MURRAY – Six months after the twister that destroyed a lot of Mayfield, teams from across the nation are nonetheless serving to the group get well. Recently, the youth with a Murray church teamed up with one other church from Florida to proceed these efforts.
Angie Mills, youth chief and volunteer for St. John’s Episcopal Church in Murray, stated the church obtained a name a number of months in the past from St. John Devine Episcopal Church in Sun City Center, Florida. The individual needed to know if the Murray church’s youth needed to workforce up with theirs to work on some initiatives in Mayfield and different surrounding areas that had been affected.
“They drove up here and brought five youth from their church, and then we had approximately 10 from our church here in Murray to join them for the week,” she stated. “The first day, we went to the Ken-Tenn Foodbank in Fulton and did inventory and cleaning for them. And then on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we volunteered for Mayfield Strong. There was one day in the distribution center, and the other two days at separate sites helping clear debris from people’s homes that have been destroyed or damaged in the tornado.”
Thomas Kreidler, director of Christian schooling at St. John Devine, stated he was employed for his place in November, and he started discussing the potential of a mission journey with church leaders in January.
“One of the things that I firmly believe is that mission starts in your backyard, and so we don’t have to go to another country,” Kreidler stated. “To be quite honest, I just feel like the Holy Spirit was speaking and said that with the tragedy that occurred Dec. 10, that we could probably do something to help the community in Mayfield. My Rector agreed, and I pitched it to the youth and they were all on board. They thought that was a great idea.”
At that time, the Florida church reached out to St. John’s in Murray to begin planning the collaboration. They labored to boost $7,000 to pay for the journey, which he stated will go away some for a donation as nicely.
“Once we’ve done some accounting and make sure we pay for everything, we’re going to send that to one of the organizations in Mayfield to use the money for continued efforts because so much still needs to be done,” Kreidler stated.
Five youth and three adults got here on the journey, with the youngest being 9 and the oldest 16. Although they’d seen pictures of the injury, they had been amazed by how a lot work was left to do six months in.
“They were really struck that we live in a country as wealthy as America and there are people that are still living six months afterward in houses that have no electricity or running water,” Kreidler stated. “They wanted to stay longer and help more. I was touched by their compassion, and we don’t always get a chance to see that in our youth. It was touching to me to see their hearts go out to the people in Mayfield.
Kreidler said he gives a lot of credit to his church’s youth for being committed to the trip and sacrificing the comforts of home to camp out for the week and help the community. The Murray youth really impressed him as well.
“They all worked their tails off,” he stated. “I didn’t hear one complaint through the work. There were some kids that we actually had to force to take breaks. And the feedback from the volunteers about our kids made me feel good and proud of both the Kentucky and the Florida kids. It really was a joy to be a facilitator helping make it happen for them.”
“I know our church and the youth and I will not forget Mayfield,” Kreidler added. “They are in our hearts and in our prayers, and we will continue to do what we can from afar to support the community through prayer and anything else we can do to help.”
Mills’ 12-year-old daughter, Carrie, stated she tremendously loved pitching in.
“We helped so many people and it was a really nice experience for all of us,” Carrie stated. “We like to turn it into a game and come up with rewards, and that made it even more enjoyable, even in the heat. … We did inventory for the food bank and we helped them get ready for their upcoming inspection. And she was really grateful and we felt really happy that we were able to do that. With the site cleanup, we made a lot of progress, so construction crews can come in and start building up the houses again.”
Mills’ 15-year-old daughter, AnnaBelle, stated she may solely assist for at some point due to her summer season job, however she felt good about what she was capable of do on the meals financial institution. She stated she has solely taken one 12 months of Spanish in class, nevertheless it nonetheless got here in helpful.
“I’ve never really actually gotten to practice my Spanish, but almost every other person I talked to spoke Spanish,” AnnaBelle stated. “I used so much Spanish and I helped so many people, and it just made me feel great.”