BREAK Bus continuing to bring the gospel message to kids throughout Whitley County

For many years, the husband-and-wife team of John and Julie Lowder have spearheaded an effort to teach the Bible to school-aged children in Whitley County. Their methods have evolved over time, leading to the utilization of what they call the BREAK Bus, which serves as a kid-friendly mobile missionary classroom.

BREAK, which stands for Bible Release-time Education Association of Kentucky, began here twenty years ago. “We were called to be missionaries here in 2002,” John Lowder explained. “We found out about a program called Bible Release Time, which took place outside of the schools. We started doing that here, initially using a small house located near one of the schools in downtown Corbin.”

The Lowders started their ministry with a single school, ushering kids down the street to the house where they would teach their lessons. Once they began utilizing a bus, however, they found it much easier to simply present lessons there, ripping out the seats and laying down carpet squares so that kids would have a comfortable place to sit.

These days, the BREAK Bus has full length bleachers inside, allowing a dozen or so kids to be able to sit on either side as they listen and take part in Bible lessons.

“In 2011, they said that we couldn’t actually come inside the schools,” Lowder said. “That is when we really ramped up using the bus. There is a whole lot of red tape involved, but having to make sure everything is perfectly legit has actually made us better as an organization.”

Lowder explained that, in order for programs like BREAK Bus to be legal, three main factors must be in play. First, the lessons must be held off of school property. Second, the program cannot be supported by public funds (the schools). Third, the parents must request that their children participate in the program.

“If all of those things are true, then everybody has signed off on it, and is okay with it taking place,” Lowder said.

John, Julie and their team have expanded over the years to cover the entirety of Whitley County, including Corbin Independent Schools, Williamsburg Independent Schools and Whitley County Schools. The bus itself is utilized when visiting schools in the Corbin and Whitley County school systems, while nearby Main Street Baptist Church offers a Sunday School room to be used during visits to Williamsburg Independent.

“It’s a community effort,” Lowder said. “All of the local schools are very cooperative, though. We live in a great community that allows for us to openly do what we do. Everything is on full display.”

Lowder said that BREAK enrollment was at around 1,200 students last year, and he is hoping to pass the 1,000 mark again this year. He said that it is perfectly legal to incorporate Bible Release Time into any grade level, but his program does target specific age groups.

“We pick the grades where they are old enough to understand the lessons, but they are also not overtly affected by negative peer pressure,” Lowder explained. “That ends up being grades 3-6, so those are the grades that we like to target.”

As for what exactly gets taught on the BREAK Bus, Lowder said, “We are non-denominational, and not tied to any particular church, but what we teach is distinctly evangelical Christian. We want to teach kids to trust Jesus Christ as their personal savior, and obey him as their lord. That is really the ultimate goal.”

Lowder and his team makes sure that each kid visiting the BREAK Bus has access to a Bible, handing out New Testaments to all third graders when they begin taking part in the program.

“For some kids, this is the only form of church that they get,” Lowder said. “Some others that we see may be in church every single Sunday. Either way, while they’re here they get to learn about God with all of their friends, which is a really cool thing.”

The Lowders visit each school in their rotation once a month. They say they are operating at capacity at the moment, and have no plans to further expand their particular ministry, but they have been encouraged in recent years to see other Bible Release Time programs begin cropping up in surrounding areas such as Bell, Clay and Laurel counties.

“Our prayer is that God will raise up a Godly generation in our country, and more specifically right here in Whitley County,” Lowder said. “We just want to be a part of that.”

To find out more about the BREAK Bus program, go online to www.kyreleasedtime.org.