2024 Old Union Mission Trip - Monday, July 22nd -Buckhorn, Ky

Hello All,

    This year's Mission Trip starts out as all the Mission trips in the past.  Pastor Peter finds the location in need of help by contacting PDA (Presbyterian Disaster Assistance).  The PDA gives Peter a list of options after scouring the areas in need of help.  Pastor Peter calls out to his parishioners and friends from other churches to see if there is an interest in going on a trip.  This year, the trip has led eleven folks to Buckhorn, KY.  This is where our story begins.  The journey started on Sunday, July 21 with an outdoor service with Pastor Peter.  After packing the van, we left Mars, PA at 11:11 a.m.    The journey started smoothly, however, down Rte 79 by the Meadows exit, traffic slowed to a crawl, down to one lane only for a few miles.  (Even though, as passengers, the slowdown seemed much longer.)  After getting through the traffic, we arrived in Little Washington for lunch at McDonald's. 

    Our first gas stop was at Elk View, WV, right before Charleston.  Afterwards, Pastor Peter was determined to get us to Buckhorn, KY on time and pressed forward to well after dinnertime.  We (finally) arrived at the Jackson, KY Hardee's for a much needed break around 7:30PM.  It was also another gas stop before we headed up the mountain to Buckhorn.  While we were filling up with gas, one of our crazy passengers was looking up at the sky for birds and noticed a faint rainbow over the valley.  The rainbow seemed to follow us for most of the remainder of our trip to Buckhorn. We arrived 8:45 p.m. to our destination as it was starting to get dark. 

    Greeting us at the dormitory was Jim, the minister of Buckhorn Presbyterian Church as well as the overseer of our time in Buckhorn.  He is also on the Presbytery staff  for disaster relief.  After unloading the van, Jim Garrett gave us a quick history of Buckhorn.  (If you are interested in Buckhorn history, you can consult Wikipedia for a detailed summary.)  Jim talked about the flooding that occured in July of 2022.  It had really been a wet summer in 2022.  On July 28th-29th a particularly heavy rain came down to an already overly saturated soil.  The water came down from the mountains and raised the creeks and rivers to overflowing.  Jim had pictures of the flooded school and area.  Most of the items inside of the school  was covered in thick gooey mud and debris.  The flood waters reached Buckhorn Presbyterian church, locally called the historic Log Cathedral.  Houses were damaged and disappeared.  Forty-seven people lost their lives.  Flooding did not hit just Buckhorn, but other small towns in the area.  FEMA declared 13 counties in Southeast Kentucky disaster areas.  Three schools in this area had to be closed down.  Buckhorn Kindergarten to Twelveth grade is the first of the 3 schools that were closed down in the area to be reopened in August of this year.  I was soon fast asleep from the busyness of the day, however a storm with loud thunder during the night woke me up.  As I laid there listening to the storm, I could not help but wonder about the night of the flooding that happened in 2022 and how night time storms may make the local extra nervous again.

Monday-July 22 2024

   As I awoke to the new day, I was ready to start my adventure with the other members of this mission team.  The day started out cloudy, with a mist over the mountaintops surrounding the little town of Buckhorn.  We were fortunate to be able to sleep in a little, leaving our dormitory at 8:30 a.m. after a nourishing breakfast to start out day.  We met Judy for our first assignment.  Judy is the Coordinator of the Family Resource Center /Youth Service Center for the Buckhorn School.  Judy had on a t-shirt that said "Buckhorn Strong" given to her by her employer.  (I liken that to my employer who frequently gives my co-workers and me a t-shirt to wear at work.)  We met Judy at a Coal Company Airport in Chavies, Ky where school supplies, clothing, and shoes were donated.  This particular building has housed the supplies for 2 years while Buckhorn School was being renovated.  When Judy opened the door of the hangar, we saw a very large area of supplies.  Our mission today was to seperate the products and place them in clear plastic totes.  The supplies were for the school, however, a few of the supplies that could NOT be used at the school went to a local women's shelter.  We seperated pencils, crayons, markers, erasers, notebooks, papers, folders, bookbags, pens, copy paper, clothing, staples and staplers, and a generous supply of books donated from Austin, Indiana school library we just left alone.  The kids will have a great start to the 2024 school year with new supplies as well as a new freshly renovated building.  The school's playground was also damaged by the flood.  In its place now is a new and improved playground costing over $100,000.  Seventy-one thousand dollars was given by generous people from Kentucky and surrounding areas while the remainder of the money was received from grants.  We were pleasantly surprised by a pizza lunch provided by Judy and by Jim.  We also want to thank our drivers from today, Carl and Dave who drove the Ohio Presbyterian Church van up and down the mountains and around the bends while the rest of us ooh'd and ah'd at the hairpin turns, steep rocky hillsides and sudden roadside dropoffs into the deep forest far below.  If I was driving, I would be constantly worried the brakes would fail.  Thank goodness for Dave and Carl and God for our safety.  I would not want to travel that route everyday especially in winter.  We got back to the dormitory earlier than usual around 2 p.m.  When we got back, some of us took a shower and napped, personally I was one of them, while our two cooks, Lorene and Sally were hard at work in the kitchen.  They provided us with a delicous meal of homemade spaghetti and garlic bread.  In addition, we had a fresh zucchini salad that was delicious and new to me.

   After dinner, Pastor Peter did devotions on Genesis 12:1-7 where God talked to Abram, telling him to travel to the land of the Caananites.  Abram followed God's instructions faithfully moving his family, his nephew Lot, and all of his possessions.  Pastor Peter then asked us what we thought about how that passage relates to us and our particular mission trip.

   As Sally and I are writing this blog, some other missioneers went to the nearby Buckhorn Lake and inspected the dam seeing it up close.  

   Oh, I must tell you about Charles' shoes falling apart while we were working.  The soles literally came off of his shoes.   Luckily the Dollar General nearby had a pair of shoes just his size.  Hopefully, they will last the whole week.  He said they are comfortable as they were a pair of tennis shoes.

While we are in Buckhorn, we will remember Old Union Presbyterian's motto:  First Thessolian 5:11 -- "Enourage one another and build each other up."

   I want to thank my family and friends, including those I know from work who are praying for us (thanks Laurie!)  Our mission team greatly appreciates all your thoughts.  Let us also pray for Pastor Bob who could not make it this year on our mission trip due to family concerns.  Signing off tonight I am the staff journalist (James) Clark, with my excellent typer Sally.  God Bless!!