Curried sausage, French fries and the smell of diesel in the air.
43 drivers of US trucks from several countries in Europe (Czech Republic, Austria, Netherlands and Germany) met in Krefeld Germany on May 2, 2015 for the 1st US Truck Meeting in Germany. The event attracted many visitors.
A Daimler-Benz engineer organised the meeting and made sure Youth for Christ’s “Lifeliner” Truck was part of it. The Germany ministry converted their truck into a mobile street café, which they bring with a team of young Christians to schools, pedestrian zones, market squares, city festivals and concerts, meeting young people, starting conversations and beginning friendships which enbable them to tell others what they themselves have experienced with Jesus Christ. The event organiser had previously learned of the truck at a campaign and was thrilled that a Christian organisation owned one as well.
The landlord of the place greeted Youth for Christ evangelist Jürgen Voegele: “Hi…Did you come with divine blessing?”Of course this was a good opportunity to explain what Youth for Christ is all about and … more specifically, what Germany is doing with their truck. There were also opened doors for ministry as some of the truckers opened up to talk about their personal problems.
Jürgen Vögele preached at the worship service which took place in the middle of the truck exhibition. The whole scene brought back memories for National Director, Alfons Hildebrandt, who recalled what initiated this truck ministry. When people no longer visited the traditional meetings for evangelism, Youth for Christ started the bus ministry with a team of young people. “If people are no longer coming into the church, we need to come to them”.
The meeting went on till the late evening hours, with all the trucks switching on their lights.