Morehead State College Students Serve Eastern KY After Flooding

Never in all my years of college ministry have I had such a meaningful opportunity to connect with students so early in the semester. For many freshmen across the country August will be marked by self indulgence and academic overload. However, this years Morehead State University (MSU) freshmen class could not have come into our campus community at a better time.

In late July 2022 heavy rainfall caused flooding that rocked many communities throughout Eastern Kentucky. Local families lost homes, they lost family members, and they lost hope. Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Northeastern Kentucky, MSU finds itself in a unique position. Many of the students were intimately effected by the summer storms while many others only read about it in the news. Students from outside Appalachia felt the collective heartbreak and answered the call as insiders well acquainted with the mountains and hollers showed them the way.

Three weeks ago Matthew Mofield (campus pastor of the Baptist Campus Ministry at Morehead State) told me about the relief trip he had planned through the Kentucky Baptist Convention (KBC). As someone who grew up in Pike County, I jumped at the opportunity to get on board with whatever was being planned— even better, I didn’t have to do any planning myself. In a great example of campus partnership both Cru and the BCM at Morehead State fervently cast vision for the need in Whitesburg, KY. Thirty students answered the call and invested their day cleaning up mud, tearing out drywall, and ripping out nails from a house that had previously seen over five feet of water.

When I consider my personal mission to Win, Build, and Send college students to finish the Great Commission I can not think of a better opportunity to accelerate those budding relationships than a weekend of investing in my Eastern Kentucky community.

This is Matt Mofield, the campus pastor of the BCM. Rarely do we have such a great opportunity to see visible partnership between ministries. Appreciate his friendship and his ministry on our campus!