Kentucky Appalachia Mission Trip

I traveled to Appalachia because God told me to on December 31, 2020. I got a text message from a 5-digit number and the number is significant between me and God. I researched the charity and found out it was real. I got a text message from God telling me to go volunteer in Kentucky. I know 99% of people would ignore such an ad, and I ignore them too. The 5-digit number it came from along with my gut feeling, it took minutes to make a decision. I showed up, because God shows up for me. It's really special to get a message from God telling us to do something. I love it when it happens and (from memory), I always complied. I wish it happened more. I've been somewhat disconnected from God and haven't found a church since my Ohio days. Our connection isn't as strong as I'd like it to be.

I'm glad God invited me to Appalachia and Crossroads. I met some amazing people who I enjoyed company with. I felt absolute joy when we were socializing. The Indiana group was thankfully older (I like hanging out with people same age/older than me) and very welcoming. I assimilated into their group perfectly. They were so kind, I cried when I left. Two of them were shedding tears as I left. "If I don't see you again, we will see each other in heaven!" They were so welcoming and we got along so well, there was no doubt and no what-if thoughts. It was so beautiful. The pain of leaving them was a new pain I haven't felt before.

Since Maytown is located 7.5 hours away, I decided to get there a day early. I bought "man pants" from Walmart and Kohls because the charity required everyone to wear shorts 4 inches above the knee. No woman shorts are like that, so I had to venture into the man section. I've bought Walmart man pants before for caving trips. I'm in the last boys size XL and graduated to Kohls Man Small. The Walmart pants were just so awkward that spending more at Kohls made sense. I speak about the clothing because I wore my Chicago expensive lululemons on the first day. This was a serious mistake. I went to Appalachia Walmart and stuck out like a sore thumb. No one was wearing Brooks shoes. No one was wearing tight woman pants or expensive tank tops. When I checked out the cashier said "looks like you make some money, want to donate to the childrens hospital". I said yes and then got in my car, went back to the hotel, and changed into my undercover gear. I wore my man shorts with an old T-Shirt. I visited Slade, KY and ran at the State Park too.

Crossroads Appalachia is located in Maytown. Which is a "designated census area" that can't be found in Google Maps. You have to use "Langley KY" instead to find it. Once you get into the town, maps cannot help you find the building. Luckily some locals pointed me in the direction. The town had a serious flood in March. The March flood was a "hey this is why I told you to volunteer here" alert. I know I had a window of 2021 to volunteer. I procrastinated until July.

My expectations were low. Going to a 4-day manual labor trip didn't sound like my cup of tea. I was clueless in construction. I'm a 2 hour manual labor food bank person. They also had strange rules with the shorts, no energy drinks, no hair dryers (first time in a decade I haven't used one). Being vegan would be hard in this area too. Luckily, I was smart enough to pack Muesli, Louisville vegan jerky, and snacks. I recommend Muesli because you don't need to cook it. Bring some plastic cups and pour water in it. Its all set. I called it a weight-loss manual-labor trip. If you go with low expectations, you'll be blown away I find.

I learned that most of the houses in the area have no bathrooms. I learned what a septic tank was. Septic tanks are bad news if your house hunting in a city, but great news in this area. I learned people use outhouses. People crawl below the house to heat it. A house can be built on a platform because flooding happens in the area. I was surprised at how many kids lived in the area. The school building was very old and it felt like it was built in the 60s and dealt with major flood abuse.

During my time I helped rebuild a deck, catch "magic carpets" falling off the roof from the roofers, and clean up liter in the town.

Crossroads Missions