Church's free oil changes make life run with fewer bumps

December 30, 2002

Church's free oil changes make life run with fewer bumps
___By Marv Knox
___Editor
___MESQUITE--God's Pit Crew at Mimosa Lane Baptist Church has reinterpreted Jesus' command to offer "a cup of cold water" for the Texas car culture.
___The Mesquite church's Pit Stop Ministry offers motor oil, brake fluid and just about anything else single mothers, senior adults and the handicapped need to keep their vehicles on the road.

PIT CREW member Bobby Roundtree visits with Ernestine Stricker, who said of the Pit Stop ministry, "This has been a lifesaver for me."

___"We use the slogan, 'We're Changing Oil for Jesus,'" explained Jim Pearson, a lay member of the church and a crew leader of the ministry. "We are changing oil while Jesus is changing lives."
___Pit Crew members see their task as meeting very real automotive needs while earning the right to tell the owners about Jesus' love for them, added Mitch Coats, president of Mimosa Lane's Baptist Men group, which--along with some women in the church--operates Pit Stop Ministry.
___They got the idea for their ministry from First Baptist Church in The Colony almost three years ago, Pearson recalled.
___"We decided that's something we needed to do," Coats noted. A group from Mimosa Lane visited The Colony and observed the ministry in action.
___Now, four Saturday mornings a year, they set up shop in the church parking lot. About 20 to 25 Pit Crew volunteers provide oil changes and possibly minor repairs for an average of 35 cars. Only about half the cars belong to church members who meet the criteria for service.
___The ministry doesn't advertise its services broadly. "We'd be swamped," Coats observed. They get the word out by providing coupons for free car care to every member of the church.
___"They may take a coupon to a co-worker who may be a single mom or a neighbor who may be a widow," he said. "We also get referrals from the abused women's shelter and the ministry to victims of violent crime."
___The practical need for car repair draws people to Pit Stop Ministry. But while they're there, they also get exposed to the gospel. Volunteers in a waiting room provide refreshments and friendly conversation. The waiting room hosts check their guests' spiritual needs while workers out on the lot check off a list of service items. A volunteer also places a flier outlining the plan of Christian salvation on the front seat of each vehicle.
___"We know that a good number of members have referred single women who are lost, and we have provided them with auto maintenance and ministry," Coats said. "We've had some people come here for Pit Stop Ministry and later join the church."
___Occasionally, one of the women working in the waiting room will learn a guest needs minor home repairs, which the Pit Stop Ministry volunteers also provide.
___The ministry supports itself and doesn't draw off the church's budget, Coats reported. Church members recycle paper and cardboard and earn enough to fund the quarterly ministry.
___That adds up to an average of $600 to $700 each time, mostly fo

KEVIN Brinsendine (left) and James Rabe change the oil in a vehicle brought to the Pit Stop ministry of Mimosa Lane Baptist Church in Mesquite. The ministry helps single mothers, widows, senior adults and the handicapped.

r oil and oil filters, Coats said. However, the Pit Crew doesn't limit service there.
___"If they say something's wrong, we'll check it," he noted. "If someone meets our criteria, and her car has other needs that we can meet, we take care of them."
___The first Saturday in December, Pit Crew members installed new tie rod ends and paid for a new tire on an SUV. Once, they installed more than $800 in parts in a car owned by a woman referred to the church by a victim-relief ministry.
___Pit Stop Ministry provides ramps to get the cars off the ground, motor oil and parts. Volunteers bring their own tools.
___ Sometimes, the Pit Crew members know they have saved someone from losing a vehicle, Coats said.
___"We've had four or five widows who have driven onto the lot, and when one of our guys pulled the oil plug, no oil came out," he illustrated. "Once, we had an 85-year-old widow whose serpentine belt was badly cracked. One of our guys got to looking at it, and it was almost worn through. She was going to be afoot in days."
___"This has been a lifesaver for me," insisted Ernestine Stricker, a church member for decades, who got her oil changed in early December.
___Not only does Pit Stop Ministry serve others, but it also has an impact on the volunteers themselves, Coats and Pearson said.
___It "provides a place for the ordinary member to be a part of a ministry that they feel is important," Coats said. "The guys doing this are not Sunday School teachers or deacons. ... They really enjoy this. It makes them proud to be a part of our church."
___It also allows them to provide guidance to boys who participate, Pearson added. "This mentoring is a double-sided blessing and very rewarding when it involves boys and young men who come from a single-parent family."
___And the ministry has afforded at least one blessing nobody predicted.
___"This is where I met my wife," Bruce Lowe said, looking across the motor of a sedan. "Tracy was in my Sunday School class, but I didn't know her. One day, she brought her car up here to get serviced. Then she took me to lunch, and two months later, we were married."
___Matchmaking may be a one-time event, but Pit Crew members said their ministry could be repeated on church parking lots across the state.
___"If another church wants to do this, we'll go and help them get started," Coats said.
___"If this were in Chicago, it wouldn't be a big deal. People could get around on trains and buses," he added. "But in Texas, you've got to have a car. ... I believe they're important to Jesus."
___Mimosa Lane Baptist Church in Mesquite may be reached by calling (972) 288-7426

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