Madison County—An army of Christian teenagers descended upon Madison County in mid-June to work on 28 home repair projects for low-resource people in the county.
The Kentucky Changers, a Baptist program where youth travel to different counties in the state to “help the needy and share God’s love,” are participating in their second year in Madison.
“We stay two years, because we always have more success recruiting homeowners the second year, once people know who we are,” Peggy Murphy, the Kentucky Changers coordinator, said.
The Kentucky Woman’s Missionary Union now organizes the 22-year-old program, and Tates Creek Baptist Association and local churches assisted the organization with the Madison County project. Projects are supervised by skilled construction workers, and residents are never charged for the work.
The teenagers and their leaders stayed at Madison Southern High School, bunking in the classrooms and using the auditorium for their evening worship. Local Baptist churches such as Bethel Baptist and Berea Baptist provided meals for the crews, as well as funds and volunteers.
Kentucky Changers have been building new roofs, siding, painting, and building ramps. Around half of the projects have been in the northern part of the county, and half in the southern. Many of the homeowners who are receiving assistance from Kentucky Changers are elderly.
“This is a way to share Jesus in a practical way,” Murphy said.
Allison Rawlings has been working with Kentucky Changers for five years.
“I do this to get closer to God, and gain new relationships with people,” Allison said.
Last year she worked on one home project for a woman in Madison County, whose daughter then decided to volunteer this year. (The Berea Citizen)
Beth Myers