By Dale Chamberlain, ChurchLeaders newsletter
South Carolina pastor Jeffery Hickman is using a rideshare app to identify the needs of his community so that he and his church can make an impact.
Hickman, popularly known as Jeff, completes between 10 and 20 trips a week as a driver for Uber, a company he began working for earlier this year. And he recently told the local TV station that he began using the app to get a better sense of the needs within his community.
Hickman is the lead pastor of LifeSong Church in Lyman. He, along with his family and a small group of leaders, founded the church in his living room in 2006. Over the better part of two decades, the church has grown to considerable size and influence. Hickman’s wife, Amy, serves as the church’s director of communications. She also oversees LifeSong’s women’s ministry.
The church’s website declares that “everybody has a name, every name is important,” something that Hickman is seeking to live out in practical ways in the community.
“There are a lot of people who are struggling with the idea, ‘Does somebody see me? Does somebody hear me? Does somebody even care that I’m alive? Am I valued?’” Hickman said. “And so, this has been an amazing way to let people know that someone cares about you and God loves you.”
More than merely providing an empathetic ear to the people he encounters, Hickman has been intentional about following up to address people’s physical needs.
For example, when Hickman heard some of his passengers express concern over the cost of food for Thanksgiving, he informed them that his church was giving away Thanksgiving meals to people in the community who needed a helping hand.
Hickman also has sought to involve the other members in his church and his community to help people who needed a lifeline. For instance, he recounted a recent trip in which he drove a woman named Rosalyn to a doctor’s appointment.
“I knocked on her door, and nobody came to her door,” Hickman said. “Eventually, I heard a voice, and eventually, the door opened, and it was a lady who was sitting in a wheelchair. She was a recent amputee and was really struggling.”
Bailey Wright of CNN NewsSource added: After the trip, the pastor says he knew he had to help her. He went on social media asking for $1,500 and volunteers.
“Within an hour, we had $1,600, and a crew actually showed up at her house the very next day and built that wheelchair ramp,” he said.
And when he heard some passengers may go hungry during Thanksgiving, his mission hit a bump in the road.
“Picked them up before and just shared with them, ‘hey, we’re giving away free Thanksgiving meals earlier this month,'” he said.
Hickman was going to pick up someone when he was hit on the passenger side, totaling his Ford SUV with over 320,000 miles.
Even so, he’s happy he’s able to give back in his own way.
“If you really think about anything you’ve ever done for anybody, or that you’ve given away, that you’ve helped somebody, you’ve never regretted it because generosity fills your heart,” he said.
Hickman said he is waiting to hear back from the insurance company to see if he can get a replacement for his car and continue his mission.
First published Dec. 26, 2023
