'Changers' Share Christ Through Hard Work
10/06/2011
LOUISVILLE—Kentucky Changers wrapped up this summer’s long list of construction missions projects by enlisting adults to take on four home repair assignments in a west Louisville neighborhood last week.
More than 50 adult volunteers—half of which were Kentucky Baptist Convention staffers—took the challenge and joined together to hammer, saw and even demolish their way to showing others the love of Christ.
The Kentucky Changers were assisting the Fuller Center for Housing in renovating four homes on Boston Court located in the Shawnee neighborhood of Louisville. The Fuller Center, started by Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller, is a faith-driven and Christ-centered nonprofit organization that offers repairs and renovations to substandard housing for the purposes of supporting home ownership and eliminating homelessness.
Throughout 2011, Kentucky Changers completed more than 75 projects in Paducah, Maysville, Louisville and Bullitt County, according to Wendell Bowen, construction coordinator for the west Louisville site. The workforce behind those projects was more than 1,250 youth and adults who gave their time and money this year to participate in the outreach program.
"They got me hooked," said Kimberly Prokopchak of Mount Olivet Christian Church in Williamstown. "It’s a fun and easy way to serve the Lord. This is where all of my vacation time goes."
Prokopchak said the demolition project she was working on in Louisville last week was her 15th Kentucky Changers event in four years.
While one crew worked to clear an aging home of old plaster and walls, another crew repaired the roof joists of a neighboring house. Further down the street, a third team of volunteers carefully measured vinyl siding as the home they were working on received a much-needed facelift.
Among the volunteers from all parts of the state were about two-dozen staff members from the KBC offices in east Louisville. Last month, KBC Executive Director Paul Chitwood encouraged staff members—and Baptist adults from surrounding areas—to join in the mutually rewarding cause.
"This past summer our young people did a tremendous work in Bullitt County, Paducah and Maysville," Chitwood said. "Now is an opportunity for adults to get into the act."
Coy Webb, director of the KBC’s Baptist Men on Missions, said the event provided an excellent opportunity for KBC staffers to get out of the office and be reminded of their purpose in Christ.
"So much of what we do is in churches and with church leaders," Webb said. "It’s good for us to get connected with lost people and to be reminded of why we do what we do."
Volunteers were required to pay for the honor of serving with Kentucky Changers and many stayed the entire duration of the Sept. 28-Oct. 2 project. They even slept in the gymnasium at nearby St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church at Shively Heights.
Kentucky Changers was organized in 1993 and is modeled after the Southern Baptist youth missions endeavor World Changers. The first project of 2012 is scheduled for the spring in western Kentucky. For more information about participating, contact the Baptist Men on Missions Department at the KBC. (WR)
The Kentucky Baptist Convention is a cooperative missions and ministry organization made up of nearly 2.400 autonomous Baptist churches in Kentucky. A variety of state and worldwide ministries are coordinated through its administrative offices in Louisville, including: missions work, disaster relief, ministry training and support, church development, evangelism and more. For more, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Western Recorder issue date: October 4, 2011.
