than 20 miles a day ministering from village to village; pastors who oversee more than 100 house churches and their only transportation is a bicycle; ministry teams that long to go into the mountain villages to share the Jesus film but they have no car. In many cases the villages are so remote that a 4 wheel drive vehicle is required to travel there. Having transportation literally changes their lives and ministries.

During our next trip to India (March/April) it is our goal to purchase 5 motorcycles for house church leaders in a highly persecuted area and to help purchase a 4 wheel drive SUV for a ministry that is working high in the mountains of Kashmir. Paul said, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?” Rom. 10:14-15. The gift of transportation will “send” many in order to “reach” many.