Driving through Kentucky

Sunday
The day started in its usual way for a Sunday, with choir practice before church service, though today we were starting at 9.15 instead of 9.30, since we were singing two anthems today, as it was the last time of full choir till after the summer. We had a great service, including communion. We left straight after service and returned home to change and do last minute things before setting off on our journey down to Mayfield Kentucky for our mission trip.
For those that don’t know or don’t remember, Mayfield was the scene of a devastating tornado in December of last year. During the late evening of Friday, December 10, 2021, a violent, long-tracked tornado moved across Western Kentucky, producing severe to catastrophic damage in numerous towns, including Mayfield, Princeton, Dawson Springs, and Bremen. Most of the structures in downtown Mayfield were heavily damaged or destroyed, including multiple large, well-built, multi-story brick buildings that completely collapsed. 22 people were killed in and around Mayfield, with hundreds more injured, many severely. With a confirmed total death toll of 57 over the different areas, it was the deadliest single tornado in the United States since the Joplin, Missouri tornado on May 22, 2011.
Normally, mission groups would have been accommodated at a United Methodist church on the outskirts of Mayfield, which was left unscathed, but this coming week is their children’s bible camp, so instead we were staying at a Methodist church in Fulton Kentucky, about twenty minutes drive away. These towns are located in the extreme southwest of Kentucky, almost into Tennessee, in fact the state border goes through the middle of Fulton! The journey took about 5 1/2 hours, plus a stop for a fairly early dinner shortly before arriving in Fulton. The church itself is a beautiful quite English-looking church building. We were greeted by one of the church Trustees, a very welcoming guy, who showed us around. Attached to the church building and regular Fellowship Hall, was another large building. Apparently at some point, some church members had donated money to build a gym and swimming pool, for the use of the community. However, after a while, the church realized they couldn’t afford the maintenance costs for the pool, and it was covered over, forming a large general purpose area, and it was here that we were sleeping. Having previously been a pool, there were mens and women’s toilets and a couple of showers, so it was a really good set-up! Our beds were Red Cross “cots” or camp beds, and we took our own camping mattresses for a bit more padding, and sleeping bags. There were ten in our group, six from our church, plus another local girl and a couple from Indiana, that our leader Lisa knows.
My blip was taken as we were driving through Kentucky.