College Students On Mission in Kentucky
Lynch is a town that is situated in the shadow of Black Mountain, Kentucky’s highest point, and the steep rise of the mountains on either side of Main Street leaves nowhere to go but up. It’s in this small mountain town that a group of students from The College at Southeastern House System traveled in March 2019 to work with Meridzo Ministries, started by Lonnie and Belinda Riley in 1999. During the week, students worked in a variety of ministries that involved serving a food pantry, horse stables, future missionary housing, a thrift store with a local church and more.
32 \ FALL 2019
“Every ministry that’s come into being that you’ve seen this week is not initiated by me,” Riley told Southeastern students. “I don’t dream it up. God brings it to me from different avenues, but I’m sensitive to hear what God is saying to me so that the progression of it can bring people into the kingdom.” Lynch was founded as a coal mining town by U.S. Steel 102 years ago. Since then, the industry has declined sharply, causing high levels of unemployment and poverty in Lynch and the surrounding area. The population, once peaking at 10,000 resi-
*Quotes edited for clarity and length
dents, has fallen to around 700. The Rileys moved to Lynch 20 years ago, leaving behind a successful pastorate with the belief that God was clearly leading them. Meridzo now has 20 faith-based missionaries who trust that the Lord will provide for their needs as they serve him in the various outposts that the ministry offers. One such missionary is Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) graduate Drew Baldwin. Baldwin and his family moved near Lynch on faith in early 2009 after he graduated from SEBTS. Though he was at first concerned about how his
FEATURED