The God-Van

The Mission: Bring Hope to people, and people to Hope.

The Original God Van (circa 2000)

The US Army has a facility in the Mojave Desert called the National Training Center. The soldiers of the 11th US Cavalry help train other units in land warfare by serving as the "Opposing Force," or OPFOR. While a large unit may come to NTC and train for one rotation of 30-40 days, the soldiers of the OPFOR have to serve every rotation, and many end up in "the Box" (training area) for 10 months of the year. In order to meet the spiritual needs of these soldiers, the 11th Cavalry repurposed several mobile command centers ("Expando-vans") as mobile chapels. With the "God-Vans," Squadron Chaplains provided morale events and worship services for the troops.

The Original

The Original God-Van was a US Army M934 built by OshKosh. It was designed to be a mobile command center. The 11th Cavalry re-purposed some to be mobile chapels. Squadron chaplains spent the rotation moving around the battlefield, holding worship services, doing counseling, and occasionally offering morale events in the air conditioned van!

During Operation Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom, many in the OPFOR played civilian roles to help train units in non-conventional battle tactics.

The two chaplain assistants pictured were "playing civilians" during this rotation and were stopped to repair a flat tire! The guy on the right (gloves) is then-chaplain-assistant SGT Copeland, now "Chaplain Dan."

2025

The spirit of the original God Van was to meet people right there they were, even in the middle of nowhere. That spirit lives on in the Ford E350 15-passenger van now owned and operated by me, Chaplain Dan.

In 2025, I was giving rides to recovery meetings using an old Chevy pickup with a single bench. That was a tad cozy at times! The Lord opened a door for me to get a larger... much larger... vehicle.

This beauty was a mobile T-shirt business for several years! The seats were all gone and the AC was kaput! But with one bench seat and an occasional folding chair, she did her duty!

2026 - growing the ministry

In December 2025, the transmission decided that 200,000 miles was enough. Through the generosity of fellow Christians and the leadership of Bethesda Church, a transmission rebuild and general repairs were entirely paid for! Praise the Lord!

The God-Van Mission: Bring Hope to people, and people to Hope!

And if you need a ride to Celebrate Recovery or Church, text me at 412-4325!