THE CLIMB
by Donna Randolph Riddle

Have you ever been so long in a valley, that you forgot you were in one? Well, that’s where I was. God is an “On Time God” and I can tell you from personal experience, His time, is not our time. Thus began my journey out of the valley and it started with an innocent phone call….

My friend, Sheryl Lyda called to see if I happened to have or know of anyone that would let her use a spare trailer to haul a load of building material for a mission trip to Wyoming.

Sheryl is a mighty warrior for Christ and she is also very humble person so getting her to admit her part in an adventure is like pulling teeth from an alligator. NOT EASY! I, however, have a curious spirit and the patience of Job. About 2 minutes into our conversation, I could just tell that something was up. Sheryl wasn’t telling me everything and I was determined to find out what she was up to.. You see she kept referring back to this mission thing. What mission? Here in the United States! To Wyoming of all places! 

“Experiencing God Through Missions Inc”, she said. “It’s a combined group of ministries that build churches for communities that can’t afford to build them for themselves. They build the framing here in Asheville, North Carolina and haul it to building sites all over the US. Then during a two week period, they have people from all over gather and put the building together." she explained.

“Do they have a truck to pull the trailer?”
“Yes. Howard, my husband and I donated one of ours” she answered, just barely above a whisper.

Now I just happen to own a small trucking company, so I know in dollars and cents what kind of financial commitment this wonderful woman and her husband had made in the loan of this truck. But it was Friday afternoon and if I was going to help find them a trailer, there were phone calls to be made so my questions would have to be put on hold until there was more time to ask them.

The material had to be there by the 13th of July and its 1800 miles from Asheville, North Carolina to Granger, Wyoming. That meant three days driving for a trucker if he was running alone. I had to get moving if I was going to be any help finding a trailer. It was already the 3rd so that didn’t leave but a few days.

After making some well placed phone calls, all I could do was give it to God and sit back and wait for the phone to ring with conformation of a loaned trailer. I had done all I could do. So I called Sheryl back and started asking questions. I broached the subject of driver pay thinking I might be able to offset some of Lyda Enterprises cost by donating the money to pay the truck driver, for them.
“Is your driver going to donate his time Sheryl?” I questioned “No,” she quietly said “Is Terry taking the load?” I asked, thinking surely her own son wouldn’t charge her to haul it out there.
“Well, no. He’s gone on another load and won’t be back in time,” she explained.

Now I’m not Gods brightest crayon in the box but I was starting to get a little suspicious by now.

“Well, has the ministry got somebody that knows how to drive a truck?”  I questioned.

“Uh no,” she said, “You see, we don’t have a driver yet, were just trusting that God will send us one.”

That’s when God smacked me Right Square in the back of my head and some strange woman’s voice came out of my mouth and said, “I’ll drive the truck out there for you.” You remember what I said about God being an on-time God, and his time is not always our time? You can apply that right here.

Sheryl was ecstatic, she hollered for Howard to let him know I had volunteered to haul the load out provided we could find a trailer of course. She was happy, I was happy… but the little voice in my head that knows all my secrets was laughing, “You! RiiiiiighTTT! This I gotta see.” You see that little voice knows I can’t even go to the grocery store without 10 days notice because, well, I never leave my house anymore, EVER, FOR ANYTHING, except truck shows and I have a years notice on them to prepare. Thank the Lord that things went so fast, I didn’t have time to think about it.

 On Monday the 6th of July, I called Sheryl to tell her I was pretty sure I had a trailer lined up. That’s when she told me that Hearts with Hands, a Ralph Sexton ministry had agreed to donate the use of one of their trailers. Don’t you just LOVE IT when God organizes everything and all you have to do is show up!

I started making phone calls to find out the loading arrangements. On Tuesday, July 7th  I went by the Lyda's place of business to pick up the truck and then on to Hearts with Hands to get the trailer so I could take it to the ministries staging area and get it loaded.

MAN! What an experience that was. What a testimony these folks have. I cannot begin to tell you what it was like to see what the Hidden Scripture-Silent Witness Ministry had done. Every piece of lumber had scripture on it. Every Piece!!! They had written the entire New Testament in English and Spanish for each of the two churches that this load was delivering to.

What a mighty God we serve to have given this idea to this group of witness warriors, in preparation for the future! In the last days, the word of God will be hard to find. Scripture will be illegal to own. Can you imagine it? Illegal to worship our Savior!  Against the law to own a Bible, to praise our Father!!!! Executed for being a Christian, for claiming salvation under the Blood, for crying out to Him that died and is risen so that we, all mankind that believes, may have eternal life!!!!!!! Try to imagine what that would be like. Much like it is in some countries today; only here, in the good ole USA.  The folks that were blessed with Gods wisdom to prepare these frames have thought about it, and they have obeyed Gods instructions, just as Noah did, to the last punctuation in his Holy Word! And I was blessed with having this sacred project in my care for eighteen hundred glorious miles.

After watching the Experiencing God Through Missions Inc missionaries load the trailer, I was invited to a gathering that same night, of the combined ministries, for last minute details to finalize the trip. I was so overwhelmed by the greeting I was given when I walked in, that it was hard to hold my tears back. All I did was show up with a truck. That’s all. I just showed up, didn’t build anything, contribute anything, I didn’t even donate the truck and trailer! Yet those folks gave me a hero’s welcome that I did not deserve. I was the one that had been given a gift. I was finally able to do something for the Lord. After all the blessings He has bestowed on me over the years, I was finally able to give something back. I was actually getting to do something for my God! Or at least that’s what I thought I was getting to do.

I was on Holy ground! The truck and trailer had been prayed for. Blessings and safe journey had been requested through prayer, on my behalf and the load was for His glory. I loaded my personal gear and headed for Wyoming with a renewed spirit. For a little short girl, I was stepping pretty high.

I was looking forward to the questions that were sure to come because I was pulling a Hearts with Hand disaster relief trailer. To my knowledge there were no disasters at the time, and even if there were, well, folks in general just want to know what’s going on. I was not to be disappointed. Before I even got out of the Pigeon River Gorge on the North Carolina - Tennessee border the questions started.

As most everyone knows, truckers use CB radios to communicate and communicate I did. I was able to witness for each individual ministry that is involved in the mission and that in turn opened the door for me to witness for our glorious Savior. When I stopped to fuel, I got out my camera to show the pictures I had taken of the scripture on the framing. At one truck stop, I had a small crowd gathered when I opened the trailer doors to check on the load.

I was pulled into a set of weigh scales in Missouri and the Department of Transportation man asked if I was hauling hazardous material. I laughed and told him, “It’s only hazardous to the Devil!” Now, this ole boy looked like he had had a pretty boring shift so I whipped out my camera and started showing him the pictures of my precious cargo. He had that deer in the headlights look on his face for most of my presentation but I was determined to plant a seed.

I got to Rock Springs, Wyoming on Saturday morning and after a few hours sleep, Jacki the Wyoming mission coordinator came to the truck stop and insisted I go home with her so I could take a shower. She even came back on Sunday and picked me up for church. This woman has a schedule that is unbelievable so I imagine being assigned to look out for me was a little more than just inconvenient. But she did it with a happy spirit, never complaining.

I left the truck stop at Rock Springs a little after midnight and drove the 60 miles to the truck stop at Little America so I would be closer for the rescue party, to take me on to Granger Baptist Church.

Just as I drove in the next morning, a church van from Worland, Wyoming showed up with a youth group. Once again I was blown away by God’s planning. Here were young, healthy Christians, willing to dedicate 2 weeks of their summer to this mission. They began unloading the trailer.

The temperature inside that van had to be 100 degrees or more. Talk about dedication and faith. As uncomfortable as their trip had been, due to mechanical problems which made their 4 hour trip stretch to 8 hours, here they were all laughing and smiling, looking forward to being about their Fathers work!!!!!!

As had happened, at the meeting before I left North Carolina, I was again embarrassed by a welcome I did not deserve. Here were all these dedicated men and women taking 2 weeks time off from their jobs and business to expand these 2 houses of God, in a land where false doctrine is running rampant and they acted like I was the one doing something special. The blessings were TO me, not through me.

You see, my heart was overflowing with the glow of Gods glory, I had just topped the mountain.