Missions spotlight: Kentucky team serves with Good Neighbors
Wesleyan faculty and high school students traveled to Paintsville, Kentucky over spring break to partner with Good Neighbors, Inc. ministry! Good Neighbors is a 501c3 charity “focused on changing lives through purposeful relationships and positive experiences.”
Luke 10:25-27 says, “And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How do you read it?’ And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’”
Located in eastern Kentucky, Good Neighbors exists to serve the area in which there is extreme poverty among the working poor. Students learned about what it means to live as a “Good Samaritan,” loving their neighbor through sacrificial service.
Students and faculty served the Paintsville community by helping with home repair. According to Wesleyan faculty member, Megan Lisson, “there really was no limit on what they asked the students to do. Each job site had a hired contractor that would guide the team through the day’s project.”
Kaleb John ‘23 shared that his favorite part of the trip was replacing the floor in the house of the family the team served.
“This family’s floor fell out from under them in their house. They didn’t have the money to fix it, but the ministry we were working with was able to send us in to help. I found the work very rewarding and satisfying to do, and I felt like we were making a difference,” explained John.
Students immersed themselves in the culture and strong sense of community that marked Paintsville. They took notice of the close-knit town and recalled that the neighbors of the family they served offered to help with their home-improvement project.
“Though Appalachia is one of the poorest areas in the United States and everyone has their own things they are dealing with, they were so ready to lend a hand,” said John.
Thank you, Kentucky team, for sharing what you learned on your trip!
