Texas trucker Richard Kincannon has a deep passion for Jesus. He knows Him, and he wants others to meet Him. But he didn’t fancy the idea of heading out onto a street corner and waving a Bible in people’s faces. He wanted to do something different and to be creative with his approach to evangelism. The result is certainly turning heads and is definitely very, very Texan.
Kincannon hauls around his 53-foot tractor-trailer which is equipped with six large murals of Jesus and a prayer for any who stop by. “I really built this more or less to bring a different approach to Jesus, and the way we relate to him,” he said, as reported by Amarillo Globe-News. “Too many people kind of buck up when you talk about God. Too many have their own idea of who or what God is.”
Coming to the end of his career, the 67-year-old wanted to do something different with his last few years on the job. “I’ve been driving a truck more or less all my life,” he said. “My uncle got me started at 15 years old sitting in his seat.”
For 16 years, the stoic Kincannon drove propane fuel trucks to support his two daughters. Now, he wants to deliver a message of hope and life to all who will hear him out.
“My heart — I don’t know how to say it — but I feel like I need to pay God back for my time down here,” Kincannon said. “My wife is gone. I feel kind of bad sometimes. So that’s my whole idea.”
Kincannon’s wife was killed in a traffic accident back in 2010. He says that at that point, absolutely everything in his life changed.
“God’s blessed me through good times and bad times. I feel like I owe Him for the time I have left,” Kincannon said. He really felt it was time for him to spread the gospel by any means possible. Then he had the mural idea.
“This is where I came up with the mural idea, and they don’t come cheap,” Kincannon explained. “But you can’t go on the road and be a minister and ask people to understand what you are doing without something they can relate to.”
While many others with a call to evangelism immediately head out onto the street and preach to anyone who will listen, Richard wanted to take a slightly more creative approach. “If I just go out and put flags out and act silly, I’m probably not going to get any attention. So this way, I thought God could use me,” he said.
The six murals are absolutely beautiful. They depict Jesus as he overlooks Jerusalem, as he heals a crippled man, interacts with children, a woman washing his feet, and of course the resurrection. The other is an open Bible.
Since the murals were completed 14 months ago, Kincannon has hit the road as often as possible. Since December 1st, Kincannon has been on the road for 44 days and covered 3,000 miles. He will often stop off at a Walmart and other big stores, as there he can come across a wide range of people who may want to hear his message.
“It’s always been positive,” he said of his encounters. “I’ve only had one gentleman who looked like he was pretty well off make it out to be a little joke, saying what I was doing was not beneficial because people are going to believe what they want to anyway.”
Kincannon said that the most striking thing he notices is that people are so often in a hurry. So, he quickly hands them his card, urges them to read the Bible and asks them for their first name. Then, if there’s time, he will ask them what he can pray for.
Sometimes he will get into really good, in-depth discussions with passersby. Anything goes, except for one subject – politics.
“We don’t talk politics,” he declared. “But you see people smiling, taking pictures — it just makes it worthwhile.”
Kincannon would one day like venture further out to Mississippi.
“I want to do this as long as I can,” he said. “As soon as the weather is better, my plans are to go, go, go.”