Church helps out with donated CD, recycled buses

By Arleen Wixtrom (7/25/04)

What does a teenager’s guitar have in common with old buses? They each play a part in the outreach ministries of the Willmar (Minn.) Assembly of God. Jesse Baker and Tom Palke are leading the ministries while using their talents for the Lord.

Baker, 18, plays his guitar and sings for church and school variety shows, plus as a fund-raising tool for Speed the Light, the A/G student-initiated ministry that provides transportation and communications equipment to missionaries in more than 150 countries.

“For a long time, the Lord has put a burden on my heart toward missions,” Baker says. “At a rally, I made a pledge to raise $500 for missions.”

Last year, Baker set up his own recording studio and made a compact disc of the songs he has written. Since then, he has raised more than $2,000 from sales of the CD for STL.

Tom Palke, a Willmar farmer, fixes old buses as his ministry. Up to 20 men from the Willmar A/G help in overhauling the vehicles, which are donated by a bus contractor.

The Willmar church pays for the parts and other materials. Palke, 48, and the weekend mechanics take it from there. Most of the donated vehicles are school buses, which need lights removed and a different color of exterior paint.

The ministry donates the buses to churches to transport children and adults to meetings. Other congregations use the buses to pick up the homeless off streets so they can sleep in a church facility during the cold Minnesota winter nights.

“It is one small part we can have in God’s kingdom,” Palke says.