Elkhorn City, Ky. (KT) – Pastor Richard Greene was talking to members of Elkhorn City Baptist Church about launching a new ministry for seniors living in local nursing homes.
On a Saturday night, they got an idea of what it would look like.
The Elkhorn City Baptists hosted 53 evacuated residents of Elkhorn City landmark as floods began to rise in Pike County.
The Red Cross provides beds and blankets, nursing homes bring nursing AIDS, Elkhorn City includes its location (its life center) and hospitality including wheels on big screen television to watch basketball games in Texas, Kentucky provided.
“It all took into consideration, and it worked pretty well,” Green said. “Another day in eastern Kentucky.”
Residents came to the Elkhorn City Baptist in the evening and returned to the facility on Sunday evening.
Elkhorn City Baptist members and community neighbours participated in welcoming senior adult hosts. Some were a bit stressful, Green said after the movement and shuffle from the van to the fellowship centre.
Janeen Rosser, the nursing home manager, lives on the same street as Green. He spoke with her at a recent funeral and said he was trying to come up with some way to start a ministry there.
“She probably called me (Saturday) morning,” Green said. “As the water rose, they were trying to make plans. They had 47 people (residents) and they went to the hospital because they had different medical needs. Waiting to see where the water was going. It was an all-day process.”
When the administrator first called him, Green and his wife, Amy, were vacuuming water from the basement. He said the church also ingested water from the basement, but did not cause much damage.
Green said he went to the Fellowship Center to make sure everything was ready for visitors and opened the door to a room full of decorations. It was being prepared for a Saturday Valentine's banquet.
Members of the church who lived nearby pitched to defeat the decorations and serve the residents of the nursing home.
The Elkhorn Fire Department helped transport residents who were confused about what was going on. “It was very stressful and I was moving to the van and going back to the facility. Some of them were horrible, you can say. I tried to make it as routine as possible. We were in the UK. I put on the game.”
Green jokingly said the game might have added some stress to the evening as Kentucky blew a slow lead and fell to 82-78. He said he would not leave the facility until midnight.
Like many churches in eastern Kentucky, Elkhorn City Baptist Sunday morning services were cancelled due to floods.
“It's good to hear our people sermons, and you need to preach,” Green said. “But today people needed to see the sermon.”
He said that before he became their pastor, the foresight of the church building a Fellowship Center in 2019 was not lost in him. “Who knew, God, did you know we needed it for something like this? It was a blessing for our community. At least in the evening, 53 new people were There was a senior adult. It was another night. Challenge and blessings.”
Regarding starting a ministry for older adults in nursing homes, Greene said this could be the beginning of something special for Elkhorn City Baptist Church.
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