Thanksgiving Blessings
McDowell County, West Virginia, is one of the poorest counties the United States. Over 31% of residents live below the federal poverty line, the unemployment rate is more than triple the national average, and it holds the highest adult illiteracy rate in the state.
“Most of the homes there have structural aging, causing them to fail,” shared Greg Arnold. “People live with food insecurities already, meaning they cannot spend money to fix their homes. Floors are falling in, roofs are leaking, leading to all kinds of health issues.”
“Medical needs are great and there are only a few providers and services,” Spencer Underwood added.
Greg and Spencer witnessed the poverty of McDowell County first-hand on their recent Thanksgiving Blessings mission trip with seven others from Mt. Bethel Church to Welch, West Virginia, seated in the heart of the county.
For Greg, this was his seventh mission trip to Welch in the last three years. He said he keeps coming back because of the friendships he and his wife, Marla, have built with the people there. This trip was slightly different from previous trips they have taken to West Virginia in November.
“In prior years, our church has provided funds for our team to buy, assemble, and distribute Thanksgiving meals to the families in Welch. This year was different because we worked with local churches to provide a community meal,” Greg explained.
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The community meal was hosted in the fellowship hall of a local church. Mt. Bethel Church team members decorated with placemats designed by the kids of our children’s ministry and cooked a delicious Thanksgiving meal with all the sides. Attendance included neighbors from a local government-assisted-housing apartment complex, residents of a local safe house, and members and staff of the two local churches Mt. Bethel Church partnered with for the trip.
“The people of Welch have a lot of love and laughter to share!” Greg exclaimed, describing the fun had by all in attendance.
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Darlene, a Welch resident Greg and Marla have built a friendship with over the years on their many mission trips, also attended the community meal.
“She asked us to pray for her diabetes and the impact it’s having on her legs,” Greg shared. “We also were able to pray she would continue to be a witness to her neighbors!”
In addition to the community meal, Mt. Bethel Church mission team members also delivered food to residents of the local government-assisted-housing apartment complex. Spencer recalls this as being one of the most impactful moments for him on the trip.
“One mother we delivered food to asked us to pray she and her daughter would move out of the complex…she said she didn’t want her daughter to die there!” (McDowell County has the fifth highest rate of children living in poverty in the nation, per the US Census Bureau.)
While distributing food and praying with people, Greg was able to visit Ralph, another friend he’s made on his many trips to West Virginia. “He asked me to pray that he would continue to grow closer to God. What an awesome prayer!”
Mt. Bethel Church’s partnership with the two local churches on this trip is important because while many members of Welch’s community claim belief in Christ, several are not affiliated with a local church and “appear to have no hope,” Spencer said. He added that many he talked and prayed with at the apartment complex shared with him about their struggles with drugs and alcohol and how they “have lost faith in recovery.”
“I ask my Mt. Bethel family to pray for Pastor Paul of Reclamation Church in Welch, that God would give him strength and guidance as he starts this new church, and that his passion for God’s Word would continue to attract people to Christ,” Spencer pleaded.
Another difference in this trip from previous trips, according to Greg and Marla, was the work they and other Mt. Bethel Church team members did with Zera House, a new residential facility for survivors of human trafficking.
“The leader indicated they were the only place in the entire state of West Virginia that does what they do…provide a Christian-based home that allows vulnerable women a place to stay and find God’s purpose in their lives,” Greg disclosed. “We need to pray for their success, even though it is heartbreaking that places like this are necessary.”
Both Greg and Spencer agree that while they went to West Virginia to be a blessing, they were also blessed by the work God is doing in the lives of the people there.
“As I celebrate Thanksgiving this year, I will picture those faces in West Virginia and pray they find a meaningful way to celebrate,” Spencer reflected. “[This trip] reminded me of the stark contrast between abundance and struggling for basic need. It also taught me that happiness and joy are not dependent on money and material things.”
“As I gather my family for Thanksgiving, [this experience helped change] what we see as blessings,” Greg stated. “The people of Welch have different struggles than we do. We always leave Welch feeling loved, not because we brought them a meal, but because we know who they are. They show [me a sense of] community that is sometimes lost in my subdivision of 300+ homes.”
Thank you, Mt. Bethel Church, for supporting our missional work in Welch, West Virginia, through your tithes and offerings.