John Stalions

I was six years old when I saw my first church bus. I was riding my bike down the street on a Sunday morning when I noticed a bus across the street at my friend’s house. I knew he wasn’t going to school and was curious why a bus was in front of his house. As I stopped my bike to take notice of what was going on, a man stepped off the bus and crossed the street to come talk to me and my sister. He handed me a bus flyer and asked if we would like to ride the church bus. We gave him our address, and he came by my house the next Saturday to ask my mom if we could ride the bus to church. That Sunday in 1990, I rode the bus to Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Chico, California, with my brother and sister. My mom was picked up by another lady in the church. Our family began attending the church regularly; and, before long, we were attending the Christian school. For 20 years now, I have ridden a bus, worked on a bus, captained a bus, or driven a bus to church every Sunday. Now I pastor a church in a city near where I grew up. I am indebted to the bus ministry and to my first bus captain, Doug Jackson, who found me and brought me to church.