(Worship Wagon)
Pastor Melvin from Freedom Covenant Church delivers a message to worshippers under a bridge in Kansas City, Missouri, as part of the Worship Wagon ministry.
If people could not come to the church, the church will come to them to bring them the Good News.
This was the mission that two Christian community leaders gave themselves when they formed the “Worship Wagon,” a weekly non-denominational service held under a bridge near downtown Kansas City in Missouri every Monday night.
The mission is led by Bruce McGregor, city director of Urban Fire Ministries, and Joe Ratterman, the CEO of Better Alternative Trading System (BATS) Global Markets, which operates the third-largest electronic stock exchange in the U.S.
The two came up with the idea of reaching out to the city’s homeless and impoverished people, who are encouraged to come as they are, to give them hope and healing.
McGregor told CBN News that every time they set up their mobile church under the bridge and start playing songs of praise, people come “drifting out of the woods.” He said these are the homeless people, about 100 of them, who live along the Missouri River and who are now their parishioners.
Volunteers from local churches pack the Worship Wagon with equipment needed for the service. The equipment includes chairs and a heater to get people warm during winter.
The commercial-grade heater “heats up this whole area under the bridge so some guys will come just to get warm and then they hear the gospel and so it’s fun to see how that happens,” McGregor said.
Ratterman said their Worship Wagon has been rolling into its spot under the bridge all year round, through all the four seasons, missing only one service so far due to bad weather.
He recalled days when they would minister to the people despite “howling north winds and we’re all shivering in our caps and gloves.” They would also be there holding worship service during the peak of summer when temperature reaches a hundred degrees and even during thunderstorms when rains would pour in.
Beverly Cole told CBN News that she’s one of the people who worship with Worship Wagon. She said her life has been transformed by the message of the Gospel, a message that she now shares with others.
“I was a drug addict for many, many years you know, and I know God changed me from the inside out so I know if he could change me he can change anybody,” she said.
