Maytown

Just about every time I am asked to share my story, I tell it just a little bit differently. The audience is never exactly the same and the reason I am sharing it is never the same. There are details that connect better with students than adults, or themes that make more sense in certain contexts then others. But there are obviously a few parts of my story that always “make the cut”. I might explore these parts differently each time, but they are such a vital part of my story that they have to be in there.

The first is obviously the decision I made to commit my life to Jesus when I was 12 years old. Jill obviously makes it in there each time as well, but the only other part that always makes the cut is the time I spent in a small little town in Eastern Kentucky called Maytown.

The Post Office and any map will refer to Maytown as Langley, but everyone who lives in the area knows it as Maytown. Maytown’s population about 10 years ago was 280, but I am sure that number is lower today. There is a lot of brokenness in Maytown, but I learned more about who God is in that little mountain town than I did at Bible school or working at a church for the last 6 years.

The summer before I started 6th grade, my dad was working with CrossRoads Missions and he took me with him on a trip to a brand new field CrossRoads started in Maytown. They were hosting and facilitating short term missions trips out of a community center that started in the abandoned school building in town. For the next 6 years I would spend 2-4 weeks of my summer and several Spring Break weeks with dad in Maytown.  

I got to meet and interact with people who had such different stories. From the countless church groups that came through each week, to the local folks that we got to know that struggled with drug addictions, health issues from working in the coal mines, parents who had their kids taken away by social services and 12 year old kids addicted to nicotine. I quickly learned at a fairly young age that although I may think my life isn’t so hot sometimes, I am incredibly lucky and blessed to have the support system I have around me and the opportunities that I often didn’t take full advantage of.

I also learned the value of service in Maytown. I saw how serving impacted not only the folks whose houses we were working on, but also the church groups that came through. I experienced God through service in a way I just never have through singing, listening to a sermon or even prayer. Maytown was where I discovered one of my spiritual gifts was serving.

I know I am lucky to have had that opportunity during such formative years of my life that allowed me to learn a lot about who God is and a lot about myself. I can clearly see how those experiences have and continue to shape me as a person, and I know that they will have an impact on me for the rest of my life.

I could go on and on and tell story after story about Maytown, which is why I am super excited to announce that Bridges is going to take a group there on a mission trip this summer, June 19-25.  This will be our big summer event for our middle school and high school students, BUT it is not exclusively a student trip. Anyone who wants to come is invited!  There is more information about the trip below, but if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at jacob@bridgeschurch.net