February 11, 1990 to February 11, 2020

This was us thirty years ago.

As we listened to a sermon from John 12 this past Sunday, I came upon a note that took me back to another day in church – thirty years ago.

We love you. Have a great day. Love Jere & Kristen – 2/11/90

I kept this slip of paper in my Bible – in John 12 – for thirty years because it was where Jere and Kristen placed it on February 11, 1990.

I don’t think they had an idea of what was going on in our lives at the time – as we only told them the following week. (They were engaged to be married in November of that year and had other things on their mind.)

2-11-90. This was the day we had a missionary sermon at church which confirmed that God was indeed calling us to serve with Transport For Christ (now TFC Global).

The sermon title was something like this: Five Ways to Know That God is Calling You Into Ministry or Mission Work – by visiting minister, John Shenk. All five points confirmed this call in our lives. It was like we were the only people in church that morning.

We had just come through an intense week of struggling with the Lord as we tried to discern His leading. I knew the struggle was over when we attended at TFC banquet the night before. Cerwin said he knew it a bit earlier in the week. But this sermon cemented the decision for both of us.

I wrote this on the bottom of their note so the date would not be forgotten and the paper would always stay in John 12. The day the Lord called us into TFC – Northeast Region.

Cerwin had been asked to serve as TFC’s Northeast Region Director and had repeatedly turned it down because he didn’t feel that he could follow in the footsteps of Melvin Mast – current director – who was close to death from cancer. I knew if Cerwin became director that meant the office would be at our house and I would be office manager – like Mel’s wife, Joyce. Neither of us felt capable of doing those jobs.

I had been working in the Northeast Region Office (Morgantown, PA) with Melvin and Joyce Mast since 1977 and Cerwin served on the Northeast Council (a group of men who assisted Mel with decisions and oversight), but this decision meant we would be coming on staff with TFC.

I volunteered one day a week from 1977 to 1987 when TFC began using a computer. Joyce was not comfortable with computers and asked if I would consider working a second day a week. Cerwin and I talked about it and decided that I could do that if I was paid for one day. It was a two-hour drive (round trip).

Back to February 11, 1990. I had been to the office in Morgantown a few days earlier and told Cerwin that if he wanted to see Melvin alive, we better go to visit them on Sunday after church.

When we got in the car – following the missionary sermon – I said to Cerwin, “Well, what are you going to do?” He said, “I would like to run, but I know the story of Jonah – and I don’t like fish.” 🙂

Melvin was alert when we got there and was quite pleased that Cerwin had decided to accept the invitation to serve as Northeast Region Director – with two requests.

Because Cerwin did not feel led to be a chaplain, he felt that the Lord had given him an idea that would work for us and the ministry.

He requested that he would like to keep trucking four days a week (his regular schedule at that time), and since the office would be at our house, I could stay in touch with him and the staff during those days. Then he had three days for ministry details. He also asked if he could have an assistant, and suggested Sam Rittenhouse.

Melvin liked this idea, but said it would have to be approved by TFC leadership. Cerwin visited the TFC office the next day. His plan was accepted and Sam Rittenhouse replied that he would accept the responsibility of being assistant director.

We needed one more approval – that of our daughter Deb.

Since her brothers were getting married in 1990 (Diane and Mark were already married), we promised Deb that she could have the boy’s basement room as a place for hanging out with her friends.

We heard of many preacher and missionary children who got angry at God because their parents were always involved in church and mission work. We tried not to have that happen as we began our volunteer work with TFC many years earlier. For that reason we wanted Deb’s input.

When Deb got home from school, I asked, “How would you feel if the basement room could not be used as a place to hang out with your friends?”

She replied, “I already know that. God told me in a dream on Friday night that it is going to be a TFC office.”

Oh, wow! I think the calling was now very clear to us. 🙂

We needed to remember those few days in 1990 many times during the past thirty years – especially when days were difficult or discouraging.

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Cerwin served as Northeast Region Director for 16 years – 1990 through 2006 when region borders were removed and he retired from trucking – after forty years with Myers Metered Gas/Doxol/Ferrellgas.

In early 2007 he became TFC’s Director of Chapel Construction. He was comfortable with that because he had already built several chapels for the region. He built chapels until 2017 – with the assistance of many skilled volunteers – especially Glenn Fahnestock – his key helper. 2017 was the year that we went back to serving TFC as volunteers.

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Trucking and truck stops are making major changes in this digital age, consequently Transport For Christ (TFC Global) needs to adjust and is doing so – under the leadership of President and CEO Ron Fraser.

When a future chapel (now called a FaithLife Center) is built it will look a bit different than our current ones. Cerwin and Glenn felt that this new construction design should go to a younger person or business. Ron accepted Cerwin’s retirement from that job and asked if we would consider being a District Manager.

Cerwin accepted his request. Today Cerwin and Glenn still do some maintenance at the International Office and shop or nearby chapels. As District Manager, Cerwin stays in touch with four FaithLife Centers and their staff with the purpose of encouragement and personal contact.

I prepare and mail bulk mailings (single Highway News, newsletters, banquet and truck rally flyers, and International Office correspondence). We have the equipment and software in our office because of doing this for the Northeast Region, so I am pleased to do that for the entire ministry. We also assist with local chapters, Lancaster Dinner Concert, and Pennsylvania Truck Rally – while younger people do most of the work. 🙂

Our hearts continue to be with this ministry whose main goal is to reach commercial drivers and the trucking industry for Jesus Christ.