Have trailer, will minister — wherever God calls

Hurricane Rita devastated Texas in 2005. Making landfall on the heels of historically painful Hurricane Katrina, Rita damaged multitudes of homes and business, heaping heart-ache on people who already had been victims of one storm.

The combination of the two storms captured the attention of people across the state—possibly none more than J.R. and Gloria Mathews of Hawkins. They felt a need to respond, and they followed through in a tangible way.

The couple packed their travel trailer and committed to spending one month helping rebuild Sabine Pass. They stayed 14 months.

"I forgot the calendar," Gloria Mathews joked as she reflected on their time there.

The trip kicked off a series of adventures for the couple as their motto became "have trailer, will travel" wherever God calls. They plan to be home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The rest of the time, they live out of their trailer.

The couple have started churches in New England. They've been involved in disaster relief in Maine, as well as in northern Alabama following tornadoes there. They spend time at South Texas Children's Home in Beeville each year.

They also worked both with Texas Baptist Men and the Baptist General Convention of Texas Disaster Response, meeting both immediate and long-term needs of people victimized by disasters. Recently, they completed a four-month stint facilitating disaster response teams in Smithville after the Bastrop wildfires.

Every day of every trip is full of exciting activity for the couple. He often will work on a deck one day and build a wheelchair ramp the next day. He might spend most of the third day visiting with a victim of a disaster. Sometimes, he rebuilds furniture, particularly at South Texas Children's Home.

She finds new ways to make volunteers comfortable each day, no matter the situation. She gathers food supplies and cooks meals—whether on a small griddle in her trailer or in a full kitchen—for volunteers.

The Mathewses see themselves as servants.

"We're whatever God wants us to be, I guess," she said when asked to describe their ministry. "We're available."

Some of the days are tough—hot sun, difficult labor and long hours. But every moment is fulfilling, the couple insists. They become members of the communities they serve and the congregations with which they minister.

"In doing this kind of thing, you meet the most marvelous people you ever could meet," Mathews said.

He struggles to imagine living his post-employment years—don't dare call it retirement, which the Mathewses believe is for people who aren't doing much of anything anymore—any other way. Christ commands his followers to serve him throughout their lives, they believe, and age has no significance when it comes to the Great Commission.

One of their children recently offered to send their parents on a cruise for their 50th wedding anniversary. They turned it down. Neither is truly sure what they'd do on a cruise. Sitting in the sun—or anywhere else—day after day doesn't seem like much fun to them.

"A lot of my retired friends, all they do is play golf," he said. "If you would have been with us this morning, the laughter you would have heard is much more than you would hear on the golf course."

The Mathewses encourage everyone they encounter to embrace lifelong service to Christ.

They've brought friends on their mission trips. The churches they've been a part of on their trips have volunteered to participate in numerous ministries.

God commands his followers to take the gospel into their communities, the couple insists. For the Mathewses, it's simply a matter of determining which community that is.

"After we've been home for a while, I tell J.R. it's time to go somewhere," she said.