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Letter from an African Driver
I never
believed in God and thought that He was just a myth. I had four close friends
and we made a good team. We viewed life as a game where on a daily basis we had
to beat our opponents to be at the top. Now, my friends have passed on and I am
the only survivor of the five. I am married and have three children. My wife has
always been a praying woman who was patient with me even when I was not so good
to her. I sometimes would accompany her to church just for fun and to mock her.
She would tell me that she would not give up praying for me and that it was only
a matter of time before God talked to me.
Adventures
on Ice Dean and Shelley Porter enjoy adventure. They get a kick out of riding motorcycles and driving truck together as a team. They especially enjoy spending their winters driving over treacherous snow and ice in northern Canada, hauling goods to towns with no other access points. They don't mind the below-40s temperatures and the danger of the brutal white-outs. Ice Roads In the January 2002, issue of Highway News, I wrote an article about Ice Road truckers. For approximately nine weeks during the harsh winters of Canada's Northwest Territories, massive big rigs, some as large as 30-wheeled super B trains, are driven over the frozen lakes and rough portages (the land between the lakes) in temperatures 20 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. They haul supplies to the mining towns from Yellowknife all the way up to Great Bear Lake on roads especially prepared for the trucks. Several hundred drivers come each winter from as far away as Australia for the adventure and the pay, about double what most drivers get. Until a recent visit to Canada, I had never met any Ice Road truckers. For the most part I got the information for my previous article from print and a couple of phone conversations. I was introduced to Dean and Shelley Porter by my wife's nephew, the couple's pastor, Luke Weaver, Jr., whom we were visiting in New Brunswick. I was really excited to find out Dean and Shelley, from Richie, N.B., are bulk distributors of this magazine! Dean grew up on a farm, and he says as long as he can remember if something had a motor on it he wanted to be driving it. He got his farm tractor driver's license at age 14, and began his trucking career right out of high school. He first learned about the Ice Road from a fellow driver who read about it in Reader's Digest. About four years ago, Dean and another driver got up the nerve to try it and they got hooked. Partners That first year, Dean went away for the entire three months, while Shelley stayed home. They talked each day on the phone, but Dean says he will never leave her for that long again. Their solution? Shelley got her CDL and is now his driving partner! Getting her license was not a problem for Shelley as she comes from a family of truckers. Her dad was a trucker, and out of three sisters and two brothers, only one sister is not involved in the trucking industry in some way. His first year driving the Ice Road, Dean drove a 16-mile run from Yellowknife to the mine. He was able to eat and shower at a camp at Lockhart halfway through and also at the mine at the end. Because their company does not allow two drivers to go together over the lakes, Dean and Shelley haul freight from Edmonton, Alberta, to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. It is about a 17-hour drive one way, and the only ice they cross is the Mackenzie River, about 2.6 km across. They travel by ferry until the river freezes, which is usually at the end of January. They are leased to Robinson Enterprises, LTD. Shelley says breaking through the ice is not the greatest fear or hazard. Instead they fear whiteouts, caused either by blowing snow or frozen fog in the severe cold. Another hazard is looking out for the natives who use the same roads at times. Living for Christ Dean and Shelley are both Christians. Dean explains his spiritual journey: "My mother bought me a Bible when I was young and took me to church every Sunday. But I didn't give my heart to the Lord until many years later when I was going through a very rough time in my life because of my divorce. I drove a C train for Coca-Cola at the time, but since I was single, I quit and got a long distance driving job. I still had the Bible that my mother had given me many years before and began using the daily readings. As a result, I finally gave my heart to the Lord. "At this time I thought I was through with women. I hadn't dated anyone for two and a half years. Then on a blind date set up by a friend who was dating Shelley's sister, I met Shelley." Married for 13 years, Dean and Shelley both agree they are still honeymooning. Shelley says she was also taken to church as a child. About all she can recall is sitting in Sunday school and coloring. "But when I met Dean, we began our life together by attending church and I realized my need to trust Christ as my Savior," Shelley says. While on the Ice Road, the couple attends church whenever they can in Edmonton. They are also members of the Christian Motorcycle Association, and in the summer they enjoy long rides together along with the fellowship with fellow riders. Dean and Shelley recently moved to Edmonton, and have been offered full-time work. They also own a home by the St. John River in New Brunswick. Picking up passengers whose vehicles have broke down is another thing that happens quite a bit on the Ice Road. Dean said, "You don't let anyone sit along the road when it's so cold. We find this is another way to be Christian witnesses, as many drivers are rough spoken. Soon they learn we don't use bad language, and lots of times we end up having good fellowship with them." The day after I talked to them in the middle of September, they left New Brunswick with their beautiful, brand new, Ice Road-equipped International Eagle. Before their departure, we all laid hands on and dedicated the truck to the Lord. Pastor Luke prayed for safety for the couple as they began their travel on those long and hazardous winter highways.
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