ASP Mission Trip to Knott County, Kentucky
July 12-18, 2026
“Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying. Take care of God’s needy people and welcome strangers into your home.”
Romans 12:12-13
Our group of twenty-two members from Lord of Life Lutheran Church, West Chester, Ohio, received a great send-off from the congregation Sunday morning as we began the long-awaited annual mission trip to join the Appalachian Service Project (ASP), this time in Knott County, Kentucky. It was a joy to see many parents and their young adult children attending, and as the week progressed, working very diligently side by side. Some families have participated multiple times. And for some of our group it was their first time.
Listed below are LOL’s participants, followed by the number of years volunteering with ASP:
Larkyn 7
Tom (Father) 7, Megan (Daughter) 5
Rebecca (Mother) 6, Victoria (Daughter) 7
Michelle (Mother) 6, Lucas (Son) 6
*Lucas is now on ASP’s summer staff and working in Magoffin County, KY. On his day off, he drove here to join us!
Amanda 4
Angie 4
Danielle (Mother) 3, Zach (Son) 3, Brady (Son) 4
Kevin 3
Oscar (Father) 2, Liani (Daughter) 3
Brian (Father) 2, Jack (Son) 2
Patricia 2
Michael (Husband) 1, Maxine (Wife) 1
Andy (Father) 1, Emma (Daughter) 1
Thomas 1
Besides our LOL team, members from four other states participated in this week’s service projects, making a total of 80 volunteers:
United Methodist Church, Stratford, Connecticut
United Methodist Church, Columbus & Fall River, Wisconsin
United Methodist Church, Minnetonka, Minnesota
United Methodist Church, White Plains, North Carolina
This year, 10,000 ASP volunteers have served counties in five states:
Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina,
Our housing was at Cordia School, Lotts Creek Community School. This was our meeting place, eating place and sleeping place. Each team was assigned a chore and these were rotated daily. Our daily routine consisted of early morning devotions and announcements, breakfast, leave for work site, eat a packed lunch on site, dinner back at the school, evening devotions, and review for the next day. At our evening meetings, songs were sung and fun games were played, as well as devotions.
At the first work site, everyone shared job duties which involved building a new handicapped ramp behind the trailer-sized home and staining the front ramp that was built last year. The couple living there had multiple health issues and they were so grateful for the help we provided. The second work site involved helping a family of four put some final touches on their home after flooding destroyed their previous home.
While chatting with one of our members Andy, he mentioned that this was his and his 14 year-old daughter's first time to volunteer with ASP. He talked about how nice it was to get acquainted with the host family and also how eye-opening it was to hear their story of the disastrous flood that resulted in their current situation. Just realizing the great needs of so many of the Appalachian people made him thankful for the opportunity to help.
It was truly a joy to be God’s hands and feet this week. We couldn’t have done it without all the support from planning teams, to leaders, to the wonderful generosity of Lord of Life.
Our team of volunteers would like to thank everyone for their prayers, support, encouragement, donations, and especially for their ice cream treats that we all enjoyed at the end of each busy work day!
Blessings,
Maxine Harris Havey