A message on wheels: Father Andrews hopes his vehicle will get looks

Next time you’re tooling around Omaha, perhaps near the University of Nebraska Omaha campus, be sure to wave at Father Dan Andrews as you both wait for the traffic light to turn green.

You’ll know it’s Father Andrews because of his collar and the distinctive 1985 Volkswagen bus he’s driving.

Father Andrews is pastor and director of the St. John Paul II Newman Center near 72nd and Pacific streets. He purchased the bus in January, and after a bit of mechanical and decal work, had it street-ready a few months later.

“Driving around town, it’s just a blast because it makes people smile,” Father Andrews said.

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The graduate of Mary Our Queen Grade School in Omaha is no novice when it comes to the VW bus. He grew up with one as a family vehicle.

“My parents bought it as a family car,” he said. “We took a family vacation to California in that thing – eight people. Over the Continental Divide, through the desert, no air conditioning.”

That bus was his mode of transportation when he was a student at Mount Michael Benedictine High School and at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, where he graduated with a degree in physics in 1993. When the bus had seen its final days, Father Andrews, who was ordained in 2001, bought another in 2003, which he kept for about two years.

“That thing was an amazing specimen, but I kind of had other priorities so I sold it,” Father Andrews said.

The bus bug resurfaced a couple years ago, and Father Andrews found one from an out-of-state seller.

“About a year ago, I started thinking about (getting another) because they’re so fun,” he said.

Fun with a purpose.

“One, because they’re fun to drive, and two, I thought it would be a fun way to promote the Newman Center and the Gospel,” Father Andrews said. “People, I think, need to see that the Gospel involves joy and fun. We don’t often think of that, but there’s a joyful part of it.”

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The bus, manufactured by Volkswagen Brazil until 2013, is “old school” – manual transmission, no heat, no air conditioning, no power steering. Driving one isn’t for the faint of heart. But Father Andrews is comfortable behind the wheel.

“It’s like riding a bike or driving a bus, you don’t forget,” he said. “I put a lot of miles in cars like that. It’s like a fifth appendage.”

Father Andrews said the bus is a “fair-weather vehicle” and will be in the garage during the winter months. But until the snow flies, he said, he wants to hit the streets, perhaps to events, promotional activities or high schools, to help increase awareness about the Newman Center as the bus “kind of makes a splash in and of itself.”

According to its website, the JPII Newman Center provides a home base for students looking to grow spiritually and socially during college. Built in 2016, it is a dedicated space for any college student in Omaha “to hang out, meet lifelong friends, study and grow closer to Jesus.”

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The bus also pays tribute to the days of Mav Catholic, the forerunner to the Newman Center.

Before the building opened, the campus ministry was mainly based out of St. Margaret Mary Parish under the moniker Mav Catholic.

Though the JPII Newman Center is open to anyone pursuing a secondary program or degree, slightly more than 80% percent of its students hail from nearby UNO, said Father Andrews, who has served as the center’s pastor/director the past six years.

“We’re reintroducing Mav Catholic as a parallel brand to promote school spirit and help UNO students identify their school with us,” Father Andrews said.

The JPII Newman Center pastor said he looks forward to hitting the streets in the coming months.

“I’ll just drive around and it becomes kind of a rolling billboard just for general awareness,” he said. “We’ll have fun with it, maybe shuttle students back and forth, even go on a run for ice cream.

“I think it’ll raise some eyebrows and evoke some smiles in a good way.”

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