‘You have a need; I have a van’ Barbourville doctor gives 2022 Mercedes Benz food truck van to ministry

God continues to provide for Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief in almost miraculous ways.
On Friday, KYDR Director Ron Crow reported that a 2022 Mercedes Benz Sprinter 4500 food truck van with less than 7,000 miles was being donated by Dr. Richard Carter of Barbourville Family Health in Barbourville, Ky.

It came at a time when Crow was planning to develop a critical incident response team involving chaplains and a small feeding team.

“A critical incident team would be trained to respond to critical incidents that could include shootings, mass casualties, explosions, searches, mining accidents, and the like,” Crow said. “I was looking at purchasing a small mobile feeding kitchen and the pricing was $40,000 – $50,000. I thought I had a plan, but God had a much better plan.”

Carter, a member of First Baptist Barbourville, knew of Disaster Relief from several members in the church and his late father, who worked with DR for 15 to 20 years, he said.

Carter said he was going to use the van for mobile clinics but decided to do something different for the mobile clinics. “I started looking around for things to use it for,” he said.

He spoke with Leamon Davidson, a member at FBC Barbourville, who had recently been working with the feeding units for Disaster Relief. That started the ball rolling until Carter and Crow had a conversation. He shared with the doctor exactly what he needed, and it was exactly what Carter had to offer.

“I was praying about trying to find something,” Carter said. “God works in mysterious ways. I said, ‘You have a need, I have a van.’”

And God put the two together.

“It will require some minor modifications to equip it for our needs, but very little,” Crow said. “Much of the feeding equipment we need is already there. This van will service our needs for many years and will allow us to respond to needs much easier and faster as we bring help, hope, and healing to those in crisis.”

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Carter was glad to be part of God’s provision to the Disaster Relief ministry.

“As I was thinking about that, this is a great thing to use it for,” Carter said. “It was a waste for it to sit there. We needed to find some way to use it, and this is the best use for it.”

Crow was humbled, again, to see how God provides. He has seen it happen repeatedly with Disaster Relief needs.

“Once again, I am not surprised by God’s blessing, but I again stand in awe how He provides what is needed just at the right moment,” he said. “God is seldom early, never late, but always right on time!

“As Ephesians 3:20 says, ‘Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.’ God is an amazing God!”