BugsforChrist is a Volkswagen beetle restoration ministry that was founded in 2006 by the Youth Ministry of Plentitude Baptist Church of Gray, Georgia. Below is an overview of how the ministry started and the first restoration project that was undertaken.
My name is John Albrycht and I am the Youth Minister at Plentitude Baptist Church. I started my ministry at Plentitude in August of 2006. One of the first things that I noticed about our youth was that there were a lot of youth in attendance in the age bracket of 16-18. I was excited about this but I also knew that if we did not want to lose these kids we needed to think “outside the box” about how we could spend a lot of relational time with them. Knowing that my time away from church was limited (with 5 children at home) I was perplexed with this problem. I was having a discussion with Jeff Weeks, one of my youth workers, about my concern and during our conversation God fulfilled a 10 + year dream that I had. It turned out that both Jeff and I had a common passion – working on Volkswagen Beetles. It was then that I remembered Brantley’s bug.
Brantley and Rachel Wester are great friends of my wife and me. During a trip to their home in Waycross I noticed that Brantley’s 1971 Super Beetle was no longer drivable and was parked out in the yard. Upon further inspection we learned that the body of the car was already seriously deteriorated. I suggested that Brantley bring the car to my house, and I would store it in a shed on our farm. Brantley brought the car to my house in early 2006 and we stored it for him.
After telling Jeff about Brantley’s Bug, we decided that we would take 4 or 5 of the older guys in the youth group and secretly restore Brantley’s bug to new condition. It seemed like a perfect match since most of Jeff’s experience was on the mechanical side, and most of mine was on the bodywork and interior restoration side. The scheme was complete when 4 16-18 year old guys enthusiastically agreed to be our students. The first youth to work on the car were Jonathan Roberson, Ethan Roberson, Merl Sapp, and Zack Durden. Before the end of the project, 25 youth and adults had invested a considerable amount of time working on the car. It was agreed that the work would be done in my shop. Fortunately, my Dad, James Comer, allowed us to use his shop for welding and major bodywork. The only other issue was how to raise the money for parts. That was answered quickly as we posted a list of needed parts on the youth board and numerous youth and adults sponsored parts. 27 people provided the needed funds to complete the project. The name BugsforChrist was chosen because it is the e-mail address that I have used for as long as I’ve had email.
Over the next 10 months we worked on the car for one to two days a week. We usually began working at 8:30 at night and finished before 11 p.m. The project was completed on August 5, 2007. By what could only be explained as a miracle, for 10 months we were able to keep the project a complete secret from Brantley and Rachel. During that time my wife and I had spent the night at the Wester’s and they had spent the night at our house and no one asked about the car. I later learned that they had agreed not to ask me about the car because they were afraid that I would tell them that it could not be restored! My wife and I decided that in order to get Brantley here we would have to tell Rachel about the project. We called Rachel on Tuesday, July 31, 2007. After we instructed her to go outside so Brantley would not see her reaction, we told her what the youth had done. I would have loved to have had a camera there to film her reaction. Needless to say she had to take a little time to wipe the grin off her face before she went back inside. It was decided that she would tell Brantley that I was going to be preaching this Sunday, since it was my first anniversary at Plentitude, and it would be great if Brantley were there to support me. Brantley took the bait, hook, line, and sinker. Our only problem was that the brakes still needed overhauling and the carburetor needed to be rebuilt. We agreed to rent a car hauler so they could take the car back to Waycross since the car had not run for at least 4 years. Rachel called back the next day and said that Brantley agreed to come but she could not get him to drive their van that had the hitch. It was then decided that we would try to get the car in shape for Brantley to drive the car back to Waycross on Sunday.
I enlisted the help of Ronnie Land and John Jackson to attempt to pull off this miracle. We worked on the car all week at my house and hauled the car to John Jackson’s shop (J & J Automotive) in Gray on Thursday. John worked on the car on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning. John and I finished the car in enough time on Sunday morning to beat Rachel and Brantley to the church by 10 minutes!
Sunday, August 5th was the big day for giving the car back to Brantley. Zack, Jonathan, Merl, and Ethan were charged with giving Brantley the keys when he arrived. As Brantley drove up to the church at about 10:30 a.m., 40-50 adults and youth had gathered around the car out of Brantley’s sight. I met him halfway across the parking lot and walked him toward the car. His response was priceless. The response of the teens and adults who were involved in the project was more than priceless. I can honestly say that I can’t remember a time when I have been so excited and nervous. After 10 months working on the car it was incredible to watch Brantley give the guys their first ride in the Bug!
The initial goal of the project was to invest time in several teenagers for the purpose of helping them stay the course in their relationship with Christ. We surpassed this goal far beyond our wildest dreams. Through this project, numerous teenagers have made decisions to grow closer to Christ. The relationships built during this project helped encourage one youth to accept Christ as his Lord and Savior. I was blessed with the opportunity to baptize him in the ocean during BigStuf Summer Camp. A secondary goal was to show Christian love and encouragement to a couple that have served God faithfully. This goal also was far surpassed.
One of the neatest things about this project is that early on we noticed many parallels to how Jesus wants to restore us to a right relationship with God. When we had the car stripped down and in its ugliest stage we hauled it to the church’s gym and used it as an object lesson at a Youth Rally. At that rally 35 youth made decisions to recommit their lives to Christ. After giving the car back to Brantley I was given the Sunday morning service to share about the spiritual truths we had learned during this project. We will be posting 5 devotions that are designed to share these spiritual truths with you. I hope that God touches your heart through these devotions as much as He has ours!
Since this project has been completed we have received a substantial donation to begin our second project. Soon we will begin restoration on a 1971 VW Super Beetle. Watch the website for pictures of this project in progress. If you would like to support this project with your time, resources, or talents please contact me, John Albrycht at BugsforChrist@alltel.net .
