Hey Cindy!
First of all, let me tell you what a blessing it was to work with you and your interns last week. I was especially impressed by Laurie and her ability to organize the camp. She is a gem. The Holy Spirit is alive and well in Cumberland Mountain Outreach! Each of us on the team were so touched by you and people of Beattyville. We pray that God will continue to use you and your ministry to shine His glory on this place.
Working with the VBS team was an amazing experience. I have done many mission trips and worked with children in many areas of the world and this was a different experience for me. I feel like God really made a special connection with our team and the children we were serving. We have fallen in love with each of them and will continue to pray for them all.
The reason for the email is to let you know about something that happened before we left Beattyville. I have had an issue that has rested heavy on my heart since leaving CMO last week. After our group left for the Red River Gorge Friday morning, Brenda and I took my daughters and headed back up to Beattyville Manor to deliver some groceries and clothing to Caron’s Grandparents. We arrived at the apartment and met his grandmother and saw the two babies that Caron has told us about all week at the camp. The babies were about 18mos – 2 years old and were sitting on the couch with “Pappaw” watching television. One was naked and one was wearing a diaper. Both were very dirty and had matted hair. The thing that most disturbed us was the lack of response from the babies. I’m not sure if they had health issues or were medicated. They never looked at us or made a sound while we were in the apartment helping to put away groceries and talking with the grandmother. I just feel like I should let you know what we saw. Maybe you could visit and check on them. The grandmother told me that they don’t receive any financial assistance for the babies, so I am concerned about their ability to properly care for them. Thank you for listening.
My prayers continue to be with you. God Bless!
Patti Millican
Dear Cindy,
I was sorry that we could not have an official goodbye! We made a lot of noise... for 6 am. Deerfoot sure had a wonderful experience at Cumberland Mountain Outreach last week.
My official goodbye would have gone something like this... a hearty hug and a look right into your eyes saying, "Cindy Feller, you are amazing. What you are doing here is wonderful. I know that God is very pleased with you, and I am blessed to have met you."
I told a friend of mine that I felt so encompassed by nature and God last week.. the smile of a child must be a reflection of God Himself because the warmth that radiates and the joy it creates is more beautiful then anything on this earth. Their laughter must be an echo of God's voice. The twinkle in their eyes is perhaps God playfully winking His sign of approval. At least I like to think that...
As I mention, I want to get on board and start supporting your ministry. My husband is in full agreement. We are setting up our account to send a check every month to Cumberland. But also, we are sending a personal love gift to you in July... after all, I thought your shoes were cute, but every true mountain woman HAS to have a good pair of tennis shoes! ( or whatever she wants)
Love in Christ,
Rachel, the aggressive one... haha :-)
Dear Cindy,
My wife, Becky, my daughter, Hannah, my niece, Erin, and I were part of a missions team from The Milford Christian Church, Milford, IL. We were guests at the facility during the first part of June 2010. You had arranged for us to work on Willard Bowman's and Barbara Kidd's home. We found those projects to be hard work and full of challenges. We found Willard to be an inspiration and a complete joy to be around. With regards to Barbara, I sent you an email on July 27 with some questions. I hope you were able able to receive and open the email. To help commemorate our visit, I engraved some images onto a wooden block to help remind us of our trip. I have included in this package a block for you also. I pray that your mission is reaching the needs of those you serve. I know that your mission helped us to realize many things about ourselves allowing us to grow in Christ. God bless you and all that you do.
Sean McCalla
Hey, Cindy!
I just thought I would send you a few pictures of our days with you!
We sure had a wonderful time. Our group made our mission trip report last night at church... we talked, shared slides, and even sang "tumbleweed" for everyone. The congregation was touched. I wish you could have heard the girls' testimonies of the how their lives were impacted. Your ministry not only touches the lives of the children of the Appalachian, but the "children" of Alabama.
Thank you for what you are doing in Kentucky! !!!
Love,
Rachel
We took the youth on a mission trip to Beattyville Kentucky. It was Dave, Todd, Kaila, Brooke, Erynn, Chealea, Taylor, Deliane, Marrianne, and myself. We went August 5-7, 2010. What an experience!
We gave clothes to kids. We served 76 children with 4 to 5 outfits. We also helped the Johnson family by working on their trailer. We put new under skirting on, two new doors, and painted the whole trailer.
But it is what they gave us that speak wonders to me! They gave us perspective! Humbled us and gave us understanding of the real connection between Love and Hope. Oh, how we should Love! So, thank you to God, Cindy, the Johnson family, and to Beattyville Kentucky!
Love = Hope
Have you ever said” I hope I get close parking spot,” or Hope I don’t miss my favorite TV show?” As Americans we just toss the word around like it is nothing. This makes us forget about people that don’t even have hope about a warm safe home to live in or food to eat. Maybe, they can still dream but maybe all they can is escape the pain of life not having Love!
The last thing Jesus said before He went to heaven was to tell everyone about Him! Have we forgotten to tell everyone about the Love He showed us?
Why is it so much easier to yell at someone when we are cut off in traffic then to pray for them and smile! We all make mistakes!
My trip to Cumberland Mountain Outreach has opened my eyes to how many people have lost all hope! Without hope you are willing to turn to an escape available. This paints a picture of drug use, no parents, and babies born addicted to drugs, no food to eat, and no warm safe place to lay your head at night! What a sad place to be all alone searching for Love! The kind of Love Jesus shows us every day! It only takes one action of Love to bring light to someone with no hope. If they can see light then they find their way out of the darkness. I want to be that light everywhere I go! So! I ask in closing, have you let someone blow your out? I pray that you feed your light with prayer and the Word of God. So, that your light can bring hope to someone to help them find their way out of the dark!
Angie
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First of all I want to say thank you to such an awesome church family for supporting your youth and affording us the opportunity to be part of New Hop’s first mission trip. I want to start by appreciating Dave and Angie for everything they do for our kids. I am honored to have them in my kid’s lives. This was a great trip for all of us. I really didn’t know what to expect when we left and I mentioned to Pastor last Tuesday at McDonalds that I have been thinking a lot lately about how God could use me at this church. I mean really, most of you only see me when there is some sort of dinner! I want to say that I am so very proud of Taylor, Delanie, Brooke, Erynn, Chelsea, Marianne, and Kayla. They all worked very hard over the past few days. There are a few things that really stick out from our trip that I want to share with you. The first day we arrived at the Johnsons' home it was a little slow going, but we managed to quite a bit accomplished. It was so hot that day and Tyra had invited Brooke, Chelsea, and Erynn inside to cool off a little. I think that was an eye opener for them. The bathroom sink in this home had no running water and the ceiling was falling in. The toilet has no handle to flush and you have to reach into the tank to get it to flush. As we were all outside taking a break, Brooke looks at us and says “I don’t think I will ever complain about anything again”. It’s hard to see people with so little when we all have so much. The first day there Dennis, who lives at the house, kind of stayed away from all of us. Dennis had mentioned that he wanted to try and paint the house and hoped to have it done before winter. The girls all decided that project was going to be completed before we left. When we returned the next day, Dennis walked out of the house and he had the biggest smile on his face. This is why we are doing this. I will never forget the smile on his face. All of the girls really enjoyed spending time with Tyra, Dennis, Alex, and Ryan. The girls also got to experience a little bit of what they do for fun down there. I am sure they will all fill you in on the dancing. Chelsea is quite the dancer, I don’t think she sat down all night. In case any of you were wondering, I went ahead and took all of the injuries this week so your kids would be safe! I wouldn’t suggest putting a nail into your shin but I think the “wasper” sting hurt worse then that! This trip also gave me a chance to get know the youth better. Before the trip I really didn’t know these girls. Now they think they know me well enough to make fun of my belly! Even my own kids described me to Cindy at Cumberland Mountain Outreach as the guy with the belly! They are an awesome bunch of kids and they have the best youth leaders anyone could ask for. We all saw God move this week, and I thank Him for allowing us to show others His love. They all split time between the clothing drive and working on the house. We were able to put all new underpinning on the house, paint the house, and replace the back door (which they'd been keeping shut with a string). This house needs so much more work but at least we were able to give them some hope and a step in the right direction. I know I have been where they are, maybe not to the extent that this family has seen, but we have all needed a little help at some point in life. It was a truly humbling experience that I will never forget and I look forward to a return trip next year. Oh yeah and one other thing, LLAMMA, LLAMMA!
Todd