There is so much excitement here at God’s Appalachian Partnership as we step out in faith and begin this long-awaited building project. With the help of a partnering church, GAP purchased land to build on in 2011. Ever since then, it has been a dream of one day building a new distribution/office building upon this property called Elk Ridge. Since acquiring the land, the Lord has allowed us to construct a maintenance building upon the property, Mission House that was completed in 2019, and the Dental Clinic that was completed last year.

This new building will allow for the growth of ministry that has occurred over the years, free us from paying monthly rent on a building we have out-grown and will serve the ministry for years to come. The new facility is 3,858 square feet. These images show a rendering of what the outside and inside of the building could look like. Also, you will notice that we have broken ground on this exciting God adventure. This first milestone of foundation work which includes footers, laying blocks, gravel, initial plumbing, concrete slab, and permits will cost $120,000.

We need your help in reaching this first goal of our building project. We have an anonymous donor who will match the first $50,000 of gifts given to the building project. That means your gift is doubled! We invite you to pray and ask the Lord how you can be a part of this exciting moment in GAP history. You can make a one-time gift or you can make monthly gifts designated to the building project. If you would like to make a gift online or set up monthly gifts please hit the Donate Now button at the bottom of the email. For larger gifts please send them directly to GAP, P.O. Box 704, McDowell, KY  41647. Thank you for your partnership in ministry!

Saturday, March 23^rd was a cold, wet, windy morning. One of those mornings that is hard to get out of bed, let of lone the house. But on this day, it was God’s Appalachian Partnership’s annual community Easter egg hunt which meant it was an early morning for not only us but many volunteers. We had 38 volunteers drive three hours that morning to help with the ministry event plus 27 volunteers from GA, MO, and local churches. Between the cold and the wind, it was difficult to get excited about the event and I began to wonder if anyone would even show up on such a day.

It stopped raining that morning just in time to start pulling things off the trailer and setting up for the day. The busyness of setup kept me energized but I knew that I needed to pull away and spend a few moments in prayer asking God to focus my heart and attitude. However, being pulled here and there and hearing my name yelled from different directions kept me from taking the necessary time to redirect my heart. Before I knew it, we were an hour into the event, and I found myself standing alone shivering trying to stay warm.

I looked around the park and the attendance was much less than in previous years which I later found out we had 187 in attendance plus volunteers. Honestly, it was much more than I anticipated with the weather that day. I stood at the Truth Pavilion and watched as two boys used their special decoder glasses to discover the truth of Easter, Jesus is Alive! I heard the volunteer ask the boys, “Do you know who Jesus is?” Their blank stares revealed their answer before they said, “no.” Then they were asked, “Do you know who God is?” Their expression changed and they immediately responded, “yes”. The volunteer went on to explain who Jesus is, why we celebrate Easter, and the Gospel.

As I stood there, speechless, observing these 11 year-old and 9 year-old brothers, my heart broke for them. I know their grandma has been to GAP several times and we have shared the Gospel with her. I just could not help but think was this the first time these boys was ever hearing of Jesus? Maybe or maybe not, but even if they had heard of Jesus before they had forgotten who He was. God has used this event, on one of the most uncomfortable days, to remind me not only why God’s Appalachian Partnership is here but why I am here. We are here because people need to know Jesus! And yes, there are people right here in eastern Kentucky that have never heard of Him. Will you partner with us in meeting people at their point of need so they may know Jesus? “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).