Tears of sorrow turned to tears of joy earlier this month for one Bell County congregation. Mill Creek Baptist Church was destroyed by fire on a snowy February 16, 2015 morning but, thanks to the Mobile (AL) Baptist Builders, a new building is now under construction.
On June 4 a team of 120+ volunteers, all unpaid, rolled into the Stoney Fork community of Bell County to begin work on the new church building. The volunteers were from 14 states across the U.S., some as far away as Maine and Colorado and some from within the state of Kentucky.
In just 4 days the building was up and the roof and steeple were on. An outline of a cross behind where the pulpit will eventually stand, overlooked the blue sky, green trees, and the beautiful Bell County mountains. From now until September other volunteer teams will follow and do finish work, until the new church building is completed. 
In addition to the construction work there was also a lot of ministry going on. Each day throughout the week the volunteers fed 80 – 90 children in the area, played games, and shared the Gospel message with them. They also held classes for the ladies of the community.
Every evening after dinner the team had a worship and testimony service. As of Wednesday one person had professed faith in Christ and the Gospel message was continuing to be shared, even among their fellow team members, as some of them were not believers.
We like to “go where God’s people are and we want to go help God’s people,” says Burben Sullins, coordinator for Mobile Baptist Builders. “This is my 34th year in volunteer missions and this is my 70th project,” he went on to say.
When asked about the work of the team, Mill Creek Pastor Larry Sowders said, “it was unreal. These were amazing people that were led and called by God, and Burben Sullins was an amazing leader.”
Cooperation. That is a key word for Southern Baptists. And, this project was just one way the family of Southern Baptists serve one another.
Each year several teams such as the Mobile Baptist Builders serve in Kentucky. These teams like to come and work on new construction projects, building from the slab up. Hundreds of volunteers, both men and women, take a week of their vacation, and pay their own way, to participate in volunteer missions.
If your church is planning to build and is interested in a Baptist Builder team, please contact the Missions Mobilization Team of the Kentucky Baptist Convention at [email protected]. We can help you to connect.
How wonderful,..god bless all the volunteers,god be with you.
THIS IS BEAUTIFUL! I WAS GOING TO THIS CHURCH IN THE 1940s and 1950S.IT WAS IN A DIFFERENT LOCATION AT THAT TIME. MY UNCLE WAS PASTOR FOR A LONG TIME. IT HAS CHANGED SINCE I WENT THERE, MEANING, NOT MANY OF THE PEOPLE ARE STILL LIVING, BUT CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN ARE CARRYING ON THE GOOD WORK OF JESUS CHRIST! I THINK EVERYONE HAS DONE A WONDERFUL JOB GETTING THE CHURCH WHERE IT IS TODAY!