A couple months before June, Amie Chumbley announced the yearly Big Creek mission trip was coming up. I had heard about Big Creek before, but I had little interest. This year, I knew without a doubt that God was calling me to go. I pulled together the money, filed my PTO, and left on June 13th at 10pm for the 12 hour drive to Kentucky. My life changed.
"Big Creek" is a non-profit Christian organization that reaches out to the residents of Leslie County (and close nearby) to share the word of God, repair and maintain their homes, run day camps for the children, and provide meals. Leslie County has a median household income of less than $36,000/year, and many of the families in the area live in homes which have been inherited for several generations. The people of Leslie County hold very high value in owning their property, but often don't have the money or skills to keep the homes habitable. Big Creek steps in to make sure these people have a safe place to raise their families. This is where I have been called.
My week in June was spent in Byrd Holler. It is a tall hill with about six homes all shared by one extended family. At the bottom of the hill, there were three older ladies and one older gentleman living in a home where all of the sewer connections had become disconnected at their fixtures; a pool had begun to form under their trailer home. This same house also needed a new roof. Further up the hill, a porch which was the only access to a home had come loose from the house and began to sink away from it. Two of the homes had some rotting joists, and the floors were beginning to sink and collapse. Many other significant problems were faced, and Big Creek stepped in and fixed them all over the course of the summer for free while constantly ministering to every little family along the way. I had a conversation with a homeowner about her cancer, and her faith in God shown through like I'd never seen before; she wasn't worried a bit about it. Other parts of the family still badly needed to hear the word of God.
While I was at Big Creek, I heard God's voice. I knew that this was where I belonged, but I didn't know to what degree. I spoke with Kevin, the director, about spending next summer as part-time staff, and he was very positive towards the idea. When I came home to talk with my wife about it, I became determined to work there full-time. I looked on the Big Creek website and found they were doing a "free week." I didn't have almost any PTO left at work, but I put in what I had and signed up to go. I spoke with the men of my church about getting a camper because I wanted to take my family with me this time, and a man named Al was called by God and offered to rent us a camper in Kentucky to be delivered on-site. This was perfect. We drove down on August 1st and arrived the next day.
This second week at Big Creek was very different from the first, but only strengthened my resolve. On Monday, we went back to Byrd Holler and finished all the jobs there that were needed; replaced that porch, did some drywall, replaced some deckboards, that sort of thing. The second day was box day - all hands on deck. We put together approx 1,400 boxes of food for each child in a family in the area. The mission had put together a total of 14,500 boxes over the summer. These boxes were big, too, and could feed a child for more than a week. On Wednesday, I went out to a home where the homeowner had very recently gotten into a car accident, and needed a wheelchair ramp installed before he got home from the hospital, and we got it done that day. Thursday was Big Creek's last work day. On Thursday, we went to a home where the bathroom had completely fallen off of a family's house. They had their children taken away and were told they needed to fix it within two weeks or they wouldn't get them back at all. The home was too far gone, but they had an empty trailer on the lot. In one day, we ran a new sewer line to their septic tank, installed kitchen cabinets and the kitchen sink, installed a water heater, finished the interior walls, and finished the vinyl flooring. But we didn't have enough time or the materials needed to hook up their water. The water lines were a mix of polypropylene and polybutylene, and we didn't have the right fittings. The homeowners had no idea how to do the plumbing needed, but Big Creek was taking a four-week break. I couldn't let it go. On Friday morning, I took a staff member out and we got their water hooked up. It wasn't perfect, but we got it done.
That day, I went to have a long talk with Kevin about full-time work. He wanted me. He told me the best time to start would be in February of next year, so that's my target. In order to make it happen, we need to sell our home and buy a camper, but we don't have the money to make it happen. We need a new AC, we need steps on our back door, and we need a little trim in the home. We've only owned our home for a few years, and we might not have the equity to sell the home at any profit, we might need to sell at a loss. We will also need at least a down payment on a camper. I'm making this campaign to try and raise the money we need to answer God's calling.
