Tuk-tuks are well known around Thailand. Any tourist who comes to Bangkok will almost always take at least one ride in these three wheel taxis. Then, have battling the traffic, the noise and pollution they feel a sense of achievement at the end of their journey!

 

In Pak Phanang, we have started using a tuk-tuk for another purpose. We have set up a tuk-tuk to use helping us as we share the good news of Jesus in different areas and communities in our district. Equipped with a flat-screen television and loudspeaker, our tuk-tuk is ready to go anywhere and help proclaim the gospel to any who will listen.

 

 

Being a small vehicle, it is particularly useful for driving through narrow laneways into cramped communities or markets. The back section of the tuk-tuk is lockable and has room for tables, music stands and microphone stands. Tracts and literature are kept on a bookshelf in the vehicle. All the equipment is powered by a hefty pickup battery which is converted into 220 volts by an inverter, so an external power supply is unneeded. The vehicle itself is powered by a 150 cc motorcyle engine. It's not very powerful or fast, but it gets where it needs to go.

 

The tuk-tuk project (or Mobile Mission Motorcyle as it's formally called) was inspired by a Bible mini-van being used by another OMF team in North-East Thailand. (See the OMF Isaan link on the left of this page.) Vaughan Pirie then took the concept and decided that a tuk-tuk style vehicle would suit our needs better. Buying the vehicle last year (2010) he then set about modifying the structure and purchasing equipment to be used with it. I gave him some help with arranging the equipment and organising the electrical hookup. The final touch was done by the attractive artwork placed around the outside of the tuk-tuk body, design of which is thanks to Kristen Krager, one of Vaughan's friends in Kalgoorlie.

 

So far we have use the tuk-tuk once for a market outreach (great! - we no longer have to carry the tables and gear out by hand in the evening) and two community outreaches. And we're looking forward to making good use of it in the days to come. It's not an alternative to the age old sharing the gospel wherever we are and whereever we go, but when it comes to carting the equipment we use in communicating God's good news in this modern age, it certainly helps a lot to have "God's tuk-tuk" with us!