A Speed the Light Experience

Since I was a young girl, I’ve helped raise money for Speed the Light.

Speed the Light is the giving focus for the youth in Assemblies of God churches all over the United States. Together, youth raise money to buy vehicles for missionaries.

And it is AWESOME.

STL is a blessing that benefits the Kingdom in HUGE ways every single day. Keep giving, youth. It is vital for the Great Commission and the movement of the gospel across the globe.

Because it is vital, I thought I’d share our experience of getting a Speed the Light vehicle. A part of the process that most youth won’t ever see. A quick glimpse, an overview of what it is like to order, ship, receive, and register a vehicle for use on the field.

{of course, this experience will be different for other parts of the world, but this is our story}

We started the process last April. With an email to our district office, then to the national youth department and to our leadership.

Lots of emails back and forth… and then receiving word that 2 states had contributed to buying our truck. Amazing.

Lots of emails to connect with Illinois and South Dakota youth departments.

Then, lots of emails, phone calls and research to decide what vehicle would work best in the sands of West Africa.

By this time, it was June… then July… then August.

We’d hope to have the vehicle ready for us when we landed in Senegal but the process was much longer than expected.

In August, the order was placed for our truck and we were looking at an October delivery time.

But then with some back orders on the parts we needed, the delivery time was pushed back to November.

After rental cars and much prayer, our truck arrived in the Dakar port on November 17th.

You can see in the video above how excited Jeremy was to see the truck come through the gate!

From the gate he drove the truck to the first inspection point.

Which turned in to another 3 days of waiting for paperwork.

Trips back and forth to 3 different offices.

More inspections.

Some frustrated phone calls while navigating a tricky, new, interesting process.

Parking the truck at a friend’s house because it wasn’t drivable yet.

Finally getting plates…

But having to wait another 2 weeks for insurance and paperwork… many, many trips back and forth to Dakar. More rentals, having a rental car break down, long taxi rides, too much headache.

And then finally bringing it home at the beginning of December.

But STILL not having the correct paper work.

Another trip to Dakar for another signature and a corrected address.

Taking pictures of paperwork just in case…

Handshakes and meetings.

And ending the process with a sigh of relief just before the holidays.

Now with a safe, reliable, strong truck to carry the gospel down any path, on any road and to the unreached places of Senegal.

Speed the Light at work.

{Jeremy and his truck in the above picture with another Speed the Light vehicle and our friend and fellow AG church planter}

Over sand dunes… through trash and cement and pot-holed covered roads.

Jeremy can get where he needs to go to meet with pastors, deliver building materials for new churches, help pastors visit new villages, build relationships and further the gospel in tangible ways.

That is Speed the Light.

Youth… keep giving. It matters. The process begins with your coins dropped in an offering bucket, multiplies, and travels on with a handshake along a dirt path or tea in a faraway village or a church built in the sands of Senegal. Your giving ends with people hearing the gospel for the first time and having the chance to accept the love of Jesus.

Thank you!!