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Saturday, July 20
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We have been friends with Don Goss, the contact person for TFC Global’s Susquehanna Prayer Breakfast, so stay in touch by phone on occasion. We also have many friends in the chapter (near Sunbury, PA) from our days of serving with Transport For Christ in the Northeast Region.
During our last phone call, we mentioned that we owed their chapter a visit. He then asked if we would pick a date and share a devotional with them. We suggested that we bring Sam Rittenhouse along, because he could give a ministry update.
Sam is not totally retired and is still in charge of Chaplain Care with TFC Global. That means he stays in touch with current and past staff – especially on birthdays and anniversaries. He also delivers Highway News and Good News for the Bucks Montgomery Chapter. Sam was Cerwin’s assistant when Cerwin served as Northeast Region Director.
The sun was just coming up when we left our house at 6 am.
Driving to Sunbury takes us along the Susquehanna River, which is a favorite morning drive for me.
I listened to Cerwin’s and Sam’s conversation and sometimes joined in during our 1-3/4-hour drive. I always sit in the back seat when we travel together, so it is easy for the men to have a good conversation. Sam’s wife, Alice, died in 2016.
He is still very active in life and ministry at the age of 94.
He had a good trip, without any delays, so our GPS stayed on the projection that we would arrive at our destination at 7:42 am for their 8 am breakfast.
I took a picture of the signboard at the church before noticing their interesting quote.
Breakfast was ready right on time. This delicious meal is prepared by a woman from the church along with a few helpers. She uses a different menu each time – every other month.
This time it was egg casserole, potatoes, sausage, and pancakes. There was also watermelon, coffee, and orange juice.
Following the meal, Don gave a few updates and introduced Sam, Cerwin, and me – even though almost everyone knows us.
He also took prayer requests. I asked for prayer for the truck driver who was involved in a turnpike accident we noticed as we traveled parallel to the Pennsylvania Turnpike about a mile from our house.
Cerwin gave a short challenge and shared a few interesting details about the early years of Transport For Christ.
The man in the orange shirt gave us about a quart of his tiny round tomatoes. They were almost as sweet as candy.
Sam gave a current update on the ministry and shared a few experiences about being involved in Chaplain Care.
When he finished, I shared a few stories that happened to us since our retirement from TFC.
We continue to be encouraged when we meet old friends from TFC. One just happened last week when we attended a memorial service for a friend. A trucker I did not recognize sat next to me at the funeral meal and told me how much he enjoyed the newsletters I wrote when Cerwin and I served in the Northeast Region – from 1990 to 2006.
My favorite experience happened shortly after I retired in 2022. The details of the story are too long to write here, but through a series of family happenings, our daughter Diane, granddaughter Lydia, and I visited a couple who lived in a nursing home in Quarryville. Lydia was doing private care for the gentleman due to Parkinson’s. When he came to their living area, we talked about a variety of things, including our occupations. When he asked what I did, I replied that we just retired from serving with Transport For Christ – a ministry to truck drivers.
He said, “That is interesting. When I worked as an engineer for DuPont, one of my coworkers came to work one morning and announced that he was quitting because he and a cousin were buying a truck stop.”
I said, “I expect that your friend was Bob Jacks.” (You should have seen the look on his face.) He was even more surprised when I could tell him that Bob Jacks’ cousin was Ted Crew. Cerwin and I worked very closely with them in the ’90s when TFC placed chapels in Connecticut and the Pennsylvania Poconos. Later, through them, TFC also placed a chapel in Georgia. We had such a fun conversation after that. He and Bob Jacks taught Bible studies together.
I love how God works in our lives and encourages us even after retirement.
This was the scene in front of us when we left the church’s fellowship hall – beautiful hydrangeas.
Our trip home was as uneventful as the one to the breakfast.
The only exception was the awful truck accident I mentioned earlier.
We live very close to the Pennsylvania turnpike and travel parallel to it for a bit when we head east, west, or north on any trip. This truck was on the turnpike (heading east) and settled on top of the guardrail next to a nearby field. We later learned that a father, son, and daughter were killed in the car on which the truck landed.
When we were close to home (several hours later), a big rig tow truck was pulling the truck off the guard rails and through the field toward the road on which we were traveling. The local news hasn’t given many details, but it was deemed an accident.
This was another reminder that life can change very quickly.