Appalachian Ministries gives children a merry Christmas

             The students at University of the Cumberlands that participate in Appalachian Ministries are not in Williamsburg, Kentucky just for an education, but also to serve and love others. They do so by going to communities in the area each week to play with and share the Gospel with the kids in low income areas. The week before Christmas they show their love for the families by giving the kids hygiene essential boxes, coats or scarves and toys.  

                                                                Photo by Bill Turner
Kids posing with their gifts from AM
Dec. 4, 2014.

“They were really excited about things that we take for granted, stuff that we could get every day at the store,” said Kathleen Kovach, a sophomore at UC and volunteer at AM. “It was a very humbling experience.”

            The students who go there every week are not the only ones investing in these families. During the summer, church groups from all over the country come to minister to the families in this area. They don’t see it as just a one-time summer mission trip, but that they want to stay connected throughout the year. They do this by adopting the different places that AM works at and providing the gifts that are given out around Christmas time, explained Magan Atwood, director of Appalachian Ministries and Campus Ministry Associate.

The support does not end with the students or church teams from the summer. Other local churches, campus ministries such as Mountain Outreach and departments at UC are involved in the Christmas season by working together to help the kids in the community feel loved.

“It’s about the community as a whole coming together for one cause,” said Abbey Cherry, recent alum from UC and Appalachian Ministries Intern.

                  Photo provided by University of the Cumberlands
Volunteers posing with the children's gifts
before they're handed out to the kids on Dec. 4, 2014.

These Christmas presents that the community provides for AM to give the kids are sometimes their first experience of Christmas. Atwood explained that some of the kids come from foster homes and they usually move around the time of Christmas so their foster families are not prepared to give the gifts or their biological families can’t afford it. She told a story from last year about a boy in the seventh grade who had never received a Christmas present before and his eyes lit up when he received the gift of a coat and toy.

            “I know that toys aren’t essential and there are people all around the world who would love to open up a coat or a scarf,” said Atwood. “We provided a physical need, like he needed a coat, but then we also got to bring some joy to his life, just something fun that he had never gotten to do before.”

             The Christmas party isn’t all about the toys or gifts. The college students and families visit with each other, eat pizza and play games. The students also share the Christmas story about why celebrating Christmas is important. Atwood said this is a compilation of sharing the Gospel with the kids throughout the year because it tells the story of how much God loved the world by sending His one and only Son as a gift for everyone.

                                                                  Photo by Bill Turner
AM volunteers and children listening to the Christmas story
Dec. 4, 2014.

“For the kids, it’s a deeper understanding not only of the Gospel, but for us to be able to be out there providing something for them to help them know we really do love them,” said Atwood. “We really do care about them. It’s not something that we come do because we have to. We really just love them and want to show them that. The parents get that same message. We’re not there to just take care of their kids for an hour and a half. We want to do that for them, but we love them and their family and we just want them to know that, not only do we love you and want to provide for you, but God loves you far more than we ever could and He has provided every need that you could ever have.”

This Christmas event allows the students to continue to strengthen the bond they have with each other, said Atwood. It’s a great way to show the families that it’s more than just a ministry. They genuinely care for them as friends.

The college students have fun choosing each child’s gift. They love to see the delight on their faces brought about not by the toys or the essentials, but by the love of the students giving them the gifts.

“Our main purpose doing AM is to show these kids the love of Christ that they may not be shown at home,” said Shantel Buchner, a sophomore at UC and volunteer at AM. “Whether they remember the Christmas presents or not, our hope is that they will remember the Bible stories that they have been taught throughout the year. We hope by giving these presents the kids will see that God’s love is real and he cares personally for them. And one of the ways we try to communicate this to them is through these Christmas presents.”

How to start and maintain a non-profit organization

            Non-profit organizations help to support and enable people to reach their potential. Non-profits come in many different shapes and sizes such as foundations for raising awareness of a need, organizations that reach those needs and various others. They are important for the community and the world to work together, as Marc Hensley knows, director of Mountain Outreach, a construction ministry in Southeastern Kentucky Appalachia area.                                                                     

                                                            Photo by Ford Edwards
Katie Herrington volunteering at MO Repair Affair
fall semester 2014.

             “Non-profits are the backbone of a community,” said Hensley. “They serve a segment of the community that cannot get served any other way. We have a lot of social programs and a lot of folks that benefit from those programs. There are folks that will fall through the cracks no matter how good governmental social programs are and no matter how good churches are at maintaining a watchful eye on their church field."
             Here are some tips about the logistics of starting and maintaining a non-profit organization based on interviews with Hensley who's been coordinating Mountain Outreach's logistics for about ten years; Magan Atwood, Director of Appalachian Ministries for about five years; and Travis Freeman who’s starting a foundation which educates people that disability does not mean inability.
1.      Have a unique vision
              When a person starts a non-profit, they don’t want to replicate another organization that is already aiming at the same thing. Appalachian Ministries gives students at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky. a chance to minister to children and families in the area. The program started in 1975 when students at UC saw the need to help kids living in poverty to have fun and know the love of Jesus. The students started something that was not available in the area before this. They had a clear vision in mind and accomplished it. AM is still running after almost 40 years of service.
2.      File papers with the government
               With the vision and goal in mind, you must start the process of filing papers with your state in order to be official. The GrantSpace, a service of Foundation Center’s and an informational source about philanthropy, explains that filing for exempt status with the IRS could take up to 3-12 months. As a non-profit, how is the organization supposed to bring in money to support the work? The answer is, through donors. If the non-profit has a clear goal to reach an important need, then other people will want to join in. It’s important to build up a reputation where people are eager to join in the work that the organization is doing. Spread awareness of the situation that you’re helping and people will come along to help.
3.   Stay connected with referral sources
                 A problem that will most likely arise is that people will try to take advantage of the non-profit’s help. Have people in place that can lead you to people who really need the help, then, there will be less chance of people who take advantage of the help. Mountain Outreach does so by having contacts such as social workers, home health nurses, resource center personal from the schools and others that let them know when a family in the area is in need of something.

                  Photo provided by University of the Cumberlands
Volunteers working on a porch
fall semester 2014.

4.      Encouraging the volunteers
                 When there’s a job to do, there needs to be people to help accomplish that and because a non-profit organization is being started, they usually aren't paid with money. They can be paid with community service hours and the joy of helping someone get on their feet. The volunteers need to be supported so they don’t get too worn out. Then the work can be done well. It’s also important to delegate work so no one is overwhelmed. A director is needed for the logistics, volunteers are needed for the work, and a board of directors is needed for the decisions.
5.      Staying focused
                   “It’s really hard for a lot of ministries not to bleed over and stretch themselves too thin,” said Hensley. “Once they start into one specific area, they see a greater need than just that specific area. There are two dangers: one is that a ministry could get tunnel vision and pass up opportunities to help folks, or number two, they could be too broad, too expensive, spread too thin and not have enough resources to help anybody.”
                    The work needs to be done well or else the organization’s not helping the community very much. It’s important that the organization does not get tunnel vision on what they’re doing. Then, they won’t be helping the people they need to help or reaching the community’s needs.
                    “Non-profits are attempting to advance a message or a cause,” said Travis Freeman, adjunct religion professor at UC who’s starting a foundation which educates people that disability does not mean inability. “They are important to help with public awareness. That’s what I’m trying to do with the Freeman Foundation.”
                     Instead of focusing on the seemingly impossible task of changing the world, focus on one step at a time. There will be difficult moments, but it can be done and you’re changing the world one social issue at a time.
                     “This program is not about projects, it’s about people,” said Hensley.               

Madison Andrews: strong at heart

                           Photo by Noelle Andrews
Madison Andrews.

          Though Madison “Maddy” Andrews’ actual physical heart is in rough condition after open-heart surgery of transposition of the great arteries with a pseudoaneurysm (one of her patches split and started leaking blood), she’s strong at heart with a lot of passion for serving the Lord and others. Andrews from Boulder, Colo., a 19-year-old sophomore at University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky., is receiving her bachelors in missions and ministries and business administration. While at school, she’s involved with the Baptist Campus Ministries, especially with Appalachian Ministries.
             Lounging in a hoodie and athletic shorts, with her nose ring that she considers her act of being a rebel, Andrews likes to tell it how it is. She’s bold in her opinions, which is used to her advantage when she tells people their worth. “I love getting to hold kids, talk to them and make them feel important,” said Andrews. “A huge part of my heart is wanting to make people feel like they have value and are important.”

                                        Photo provided by Madison Andrews
Anna Andrews and Maddy as a baby
after her first open-heart surgery.

           Andrews understands the importance of showing children their worth because she’s had troubles too. She was born with a congenital heart defect called transposition of the great arteries. When she was three days old, she had open-heart surgery. After this, she lived a fairly healthy childhood running track, playing soccer and basketball.
           During conditioning for basketball in Andrews’ junior year of high school, she collapsed on the court. This led to about seven months of testing. The doctors didn’t understand why she was in pain all of the time. 
           “At first, she really questioned herself because they didn’t know what was wrong,” said Anna Andrews, Maddy’s mom. “A year later, she was very confident. ‘I want to feel better. I feel bad. My issues are real.’ She really grew in understanding her body and what was real and having a voice.”
           They realized that Andrew’s pulmonary valve was not as long or as wide as it needed to be and then they realized that a sternum wire, which was placed in her chest to keep it closed when she was a baby, had broken and was causing the pain. When the doctors were testing to see if it was the sternum wire, they realized other things were wrong. In February 2012, Andrews went through her second open-heart surgery. The doctors were going to elongate the pulmonary valve, but they realized that the valve itself wasn’t in good condition, so they had to replace it during surgery as well as reorganize some of the pulmonary branches.
            Andrews was doing well and healing fast. She got out of the hospital after a week and started running a mile a day. Two and a half months later, she had a pseudoaneurysm. Now, she has a mass in the center of her chest that causes her a lot of pain. She’s visiting doctors and pain management specialists to get that fixed.
          “We want her to live her life to the fullest as much as she can,” said Mrs. Andrews. “I don’t want this to hold her back.”
           Andrews doesn’t let her pain stand in the way of living life. She loves the Lord and wanted to serve him by going on a mission trip to Uganda even though she had just had open-heart surgery. 
           “I traveled two and a half months after I had open heart surgery because I’m an idiot,” said Andrews. “I don’t like to limit myself. I like to pretend that I’m normal and go as hard as possible.”  

                                                              Photo by Paul Andrews
Maddy posing for a picture with children she met during her mission trip to Uganda.

            Before Andrews decided to come to University of the Cumberlands, she was confident that she was going to get a full ride to a different college. About a week out of the hospital, she found out that she didn’t get it and was very frustrated. Andrews has always done very well in school and struggles with trying not to find her value in school and getting the highest test scores.
            “The Lord definitely closed that door,” said Andrews. “I remember being like, “Lord, I went through all of this for you. Is this not enough for you? I don’t understand why you wouldn’t give this to me.’ I am so, so glad that I ended up coming to Cumberlands. It was a big question of the Lord being like, ‘Are you going to trust me? Even when this doesn’t make sense and this isn’t your plan, but this is my plan.’”
            Andrews is sometimes frustrated with the difficulty she has because she’s very independent. She loves being outdoors hiking, backpacking, kayaking and doing other activities. She can’t hike as far as she would like and can’t carry the weight of a backpack. She also misses running. She has to watch what she puts into her body so she won’t have high blood pressure or plaque build up in her arteries.
            However, there are days when she understands why the Lord would cause this to happen to her and is okay with it. She firmly believes that the Lord could take it away from her if he wants to, but that there must be more glory in her having this difficulty than if she didn’t. 


                                  Photo by Annmarie Lake
Maddy and Sarah Beth Hunt after a hike to Dog Slaughter Falls.

            “As her roommate, I see her in a lot of pain and she doesn’t like to ask for help,” said Sarah Beth Hunt, Maddy’s roommate and friend from University of the Cumberlands. “That’s really hard, but she has a very strong faith. I see her trying to think of other things or read her Bible to overcome that. She understands that everything is going to be okay and everything happens for a reason.”
            Andrews wants to help others in any way she can, because she understands how short life can be. She realizes that she could have died and wants to use the rest of her life to help others reach their potential. 
            “A big part of my life is feeling very helpless and out of control,” said Andrews. “This [feeling] empowered me to really want to help people when they feel out of control. My desire is to empower them and let them know that they are important. I want people to know that they are loved and that their value comes from an incredible God. I understand that there is no guarantee and people have no idea that they are so loved. Why would I not share that?”
             Andrews hopes to accomplish this by working for a non-profit organization using her photography skills or doing micro financing. She would like to help widows who’ve never had the chance to be self-sufficient become so by helping them with their loans and starting their own business. She wants to help people out of poverty and not just give them things, but help them become self-sustaining. She would like to do this overseas, but isn’t sure whether a company would hire her with her medical issues.

            Since Andrews is so independent, she doesn’t like to be a burden to others. This summer she began to learn that people want to help her in a loving way and not because they pity her. She’s learning that letting other people help her doesn’t make her dependent, but lets them serve her.
            “Maddy’s not a very empathetic person,” said Ms. Andrews. “It doesn’t come natural. Within our family, she understands that her youngest sister has taken it really hard and really worries. [Maddy] goes out of her way to spend a little bit more time with her little sister to help explain things so that she feels in the loop. Her youngest sister has a real fear to lose Maddy. [Maddy] makes an effort to get some one on one time to talk her through things and help her know what she’s feeling.” 
             One of Andrews’ friends showed her the Bible verses, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 which says, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
             “I firmly believe that the Lord caused that sternum wire to rip because it showed so much more that was wrong that they had no idea was wrong,” said Andrews. “If they had not known, then I probably would’ve been dead because I would’ve had a heart attack from my valve giving out. Now, there are days that are really, really hard and that don’t make sense. I rest in that the Lord is good and he is sovereign and that he has gotten me this far.”

Brittney Gadd steps up her game on the soccer and mission field

               Photo by Liesel Totch
Gadd posing with kids from
an inner city Philadelphia soccer camp.

Brittney Gadd, known to most as BGadd, has a spirit of risk and adventure. She’s passionate about the Lord, loving others, missions and soccer. She makes this known from the moment people meet her. Gadd said some people might criticize her from flying by the seat of her pants. She has big plans of serving the Lord because as she would say, she serves a “big God” who works in her life radically. However, she was not always this passionate. Gadd’s life took a while to get where it is today.

“God worked through my brokenness,” said Gadd. “To know that things that happened weren’t done on my own abilities because I was so broken myself, it was all God. I was being used by the Lord.”

            Gadd was raised since toddler age by her grandparents in Mercer, Pa. When she came to them, she hadn’t been fed or taken care of properly. Before her mom lost her rights as a parent, Gadd had to visit her. One time when she visited her mom, she was seven years old and remembers being aware that she wasn’t safe. She ran away in the snow from everyone. She began running from an early age because of fights with her brother, to get home safe from school, sports practices and everything.
            “High school was rough,” said Gadd. “I was made fun of a lot because I was the only girl that wrestled. I always thought I had to be tough. As a little girl too, I was such a tomboy. It hardened my heart. I was a stubborn, determined little girl.”
            Gadd and her brother were always outside. They were locked out of the house sometimes so they caused havoc in the neighborhood.  Her grandparents provided for them, but the environment they grew up in was manipulative and controlling, and there was also fighting. Her brother had chemical imbalances as a result from fetal alcohol syndrome because their mom drank alcohol during pregnancy. The imbalances in his brain had triggered anger issues. She had to protect her grandparents from him sometimes by hitting him and running away.  
            “I had to get away from all the stuff that was happening at home,” said Gadd. “I just felt like I was suffocating. That if I stayed I would fall into the patterns of my family and just be manipulated.”
            Sports gave Gadd a sense of hope. She received affirmation from her teammates, coaches and aunts and uncles. They cared, but her grandparents didn’t and weren’t very involved. She had to ride with friends to the games.

                  Photo provided by University of the Cumberlands
Gadd defending the goal during a game against
Lincoln Memorial University in 2009.

            When Gadd was twelve, she went to a Christian sports camp and was surrounded by Christian love for the first time. At the camp, she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior. She still struggled with a lot and didn’t start living for Him until later in life. When she became independent in college, she saw her family for who they were. Gadd said she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. She tried to find herself through partying and drinking. It made her feel sad, alone and angry.

              “B-Gadd was so loud, in your face and intimidating,” said Emily Maddux, senior at University of the Cumberlands, friend and former teammate of Gadd’s. “She got in the goal and you just sat back and watched in awe. She had that confidence, almost borderline arrogance. She knew how good she was and wasn’t afraid to prove it to you.”
             Gadd came to University of the Cumberlands to wrestle and then was also offered a soccer scholarship. She was good in both, but soccer was her passion. According to Gadd, she found her identity through sports instead of Christ. The void she had in her life was filled with athletics. She was an All-American twice in wrestling and received All-Conference in soccer.
             “God gave me those abilities,” said Gadd. “I didn’t have the perspective of the field being my sanctuary and it can be an act of worship in anything I do on the field.”
             Gadd discovered she needed to have balance of God and her God given abilities when she played on the Christian sports ministry soccer team, the Buxmount Torch, the summer after graduation in 2013. That summer began her transformation to who she is today.
              “B-Gadd and I met to talk about her life and struggles,” said Magan Atwood, Director of Appalachian Ministries and Associate Campus Minister at University of the Cumberlands. “I listened to her as she poured out her past pains, current struggles and future dreams. I prayed with her, shared scripture with her, and journeyed with her through it. She was strong enough to lean into the hard stuff, to face her pain and struggle, and to let God heal her.”
               When Gadd started out, she wanted to use her degree in Exercise and Sports Science and Public Health to get a job that would provide for her. When she started to follow God whole heartedly, she wanted to use her skills to serve others.

                    Photo provided by University of the Cumberlands
Gadd with UC's women's soccer team 2014-2015.

                Gadd was the first to graduate in her family. While she’s getting her masters in special education, she’s the Graduate Assistant coach for University of the Cumberlands’ women’s soccer team. The team she was now coaching were some of the people she used to party with and who saw her before she was changed. She also started a weekly team bonding last year and incorporated scripture and faith. People were really confused and conflicted. She was confused herself about why God wanted to use her as a witness in the soccer team. The transformation in her own life and in the soccer team’s girls’ lives showed her that it was all for God’s glory.
                “She really focused on like she says, 'doing life' with us,” said Maddux. “Trying to pull us together to make us become more of a family. Kind of changed our team into more of a positive, loving environment. It’s one thing to be teammates and another thing to be a family.”

                                                         Photo by Liesel Totch
Gadd playing with children at an inner city Philadelphia soccer camp
 July 2014.

                Gadd wants to build relationships with people, love them where they’re at and experience life with them. She still struggles with staying in the Word and being led by the Spirit. When she was coming back from her summer mission trip to the Dominican Republic where she felt like she was being led to a life of full time ministry and missions, she was on the bus and a woman asked her if she was a missionary. Gadd just said no and the women replied, “Well, you should be. You just radiate Jesus.” Afterwards, Gadd wished she had said yes because as a follower of Jesus she’s a missionary. 
                 Though she loves the Lord and soccer, last year she didn’t want to come back. As Gadd put it, she was under spiritual attack. After talking with Atwood, she realized she had to finish God’s work. This year, she’s planning a trip to take the women’s soccer team to Haiti on a mission trip.
                 “It’s not about me, it’s about others. Being a light is exhausting, but I can’t quit. That looks like abandonment. That’s what happened to me and I don’t want to do that to them. I want to be there for those girls.”
                  Gadd is looking forward to next year when she’s hoping to graduate with her masters and then accept a job in Vienna, Austria. Surge International Soccer, soccer ministry, has given her an opportunity to do outreach while playing soccer. She would be a referee at soccer camps every week, teach English, play on a professional team and encourage other Christians on her team and in the city.
                   “She is a beautiful example of what it looks like to surrender to God and trust Him with everything,” said Atwood.

Atwood family adoption journeys

                           Photo provided by Magan Atwood
Magan and David Atwood with their son, Ben.

            Benjamin Atwood’s nursery decorations incorporate the Bible verse, Jeremiah 29:11, which says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” His parents, Magan and David Atwood, want him to know that he is important to them and God has a plan for his life.             
              Magan is the Director of Appalachian Ministries and Associate Campus Minister at University of the Cumberlands and Dave is a 7th grade math teacher at Whitley Middle School in Williamsburg, Ky. They’ve been married for seven years, adopted Ben 19 months ago and plan to adopt sometime next year.
             “We have always known that we wanted a big family and we always envisioned that mainly to be through adoption,” said Magan, “We just really felt like God was saying go for it again.”
             The Atwoods used Faithful Adoption Consultants, a referral service, to search for adoption agencies. According to Magan, the consultants walked alongside them during the process and lessened the anxiety.

              Ben’s situation was presented to the Atwoods after six other cases of adoption didn’t work out for different reasons. The consultants presented the Atwoods’ profile, an autobiographical letter, to the birth mother. They had 10 days to get ready after the birth mother accepted their profile. The adoption process took seven months and they didn’t have a nursery, yet.

                                            Photo provided by Magan Atwood
The Atwood family.

             The Atwoods were there for the birth of their first son. Magan held the birth mom’s hand and Dave stayed to the side and prayed. The doctors and nurses knew the situation so they handed the baby to Magan immediately. Magan wanted to help the birth mom during her grieving process, but she was also full of joy because she had waited and prayed for the child for so long and he was finally in her arms. 
             “[I was] standing in the room and wanting to be in both places,” said Magan.
             Ben is thriving well with the Atwoods after 19 months. They’re enjoying the easier stage of his life when he doesn’t notice that his skin color is different from his parents. When he starts asking questions about why his birth mom gave him up, they’re ready and willing to support Ben and be there for him emotionally.
             As they prepare to adopt their next child, the Atwoods are beginning to raise funds and pray during the rest of 2014. The paperwork and home visits will start in the spring of 2015. This year, they’re raising the money by selling t-shirts, scarves and having yard sales. The t-shirts are also a way for them to advocate for and educating about adoption.
            “We both pray that our child or children won’t look like us because we want people to ask us questions,” said Magan. “I don’t think you can talk about adoption without talking about the Gospel. We want to educate people about adoption and it just segues right into what God has done for us.”