Volunteers from First Baptist Church, Henderson, N.C., gather with Nada residents for a festive gathering.

ATLANTA – Partners in Hope, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s rural poverty initiative, is beginning to see results in Kentucky where local churches are taking ownership of long-term ministries among the most neglected of that state.

Churches such as First Baptist Church, Winchester; First Baptist Church, Frankfort; and Providence Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C., have all played a key role in helping the Fellowship establish a point of contact for work in Owsley County, which along with McCreary County is among the 20 poorest counties in the nation.

Work in Owsley County began to take focus when the Kentucky Baptist Fellowship formed a partnership with First Baptist Winchester. Several years earlier, First Baptist Winchester had established a mission church in Nada, Ky. The mission, located in nearby Powell County, was seen as a strategic location for rural poverty relief efforts in Eastern Kentucky, with an already established presence of ministry as well as room to host visiting missions teams.

Volunteer groups from Lexington Avenue Baptist Church in Danville, Ky., and First Baptist Church, Henderson, N.C., worship with local residents at the Nada Mission.

John Owen, pastor of First Baptist Winchester, serves as missions coordinator at Nada. He said the relationship with both CBF and KBF have been a blessing for their efforts.

"CBF has given us additional resources as well as contacts with churches who send missions teams," Owen said. "This year, we will have more than 20 visiting missions groups scheduled every week during the summer … with visits still scheduled through the end of the year."

Owen said people in the region are very poor, living in small houses or trailers, often in states of extreme disrepair. Some of the people lost jobs in the logging or mining industries years ago and those that are employed often have to commute many miles to bigger towns and cities.

Owen estimates that between 200 and 300 people in the region have been impacted by the missions visits, which include repairs on area homes. Teams have helped fix leaky roofs, repair floors and porches, build new outhouses, paint, and many other general repairs. Within the past two years, teams built showers in the Nada Mission to accommodate other missions teams.

The youth group from Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville, N.C., builds an outhouse for a family in Nada.

First Baptist Church, Frankfort, Ky., purchased a motel in Booneville, Ky., and renovating work has begun so that it can house missions teams working in Owsley County. Volunteers assisted a local ministerial association in organizing and staffing a food bank, which is housed in an abandoned jail. Future plans call for the food bank to be relocated to the hotel facility.

For more than a year, volunteers from Buechel Park Baptist Church in Louisville have staffed the food bank once a month.

"We’ve had many of our churches this summer develop long-term relationships with the people in these communities," Owen said. "Several groups have visited more than once; some have been exchanging letters with pen pals. It’s not just hit-and-run missions work."

Owen said generally the winter is a slower time for missions work into these communities, but this year, there are missions teams who are planning to come back and distribute food baskets during Thanksgiving and another church that is planning a coat and warm clothing drive for Christmas.

Providence Baptist Church adopted the Kentucky PIH effort as a new missions endeavor for its 50th anniversary celebration. So far, the church has made several trips to Owsley County, completing specific projects and delivering 500 pounds of school supplies, 206 pairs of children’s shoes and socks, 1,000 books for children and winter coats, among other items.

Providence has also adopted one of the rooms at the motel in Booneville and has begun remodeling. Providence is also in the process of getting a donated van to the Middle/High School in Owsley County.

"Our commitment is long-te