People

Randy the Bus Driver

by Honey Stone
12/24/17
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I used to go on road trips that were urban mission trips. My job was to chronicle what happened on these trips such as evangelism, outreach efforts, and the strategic prayer of the team. 

My favorite part was to interview each person on the bus after the trip and put all the stories together like a giant puzzle. I especially loved it when people there would get overlapping visions and similar themes. I didn't enjoy the spiritual warfare which was almost physical at times but it made the spiritual realm real.

Here is a story that never got published:

Randy has been the bus driver for the MAS road trips for over ten years. The reason he’s behind the wheel on these trips is because they bring the fire back to his life and he would lose peace unless he takes his position. 

You can tell by his accent that Randy grew up in the South but you might not know that he was once homeless. In a Divine twist of grace, his job at ICCM is to transport homeless people to church. Randy believes that driving the bus in more than transporting people; it is about encouraging others and speaking life into their hopelessness.

Randy is straight-forward and bold. This helps him in his ministry to those on the street. He understands many of the facets of their lives and how one woe can lead to another. 

The first fracture in his life story started with a car accident that led to a drug addiction and then relapse. Things were looking dim for Randy after his relapse because he was discouraged with AA, but someone picked him up off the street and took him to ICCM. This brought the life and power of Jesus into his soul and it made all the difference. He’s been chemical free with ICCM for 17 years. 

On this trip to Detroit, God had been teaching Randy about prayer and specifically spiritual warfare. He’s not afraid to holler. A little known fact is that Randy is a good singer. On the Detroit trip he was a song leader for a small stretch of the frozen chosen sidewalk trek of several miles. 

You can’t be around Randy for long without finding out that he has a heart for the youth. He prays for them because he is aware that those in the inner city are purposeless, abused and lost. His joy is watching the youth group of his church start to grow and bear fruit under his care. Randy will always be around to pick up the down-trodden with a word of strength and a prayer. 

On the Detroit trip, God used him to bring deep inner healing of a father-wound to a young man through a bear-hug and a time of weeping.