To avoid scrolling, click on the titles to navigate directly to each story.
Bessie McPeek-TV21Word Alive
Framing a Log Cabin- A People Building Project
Deliverers of Hope
Eastern Kentucky SonRise
Partnering with God
Walls of Silence
Wendell Belew Training Center Dedication
The Mighty Acts of God
Sharing Jesus Onstage
Setting the Captives Free
Bessie McPeek-TV21Word Alive
Excitement filled the television studio as a technician counted down to one and pointed to host, Jackie Yokey. “Welcome,” she said. “Today, our show will feature the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and our guest, Bessie McPeek of Jenkins, Ky.” The telecast, “TV21Word Alive,” airs from the Evangel World Prayer Center in Louisville, Ky. and is available to one million homes and 22 cable networks.
Less than three months earlier, Bessie McPeek knelt at the altar at Faith Baptist Church in Myra, Ky. and whispered a prayer. “Lord, please let me know if you want my ministry to continue. If not, I will go anywhere, do anything for you,” she prayed. “You just let me know.”
When Bessie prayed that prayer, she had no idea that God had already begun to answer. Southern Baptist Missionary Bill Barker had already contacted me to write her story for the ARM newsletter. Two days after her prayer, I called to schedule the interview. The next week, after receiving my article, Bill told the story to a lady in Kershaw, South Carolina who had called to ask him if she could help a ministry center in Appalachia. The woman sent a check for $2,000 and over $500 worth of new baby clothes to Bessie’s ministry, “God’s Love from a Diaper Bag.”
The diaper ministry, which reaches 60-l00 families each month, helps mothers in eastern Kentucky who are struggling to raise their children and survive. A dwindling coal supply in the beautiful mountainous area has brought poverty and despair to the people. Each time a mine closes, about 75 men with no other job skills are left without any means to support their families. Bessie remembers all too well a time in her own life when she was divorced, had surgery and had to apply for welfare to help with doctor bills and her small children. Along with diapers, Bessie offers the mothers encouragement and hope. “I want to use this opportunity to show them they are not alone,” she said. “God is always with them.”
After the article was published in the ARM newsletter, Bessie and her husband, Lester, traveled to Refuge Baptist Church in Kershaw, South Carolina to thank the lady for her generous donation and were invited to speak during the morning service. Bessie was also a guest on two other television shows in April.
Because of the publicity, Bessie has gained access to a community room in a housing project in Whitesburg where she can distribute diapers and hold Bible studies, backyard Bible Clubs and teen block parties. She and a licensed abuse counselor met with eleven women at the housing project in April. In addition, Letcher and Knott County Health Departments have asked her to provide diapers for their clients. Bessie is currently coordinating sites for a clown ministry team from North Carolina that will perform July 7-12 in Whitesburg in the city park and in housing projects and neighboring hollows.
“I had faith that God would use my ministry as He promised,” Bessie said, “but I never dreamed it would spread so far so soon. But all things are possible with God. Another mine closed last week leaving others without work or health insurance. God is using this ministry to show the needs of eastern Ky., not only the need for diapers, but also the need for food, clothing, medical assistance, job training and housing.”
Click here to go back to top of page.
Framing a Log Cabin- A People Building Project
Framing a log cabin in the Rockcastle County wilderness may seem an unusual way to promote cooperation and teamwork within a Cincinnati-based construction company, but that is precisely what happened during a two-day retreat at cleftRock Retreat Center in Mt. Vernon, Ky., September 7-8.
When JFB and Epic construction companies merged on June 15, Jeff Jacobs, Director of Business Development and a partner in the new company, realized he was also merging two different work crews. After Bob Fields mentioned building a log cabin while Jacobs’ church was on retreat at cleftRock this summer, he spotted a perfect chance to unite the construction crews.
“This is a team building project, a way to give back to cleftRock Retreat Center and spend time together,” Jacobs said. “Half of us work in the office. This is also a way to find the guys’ leadership abilities and get to know each other.”
The first morning of the retreat, the crew participated in a “Low Ropes” course led by Lee Bivins, a retired missionary and cleftRock board member. The course uses non-competitive games to encourage unity, problem solving and working together-the issues one encounters in the work place on a daily basis. Bivins has taught the course, which Toyota also uses as a training tool, for five years.
The goal was to frame the cabin, located a mile and a half from the main retreat center, within two days. The cabin is being built of pine logs-10 in. wide and 6 in. thick-salvaged from trees killed by the Southern Pine Beetle. The logs were milled by Bob Fields and then hauled to the top of a mountain that he calls a “neat little knoll.” The 20 x 36 ft. cabin will have a living room, two bedrooms, two baths and a front porch plus a back porch that overlooks the Rockcastle River.
“This will be a place for people to come to meditate and pray-a place for the second half of prayer,” Fields said. “All communication is stimulus and response. Prayer is communication with God. We do a lot of stimulus-begging or telling God-but this is not completed until we stop and listen for His response. This will be a place of rest, for being quiet and listening.”
“It has been a wonderful experience,” Project Manager Giuseppe Bellayuto said. “I think we have found that everybody can be a leader. Everyone can work inside or outside. Everyone can take someone else’s place. It’s nice to get away from the other distractions and concentrate on one thing instead of five jobs at once.”
Since 1974, when Bob and Eddie Fields finished a ten year missionary assignment in Israel and came back to Kentucky with their three children and a God-given vision to build cleftRock Retreat Center, thousands of people from all parts of the world have been blessed by the peace and solitude found in the 450 acres of isolated wilderness. cleftRock now averages 50 Christian retreats each year. Bob and Eddie actively participate in the ministry by serving on the board of directors, leading retreats and giving prayer support and encouragement to missionaries and all others who come there. Fields also operates a private counseling practice, “Roots and Wings Counseling,” with offices at cleftRock and London, Ky.
But for a man of vision, the completion of a log cabin away from all the activity offered a fresh
new joy. As he watched the men raising the logs into place, he grinned and lifting a hammer said, “My grandpa’s hammer.”
The construction crew plans to ensure the building project is completed by lending a hand in the future. “Hopefully, this is a project that we can come back and see to the finish,” Jacobs said. “In a short time, I feel like I know these guys better.”
Bob and Eddie Fields plan to dedicate the cabin in memory of their son, Todd Fields, who served for fifteen years on the mission field in Honduras before he was killed by bandits while he was on a ministry trip to Guatemala March 28, 2003.
Click here to go back to top of page.
Deliverers of Hope
Most Americans look forward to retirement as a time of freedom from work and responsibilities. But when Mission Service Corps missionaries George and Kathy Goeddey felt God gently tugging at their hearts, they looked forward to retirement as a time to answer God’s call to full-time mission service.
The couple first became actively involved in missions in Illinois when the Mississippi River flooded its banks in 1993. While George coordinated Disaster Relief teams, Kathy served as co-director of Christian Cooperation, a joint effort of churches and the community. From August 1993 until the middle of 1995, missions volunteers distributed hundreds of thousands of donated goods to families in the area.
Since 1995 George has volunteered in hurricane or other disaster relief efforts every year. During the 9/11 disaster in New York, he made a trip to work as the main cook with a Disaster Relief feeding unit. Kathy, who made two trips to New York, worked with a food unit and a child care unit. When Katrina devastated the gulf coast last year, George worked with the Illinois Baptist Feeding Unit, ministering first in Bogalusa, La. and then in Texas. In January 2006, he worked with a large Salvation Army and FEMA effort in New Orleans, driving a van delivering volunteers to feeding sites around the city.
“In all the areas of the work we have done, the people can see someone cares and that gives them hope,” he said.
Hope, a valuable commodity in any setting, is particularly needed at Oneida Baptist Institute, a boarding school at Oneida, Ky. for students, grades 6-12. The Goeddeys first learned about the school in 1995. “Our pastor at First Southern Baptist Church in Jerseyville, Illinois helped a young girl enroll in Oneida,” Kathy said. “The young girl needed structure.”
Seeing the work God was accomplishing at the school, George and Kathy responded by bringing missions teams from Illinois to Oneida Baptist Institute at least twice each year from 1995 to 2003. The volunteers performed duties such as welding, maintenance, or farming. They also worked in a crafts shop, print shop or in a clothing ministry.
When George officially retired from the Department of Labor in 2004, the couple sold their home. Less than two weeks later, he and Kathy moved onto the campus of Oneida Baptist Institute. “Dr. Underwood said he was always looking for someone to coordinate the missions volunteers,” George said. “For several years, he had watched me act as volunteer coordinator of 600-800 volunteers from April to October.”
Calling herself a “Go-fer Chauffer,” Kathy drives a mini-van to run errands or transport students to doctors or to the airport. “Our work gives the staff at Oneida the ability to accomplish their duties,” she said.
Between their mission duties, the Goeddeys enjoy their favorite hobbies: camping, exploring nature sites and listening to gospel music. But the couple most enjoys watching the transformation of students’ lives on the campus at Oneida. “You see kids come in who are totally rejected by their family,” Kathy said. “You see the greatest change in the ones who give their lives 100% to the Lord. The students gain confidence and begin to accept responsibilities and step up to leadership.”
As George and Kathy share stories about their missions experiences, their faces reflect a joy that comes from offering hope. “If you are retired and still have your health,” George said, “you have the freedom to do volunteer missions. I think there are lots of opportunities for Christians to use their God-given gifts in ministry. What better way to use your gifts?”
Click here to go back to top of page.
Eastern Kentucky SonRise
Somewhere in the back of Mission Service Corps missionary Linda Otterback’s closet sets a pair of boots with the price tags still attached. She purchased them for a mission trip to El Salvador but God had a different plan. A week before the trip was scheduled, she received a call from the Kentucky Baptist Convention saying the trip was canceled and asking if she would like to go to Fleming-Neon. “What country is that in?” she asked.
That day, Linda began a journey with the Lord deep into the Eastern Kentucky mountains
that has proven challenging and rewarding. Now, each month, she packs clothing, diapers and household furnishings into her car and drives four-and-a-half hours from Louisville to Fleming-Neon to help with a food and clothing distribution for 300-500 families. For three or four days, she offers a message of hope and encouragement to the Appalachian people. “They have become very close and dear to my heart,” she said. “We have prayed, cried, laughed, rejoiced and worshiped together.” The visits offer many opportunities to share the gospel as she leads devotionals and services with praise, prayer and scripture in an area where the people are 71% unchurched.
To provide focused prayer support for God’s work in Appalachia, Linda organized Eastern Kentucky SonRise Prayer Partners, a women’s prayer group that meets two or three times a year. In September, she tapped leadership from the prayer group to hold a two-day Women’s Retreat in Seco, Ky., near Fleming-Neon. She also held a Women’s Retreat in the area last year. In April, she coordinated a retreat for Hispanic women and single Moms in Shelbyville. She said these spirit-filled retreats are “full of testimony and praise for Jesus.” Another Women’s Retreat is planned for October.
Her husband, Larry, also an Mission Service Corps missionary, led a Men’s Retreat in Fleming-Neon in March. “The retreat was based on the book, ‘If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to get out of the Boat by John Ortberg,’ he said. “Sometimes, we have to find out just where our boat is! When we do, God can lead us and guide our actions if we will just get out of the way.” Another Men’s Retreat is scheduled October 17-18 at Renfro Valley.
Linda also works to help Appalachia by serving as a board member for the Mountain Missions Development Corporation. The non-profit corporation was formed in 200l to receive donations of assets and property in Eastern Kentucky. The corporation, which currently owns eleven holdings, recently purchased the Berea Attic property including 15 housing units, a discount clothing store and a 6,700 sq. ft. warehouse to be used for food distribution throughout Eastern Kentucky.
Linda and Larry are members of Woodland Baptist Church in Louisville where Larry serves as deacon and facilitates Bible studies and a prayer group each week. As Prison Ministry Coordinator for the church, he has led prison Emmaus walks and REC(Residents Encountering Christ). “I find the inmates are a blessing to those of us who go,” he said. “I tell the men to be prepared as the residents know the scriptures very well.”
Active participants in the Emmaus Community in Louisville, Larry and Linda serve as sponsors in four to six spiritual sojourns a year. “We pray, serve meals, attend functions and many other things as sponsors,” she said. She also coordinates “Friendship Bible Coffee,” a subsidiary of Stonecroft, a Christian women’s club. Linda also works part time at the Veteran’s Hospital in Louisville as a Radiological Technologist. The couple
speaks in churches throughout Kentucky and coordinates groups who do mission work
in Eastern Kentucky.
“Larry and I feel it is truly a joy to be doing what we do,” she said. “God has blessed us abundantly throughout our lives and we feel we are returning a very small portion back to Him. Bringing others to Christ and telling about what He means in our lives is a special reward that we hope continues until we meet our Master face-to-face and He proclaims, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.”’
Click here to go back to top of page.
Partnering with God
When MSC missionaries Lynn and Angie Wagoner realized that God was calling them into full-time missions, they took six weeks paid vacation, planning to devote the six weeks to mission work. But God had other plans.
“God wanted 52 weeks instead,” Angie said. So they began to research areas that needed food and clothing ministries, developing a list of ten places. “We knew God had called us to this place,” Angie said about the first time the couple visited McDowell, Ky.
Based on the scripture, “I looked for a man to stand in the gap on behalf of the land,” (Eze. 22:30), the couple named their ministry “God’s Appalachian Partnership” (G.A.P.). Lynn and Angie Wagoner have spent the past seven years working to meet the spiritual and physical needs of 25,000 people who live in a 25-mile stretch of the Southern Appalachian Mountains in eastern Kentucky.
Like much of eastern Kentucky, poverty and hunger encompasses the area that
G.A.P. serves. The average monthly income for a family of four is $700 per month, including food stamps. The unemployment rate for the area is 52%. To provide work and help the people learn to accept responsibility, G.A.P. has set up a job training program. “Individuals are trained in everything from hygiene to dependability,” Angie said. “We have seen a significant change in their self esteem as they are able to provide for their families. We are praying for equipment to start Victory Lawn Service. We know in God’s time, it will all come together.”
The G.A.P. ministry also provides food, new and used clothing and school supplies for approximately 300 families each month. At Christmas, children’s gifts are added to the food boxes. Lynn and Angie deliver food boxes to those who are not able to the distribution center due to health or transportation problems. “This has been a real blessing for us as we visit with the families in the setting of their homes,” Angie said. At Christmas, children’s gifts are included in the food boxes. G.A.P. also repairs homes and assists with bills for medication, electric or rent.
As Lynn and Angie continue their unique partnership, they experience God’s provision for the ministry in miraculous ways. For example, one day Angie answered a call from a mother of premature twins. Desperate to provide for her children, the woman had asked a formula company and Wal-Mart for a discount. After her efforts failed, she called G.A.P to help her plead with the retailers. “I was very busy preparing for a mission team’s arrival and put off calling until later,” Angie said. “That night, the team arrived and we unloaded the trucks filled with supplies, stacking the boxes inside the distribution center. The next day, when we began to put things on the shelves, we discovered a case of that particular formula. I was happy to call the mother and tell her that God had supplied their need.”
As the Wagoners work to meet the spiritual needs of the Appalachian people, they use every opportunity to share their faith. “We feel that as we give away food and clothing, expecting nothing in return, we are showing God’s grace and love,” Angie said. The couple shares the gospel with families they serve. “Sometimes, we simply ask where they go to church or if they do and that opens the door,” she said.
“If we can let the people see they are loved, we feel this may be the first step toward getting them into church,” Angie said. “We try to spend as much time as possible with each family.” In an area that is 70% unchurched, over 200 people have accepted Christ since God’s Appalachian Partnership began seven years ago.
“The Lord has used God’s Appalachian Partnership to show His love in a way that the people have not seen before,” Lynn said. “Whether the people accept Christ or not, they have experienced miracles as they witness His provision. We have only touched a small part of the needs in our area of Appalachia. Laborers and donations are desperately needed to meet the overwhelming tasks before us.”
For more information, please contact Lynn or Angie Wagoner, Ph. 606/377-0332, ext 20 or E-mail Gapky@yahoo.com.
Click here to go back to top of page.
Walls of Silence
Imagine a wall of silence so thick that it separates you from the rest of society. People who cannot hear live within those walls every moment of their lives. MSC missionary Lei Ann Raines, who ministers to the hearing impaired, labors to tear down walls of misconception about deafness and build bridges that lead to Jesus.
Lei Ann’s unique understanding of deafness began when her father, David Mitchell, a minister, lost his hearing. He and his wife, Marsha, have served as MSC missionaries for nineteen years in Puerto Rico. “My father quickly learned why the Lord had allowed deafness to occur in his life,” Lei Ann said. “There is an entire world of deaf who are not being reached for Christ. Only between 1.5 to 2 percent of deaf people worldwide are Christians.”
When Lei Ann moved to Pineville with her husband, Nathan, so he could attend Clear Creek Baptist Bible College, they inquired about a church with a Deaf Ministry. “Those who are familiar with the Deaf culture basically laughed,” she said. Her research revealed that 3,000 to 4,000 deaf individuals lived in Bell County, but not one church had a Deaf ministry or interpreted services. “You will find the deaf at big parties, doctor’s offices and grocery stores, but not in church or Bible studies or even in school,” she said. “They are often sent away from home and never understand any type of functional family structure. The hearing world thinks the deaf person is supposed to learn our language so we can communicate with them.”
“Another misconception,” Lei Ann said, “is that most deaf people understand our language by lip-reading. They can get away with nodding their head, known as the ‘deaf nod.’ Then they are no longer
pressured to understand what you are trying to communicate to them. Churches need to purchase a TDD which costs $l00. This allows a deaf individual to call and actually communicate on the phone. It is the same as typing.”
She also said that missionaries are trained in the dialect for a particular region where they minister but that communication with the deaf is often overlooked. “Sign language is not universal,” she said. “Each country, not each language, has a different sign language. Sign language is not just changing our English words into a hand signal to accommodate a word exchange as if we were changing a dollar for yen. It is the same as any other language-it stands alone. You have to take the entire context, understand what is meant by it, and then verbally translate, and vice versa for the voice translation.”
Lei Ann, who has a degree in Sociology, teaches sign language classes and helps local people understand the deaf culture by arranging social activities to promote interaction between the hearing and the deaf. Through Bible studies, art work, games, and fellowship meals, she works to merge two very different worlds-the world of the hearing and the world of the hearing impaired. For the past two summers, she has also assisted with deaf camps.
Since her husband graduates next year, Lei and Nathan are praying for someone to begin a deaf ministry. “We will keep pushing to cultivate this ground and have roots sprouting before the Lord moves us on to seminary,” she said. “We have prospects of a specific church becoming a tilling ground but we desperately need prayers concerning the hardest part, bringing the deaf and hearing community together. Romans 10:14 takes on a completely new meaning, literally. ‘How then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”’
For Basic Public Information:
Southern Baptist Conference for the Deaf
www.sbcdeaf.org
KBC Deaf Director, Richie Noble (He is deaf, his wife, Keva, is hearing
E-mail mlfly@yahoo.com
Other helpful sites:www.Hamilton.net/relay/711ky.pdf
http//kcdhh.ky.gov/
Click here to go back to top of page.
Wendell Belew Training Center Dedication
Rev. David Aker, Kentucky Baptist Convention Mountain Missions Director, officiated at a dedication service at the Wendell Belew Center in Stanton, Ky., October 18. The interdenominational Center, named in honor of Dr. Wendell Belew, is nestled in the rolling hills of southern Powell County and situated on fifty acres of peaceful wooded countryside. The former bed-and-breakfast contains six bedrooms and six and one-half baths. A commercial-sized kitchen and large meeting room complete the facility which can accommodate groups of twenty-five for overnight or extended stays.
The property was purchased by the Mountain Missions Development Corporation, a non-profit corporation focusing on the Appalachian community by helping individuals achieve an abundant life in Christ. Dr. Morris Norfleet, formerly President of Morehead State University, is President of the corporation. The mission of the Wendell Belew Center is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ through serving as a vocational training center for those unemployed and underemployed. The Belew Center also serves as a retreat and seminar center for church groups and individuals.
Dr. Wendell Belew graduated from Georgetown College and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Georgetown College. He served as pastor of First Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon for six years. During his ministry, the church started seven mission churches. He
served as Mountain Missions Director for the Kentucky Baptist Convention for four years before becoming
Director of Division of Missions of the Home Mission Board in 197l. He was responsible for Volunteerism, Christian Social Ministries, Chaplaincy and Disaster Relief. “In my opinion, Wendell Belew was the greatest statesman Southern Baptists had for Home Missions in the last half of the Twentieth Century,” said Dr. Larry Martin, Kentucky Baptist Convention Missions Growth Team Leader.
Dr. Belew was responsible for the Good News for Modern Man translation of the Bible. Robert Bratcher completed the actual translation at his request. The millionth copy of the Bible, presented to Dr. Belew by the American Bible Society, was placed at the Belew Center by his family.
Dr. Belew was also a gifted artist, musician, poet and writer, which is reflected by a number of his paintings, books, video tapes and other memorabilia on display at the Belew Center. A video records him playing the dulcimer and presenting several mini-sermons. Dr. Belew also painted many baptisteries in Eastern Kentucky. His deep devotion to God and great love for the Appalachian people is evident in this excerpt from a Christmas poem, in the mountain dialect, from his book, “Tomorrow’s Land.”
There wuz bells a ringin’
Like a million bells a ringin’
Like every bell on earth a ringin’
An’ singin’
Like people
An’ bells.
“Glory to God in the Highest”
They wuz singin’ it
“Peace-on earth, peace.”
Click here to go back to top of page.
Flatrock Baptist Church
The Mighty Acts of God
On June 4, 2006, members of Flat Rock Baptist Church, located at Maple Grove in Rockcastle County, were rejoicing because the church had just finished adding a new foyer, bathrooms, nursery and an office for Dr. Larry Burton, pastor of the church for the last five years. During the building project, the church sanctuary was also remodeled. Before the church could dedicate the new additions, however, an electrical ceiling fire burned away the center of the building.
“The damage was so great that we decided the entire sanctuary had to be torn down,” Pastor Burton said. Instead of becoming discouraged, the congregation simply rolled up their shirt sleeves and worked the entire summer to rebuild the church building, a building that has stood as a lighthouse to the community for over 123 years.
On Sunday, September 24, Flat Rock Baptist Church gathered together to dedicate the renovated building. “We come here to celebrate an offering to God,” said Pastor Burton as he presented each church member with a piece of the charred wooden floor that had been removed from the sanctuary. “We want to commemorate this great and wonderful thing God has done.” Unbelievably, the church’s new baptistery had been untouched by the fire and the sanctuary pews only required cleaning.
“Sometimes, it may take a setback or apparent failure to be open to God,” said Dr. Bill Mackey, Executive Director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, who spoke at the dedication service. “Sometimes, God has to hedge us in so we will be open to Him. It takes focus for us to do what God wants us to do. It is not enough to be available but we should implore God to do His will through us.”
Challenging the church to focus on people and not on buildings or programs, Dr.Mackey said that the church must “focus on the mighty acts of God in our lives instead of our problems.” The Kentucky Baptist Convention, Rockcastle Baptist Association and others donated over $10,000 to the $78,000 building project. On Dedication Sunday, three people accepted Christ, two others were baptized and the church offering was $7,600, After the dedication, the church also held an ordination service for a new preacher, Mark Laswell.
“Tell people what God has done at Flat Rock Baptist Church, “Dr. Mackey urged. “I praise God for the story you have here. Tell everyone the mighty acts of God!”
Click here to go back to top of page.
Sharing Jesus Onstage
After the “Sunday Morning Gathering” in the Old Barn in Renfro Valley, Ky., Mission Service Corps missionary Vola Brown steps onto the historic stage, flanked by posters of John Lair, Red Foley and Rosemary Clooney. Since November ‘02, Brown, who was ordained to the ministry in 1975, has conducted a worship service for tourists, mostly Senior Adults, who attend the country music shows. Over 200,000 folks from many different states and other countries visit Renfro Valley each year to watch name acts like Loretta Lynn and the Oak Ridge Boys perform on stage.
“My first drawing to Renfro Valley probably came in the fall of 2,000,” Brown said. Later, he formed Grace Ministries and by Palm Sunday 2003, the little church in the Renfro Village could no longer hold the services. During the summer months, 80-150 people attend the services which include prayer requests, singing, and a short gospel message. Brown and his wife, Jeanne, who plays keyboard, invite campers by passing out handbills on Saturday afternoons.
“Most people are very receptive and appreciative,” he said. “Many tell us they are thankful the worship service is here for them. Several have raised their hands indicating they had invited Jesus into their hearts. I pray with them and encourage them to get into a good church and follow the Lord in baptism when they get back home.”
“I know the services are going well because of the comment cards that visitors mail in,” said Renfro Valley CEO Connie Hunt.
As Renfro Valley Chaplain, Brown’s duties also include ministering to the needs of the entertainers and employees. “I have visited the hospital and the funeral home and even performed a wedding ceremony for one of the employees,” he said. He introduced “The Inspirations,” a gospel group, when they performed in concert in Renfro Valley. He and Jeanne also helped serve a meal to fifteen hundred people who attended Christmas in the Valley.
Additionally, he has opened different events with prayer and is available for counseling calls from the Renfro Valley Entertainment Center and the local truck stop. “The entertainers are very supportive of this ministry,” he said. “Some of them have participated in the services by singing or playing a musical instrument.”
In a quiet, gentle manner, MSC missionary Vola Brown is making a difference in Renfro Valley. “Many of the tourists are only here one time, but we have an opportunity to share Jesus with them,” he said. “God’s blessings are abundant!”
Click here to go back to top of page.
Setting the Captives Free
For the past two weeks, I have repented for a sin I was not aware I had committed. To explain, I must begin with my first phone call from T. J., a woman from Ohio who had been incarcerated for ten months n the Rockcastle County Jail in Mt. Vernon, Ky. Her call was not pleasant. Her tone was demanding, a reminder she had lived outside society’s norms. T. J. named women still in the jail and she wanted action.
She listed their needs which included hygiene kits, sweat pants and T-shirts.
The next day, I called our jailer, James Miller, who assured me that two churches were already providing the hygiene kits. After encouraging our WMU women to purchase the other items on the list, I felt I had handled the situation. But T. J. kept calling me. “Have you started a ministry for the women in the jail yet?” After a few of these calls, I began to feel defensive. “I have done what I can do so why does she keep calling me?”
Several weeks later, I came home from a two-day trip with my husband to find another message from T. J. on my answering machine. “I just called to see if you have done anything about the women yet,” she said quietly. “Please call me back.” That time, I stopped to ask God what He wanted me to do. In fact, I prayed for four days before I returned her call. He told me to ask her what she really wanted. When I returned T. J.’s call, I kept asking until I found what women in jail really need. Love and acceptance.
The next Sunday, instead of enjoying a leisurely lunch with my husband and our friends at our favorite restaurant, I dressed in a pair of blue jeans and T-shirt and went to our church’s jail ministry service. For two years, our pastor, Chad Burdette, and two lay preachers from Northside Baptist Church had taken turns preaching at the jail on Sunday afternoons. Inmates that accepted Christ were brought to the church once a month for baptism. I had attended a jail baptismal service and had seen the prisoners in
chains, removed just long enough for them to pass through the baptistery. After their baptism, the inmates stood together at the front of the church while their families, our pastor and a few church members embraced them.
But I could not comprehend the reality of their situation until I passed through the four sets of locked doors to attend the women’s jail services. That day, the jail was so crowded that we met outside in the exercise yard in nearly 100 degree heat. Pam Durham, a woman from our church, sat down beside me on the hard concrete inside the high steel fence. After we sang several hymns, seven of the twelve women inmates gathered together and sang, “Open the Eyes of my Heart.” Then, Bro. Ray Owens, a former addict, preached a powerful message. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you,” he said. “Eyes and hearts are searching for love, for answers. They are searching for God.” As an invitation played on a boom box, the women listened but made no moves. Before we left, I hugged each of them and apologized that I had never taken the time to attend the services. Promising I would come back, I told them we were working to begin a women’s ministry and they smiled.
The next Sunday, Gail Burdette and Gail Bullock joined Pam and me as we entered the jail. Ten women who filed into the exercise yard smiled when they saw us waiting. Several came over to hug us. Again, we sang hymns and again the women sang, “Open the Eyes of my Heart, Lord.” As they sang, three men who were being baptized at the church that afternoon were led past the exercise yard by a guard. Then, Bro. B. J. Bradley, also a former addict, preached a message from Luke 4:4-5, “Starting All Over Again.” He said that Peter fished with no purpose. “Peter’s faith was in the wrong place,” he said. B. J. shared that he was once jailed for grand theft auto and that he had sold and used drugs. He told the women that obedience to God brings rich rewards and leadership is given to those who try again.
While a song of invitation played on a battery-powered boom box, a young woman began to cry and walked toward me. I talked and prayed with her and she accepted Christ. Lynn told me she has two small children. Two other women also accepted Christ that day.
Strains from “I Can Only Imagine,” floated through the steel fencing as we rejoiced with the new Christians. As the three men who had gone to the church for baptism returned, we applauded and cheered. Then, we invited the women to our church’s SWAT Team (Servants with a Testimony) support group for people recovering from alcohol and drug addiction. We also told them about Northside’s SWAT Sunday School class and a “Get Real” Discipleship class that blends SWAT Team members with the church body. We promised we would bring our used Sunday School and Discipleship literature to the jail. The service ended with circle prayer and testimonies.
When the electronic doors clicked open as I left the jail that day, I realized I had not experienced the claustrophobia that usually plagues me in closed areas. Outside, an afternoon breeze caressed my face. I repented again.
A few weeks later, the three women inmates were led into our church in chains for baptism. Afterwards, as we knelt praying with them at the altar, I felt a steady drip, drip, drip-like raindrops on my hand. Glancing over, I realized they were healing tears falling from Lynn, the woman I had led to the Lord. Two weeks later, she made parole
and went home to another county to begin a new life, assuring me she would attend a church near her home. I pray often for Lynn and her children. I thank God for His blessing of meeting her and I thank God for T. J., a woman He used to open the eyes of my heart.
