Several years ago, Scott Pevehouse had church planter friends in Arkansas who started a mobile ice cream ministry.
“I thought it was a phenomenal idea, so I asked them to send me the schematics,” says Pevehouse, who is senior pastor at South Lakewood Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “We are a smallish church who wants to do big things.”
The church gutted one of their vans to convert it into an ice cream truck. Soon thereafter, Daniel Holly, one of the biggest supporters of this new outreach, passed away due to COVID-19. Holly’s dad donated his son’s vehicle to the church so it could be sold and the profits used to retrofit the ice cream truck. They took out the benches, rewired it to run a deep freeze, had it wrapped, and installed a serving window. They then began venturing out to spread God’s Word through sharing free ice cream.
“We let people know that Christ gave himself freely, and we want to give freely to the community,” says Pevehouse.
The ministry runs from April through October, going to schools, ballparks, different neighborhoods and parks. Last year on Father’s Day, a huge windstorm ripped through Tulsa, chopping power lines in half and uprooting trees. Tree companies came from everywhere to help out, and the ice cream van provided delicious reinforcements.
“We’d pull up and say, ‘Hey, guys? Want to take a break?’” says Pevehouse.
The ice cream truck has also been a great way to let community members know about VBS.
“We hang door hangers announcing vacation Bible school, but we engage with a whole lot more people by giving out ice cream,” he says.
The ministry also is equipping the younger generation for kingdom work.
“Some of our younger members don’t feel comfortable going door-to-door sharing the message of Jesus, but it’s amazing how much fun they have telling people about the love of Christ when they’re handing out ice cream,” says Pevehouse.