BOONEVILLE, Ky. (BP) — A small church outside the Appalachian town of Booneville has received a huge boost from a fellow Kentucky congregation five hours away in the far western part of the state.
Lerose Community Church, which serves one of the most impoverished communities in the U.S., needed a church bus to get local residents to and from services. Pastor Adam Stall and his congregation had been praying, asking God to meet that need.
Zion’s Cause Baptist Church in Benton, not far from Land Between the Lakes, ended up being the answer to prayer.
Pastor Charles Frazier, president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, said he and his congregation are “so blessed” to be able to help the struggling church. He said he is thankful for the spirit of giving among the people at Zion’s Cause.
“We’re thankful for this partnership in the Gospel,” Frazier said. “This has been a great experience for us.”
KBC Executive Director Paul Chitwood said Frazier and Zion’s Cause are serving as examples of what it means to work together for the cause of Christ.
“Like all of our KBC leaders, President Charles Frazier models cooperative missions and comes from a church that models cooperative missions,” Chitwood said.
“Zion’s Cause not only gives sacrificially through the Cooperative Program to support each and every one of the 52 new churches being planted across the state of Kentucky right now, the church is finding new and creative ways to bless church planters and church plants,” Chitwood noted.
“And though Zion’s Cause is literally on the other side of the state than our church plants in the mountains, Dr. Frazier has instilled within the hearts of his congregants a vision for sharing the Gospel in Kentucky’s most unchurched region,” he said.
Frazier said his church didn’t want to deliver the shiny new bus empty. So, his congregation filled it with supplies, plus gave them $1,000 to help with other needs.
Todd Gray, who serves as KBC’s evangelism team leader, said the Gospel is desperately needed in the Appalachian region of Kentucky, where surveys suggest that more than 350,000 people aren’t regular churchgoers.
“East Kentucky has a greater population than West Kentucky and a greater land mass, yet it has half as many churches,” Gray said.