A Journey to Pikeville, Kentucky
posted on August 03
In the wee hours in the morning of July 28, Mark Watson, pastor at Pleasant Grove, Thruston and Boling Chapel and Teddy Poore, pastor of Hilldale, loaded up their truck and headed to Beverly.... Hills, that is. Sorry! I couldn't resist. Actually, it was a van and a trailer, but it was in the wee hours in the morning of Thursday, July 28. Actually, the loading started after 9:00 p.m. the night before when about 15 flood buckets were carried from the basement of the District Office. Below are a couple of quotes that were shared in emails.
And their journey begins.
They arrive at Bennett Memorial (Henderson) at 6:00 a.m. to collect 186 buckets which were stored upstairs. I'm not for sure if it was the 2nd or 3rd floor, but there were a lot of stairs involved. I'm sure that they probably maxed out their Fitbit, a couple of times, if they were wearing one that day. That's a lot of buckets to haul downstairs to their van and trailer for sure. Update: I was told that the buckets were stored on the 3rd floor, and it took two hours to load them.
Thursday, July 28, 2022 (Quote 1 - Taken from an email to the District Office)
Mark Watson and Teddy Poore just pulled out of Sacramento UMC with 223 buckets headed for Pikeville. It turns out that Bennett Memorial had 180 buckets on hand. The van is full and they are pulling a trailer full. Please offer some prayers for their safe passage. It is quite a long round trip. Thanks and Blessings,
Rev. Mike McLean, District Disaster Response, Chair
A pit stop was made in Clarkson to collect 6 more buckets from the Clarkson Methodist church before hitting the road on to eastern Kentucky to Pikeville. I'm not for sure what time that they arrived, but my Iphone says it's a little over five hours to Pikeville from Owensboro. All I know is that they had to go west from Owensboro to Henderson, south to Sacramento and then east to Clarkson before they hit the road on to Pikeville. They were on a mission to get those buckets to Pikeville. That mission took them 18 hours to accomplish, but they did it and made it home safely. Thanks be to God!
Friday, July 29, 2022 (Quote 2 - Taken from an email sent to district pastors)
Special thanks to Rev. Mark Watson (Pleasant Grove, Thruston and Boling Chapel) and Rev. Teddy Poore (Hilldale) who delivered our first 229 flood buckets to Pikeville yesterday—let’s keep those buckets and hygiene kits coming! Glory to God! Dr. Jay Smith, DS
Like Dr. Jay mentioned above, we need to keep the flood buckets and hygiene kits coming. In another post Dr. Jay has issued the "600 Flood Bucket Challenge" to the people of the Owensboro District. Are you up for the challenge? This is just a small way that we can help our neighbors in the eastern part of our state.
I simple can't imagine what it would be like to lose everything that you have in a flood like the ones in eastern Kentucky. It breaks my heart every time that I see the videos and pictures of the damage and the lives that have been loss in the flooding. Please keep everyone affected by the flooding in your prayers. And in the meantime, let's do our part to help. You don't have to act alone in putting the flood buckets together. Team up with someone else or a small group or make it a church-wide project. As the bucket on the other post says, Let's DO This!
For Monetary Donations
please make checks payable to Kentucky Conference Treasurer, 400 Floydsburg Road, Crestwood KY 40014
*On the memo line please put: KY Disaster Response #200902.
I would like to close with a statement made by Dr. Jay in an email that he sent out to our pastors.
"I am so grateful to be part of a connectional church all the time, but especially when a disaster strikes. Thank you for all that you are doing and will do to alleviate the suffering of our neighbors in eastern Kentucky. Your efforts always inspire and encourage me!
Praying with you--blessings and peace, Jay"
Blessings!
Kathy Taylor-Groshans,
District Administrative Assistant
