AMARILLO, Texas-Coming to a Walmart or Sam's Club near you-Richard Kincannon of Shamrock with his 53-foot tractor-trailer complete 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. "Too many people kind of buck up when you talk about God. Too many have their own idea of who or what God is."
The Amarillo Globe-News reports Kincannon, who turns 68 at the end of January, sees what he does in retirement as a ministry. And it's a bit of an unconventional ministry at that, one that's been floating in his mind for the last 10 years or so.
"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."
Among the jobs he's held over the years, he drove a truck delivering fuel and propane for 16 years to help raise his two daughters. Now, he's on to delivering a message.
"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 kinda bad sometimes. So that's my whole idea.
"God's blessed me through good times and bad times. I feel like I owe Him for the time I have left."
Kincannon's wife, Karon, was killed in 2010 in a passenger in an auto accident near Pampa, Texas. As he said, "That changed almost everything."
Perhaps nothing more than this desire to spread the gospel via 18 wheels. He already had the trailer, and the truck, he said, is a motor coach. But he had this idea of one man and a truck and the Word.
"This is where I came up with the mural idea, and they don't come cheap," Kincannon said. "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.
"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."
The murals were done in Henderson in East Texas and finally completed in Dallas. There are six of them, five with Jesus as he overlooks Jerusalem, as he heals a crippled man, interacts with children, a woman washing his feet, and the Resurrection. The other is an open Bible on the back of the trailer where the winds of time are blowing out verses.
Since the murals were completed 14 months ago, Kincannon has taken to the road for as long as the money holds up. He's done a Panhandle loop. He's gone to Canton in East Texas to see a sister and made frequent stops to and fro.
Four days after Christmas, he went on a two-week trip to San Antonio. Since the first of December, Kincannon has been on the road for 44 days and put on 3,000 miles.
He prefers to park at a Walmart or a Sam's. There, he meets people from all walks of life; some talk and take photos of the murals. Like a few of those inside Walmart, he sees himself as a greeter-a greeter for Christ.
"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."
What Kincannon has discovered is that most people are in a hurry. He hands out his card, encourages them to read the Bible, and tries to get their first name. Then he prays for them that night and any of their needs. Only one subject is off limits.
"We don't talk politics," he said. "But you see people smiling, taking pictures-it just makes it worthwhile."
Right now, Kincannon has a travel radius of about 500 miles, but one day he'd like to hit the higher-populated areas east of the 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."