Snapshots of the Kentucky mission trip
As many of you know, I drove down to Kentucky with the Mt. Olivet senior high mission group and stayed until Wednesday. What follows are some impressions and some pictures I took. First some impressions of Kentucky…
What a unique part of the country this is! The Kentucky mountain drawl is so deep, sometimes it leaves you responding, “huh?” or “come again?” The people here have been friendly and fun to talk to. And on top of that we’ve met some of their pets, including a really cute bunny rabbit named “booger” (“because she looks like a booger!” says her owner) and a perfectly handsome dog named “Hemorrhoid.” You gotta love it!
This state is more green than Minnesota, which is no easy feat. The horse farms in the western part of the state are beautiful, and plentiful. The mountains we were in are more hills than mountains, but very steep. There is a lovely but aggressive and strangulating creeping vine that is plentiful on the countryside, often overtaking (and taking down) entire trees and even telephone poles. There are little tobacco farms everywhere. The humidity is often close to 100%. With temps in the 80′s, the sticky factor is a notch up from virtually any summer day in Minnie.
By the way, the Hatfields and McCoys were real families, and family feuds are legendary in these parts – usually involving land or mineral disputes. Or religious disputes! In Breathitt County alone, there are over 150 denominations! Granted most of them are not new age, Hindu or Muslim, but rather, Baptist or Presbyterian offshoots. This is a testament to how many disagreements these folks have ’bout religion, and how passionate they are.
As just about everyone knows, this is a depressed part of the country economically, and many people live in situations where they do not have the means to take care of essential things, like replacing stairs to their front door that are rotting away or propping up a poorly conceived foundation. Those two tasks in fact make up the majority of the work the groups have been doing. Building stairs, mounting crossbeams beneath the house and digging holes for cement pillars to reinforce a sagging home essentially built on stilts.
As Pete has already blogged, the work has been hard and not easy either, as you can deduce. Nor has our host organization held us by the hand in all this. The groups have been largely on their own and left to their own resourcefulness and stick-to-it-iveness. Fortunately, God has placed in our midst the raw and, in some cases, developed, skills that we need to get things done.
But he most amazing thing about this trip from my perspective is the spirit with which every one of our group has gone about their business (and their leisure time, which hasn’t been much!). I had the privilege of being able to work side by side with these brothers and sisters in Christ and to watch them in action. And I was – and am – simply in awe! This has not been an easy trip in many ways – grueling travel, tough sleeping conditions, physically demanding work, a host organization struggling to keep up with us (and struggling to keep ahead of us too) – yet the positivity and cheerfulness that the Mt. Olivet team has shown is truly remarkable. I’ve been on a lot of these types of trips before and I’ve never seen any thing like this before. The maturity and sensitivity and sheer leadership that the adults have shown. The energy, willingness to work, and respectful attitudes that the youth have shown. Every one at Mt. Olivet should be very proud of these young (and middle aged) people!
The bottom line is this, I think: our group in Kentucky is distinguished by a spirit of servanthood. They want to make a difference in the lives of some people who do not have the blessings we have. This is what it means to follow Christ, and these 55 souls are doing it superbly.
One more thing. Hats off to Pete Erickson! Pete is an unflappable leader who has seen it all and loves the roller coaster ride that is a mission trip. His experience and confidence, his organizational ability and wisdom have been instrumental in making this trip come off so well.
I will post some pictures tonight.
God’s Peace,
Pastor John