Today we welcome Peggy Murphy to the Kentucky WMU staff as our new Kentucky Changers Coordinator.   However, Peggy is not new to Kentucky Changers.  Instead she comes with 20 years of experience with Changers and a background in youth ministry which will be a benefit to our office.

Peggy first participated in World Changers in 1994. That experience led to her call to youth ministry and she took her first group to participate in Kentucky Changers in 1995.  In 2000 while she and her youth group participated in the first project of the summer, Peggy was asked to assist as an overseer in the second project.  From that she began to learn the “nuts and bolts” of what it takes to organize Kentucky Changers projects.

Next Peggy began working as a part-time ministry assistant in the KBC Brotherhood Department. Her responsibilities included assisting with Kentucky Changers. In 2002 Peggy was hired full-time and given responsibility for Kentucky Changers.  She served in that position until 2012 when Kentucky Changers was assigned to Crossings Ministries.

In her years with Kentucky Changers, Peggy has seen the ministry grow from one project with 80 participants to three projects with 1100 participants.  She is experienced in working with city and county officials, school boards and Directors of Missions.  She has expertise with the logistics, contracts, and legal matters associated with Kentucky Changers.  Kentucky WMU is delighted to have Peggy lead this ministry  as it transitions to the WMU family.

Plans for 2014 Kentucky Changers projects are already underway. We have already been in meetings with folks from Tates Creek Association who will host Kentucky Changers July 5-11 in Richmond.  After our meeting, Larry Baker sent an email to all of the pastors in the association with this challenge:

While organizing, there is something important that you and your church can do:  Pray.  We must bathe this process in prayer for the next 8 months.  We will organize prayer leaders in each church, but praying is something we can begin right now.  Here are some things you can begin praying about:

• The 250-300 participants (youth and adults) who will be recruited to repair the exteriors of the selected homes
• The home selection process
• Grant funding that is critical to the process
• The individual team coordinators that will be selected this week
• That lives, not only houses, will be transformed during this event

Peggy and I will soon meet with folks in Ohio about taking Kentucky Changers there. Immediately following the KBC Annual Meeting, we will be having meetings in Christian County Association (hosting June 7-13, 2014) and Blood River Association (hosting in 2015).  Meetings with other associations that have expressed interest are being scheduled.

We expect to release promotional material in the near future about the plans for Kentucky Changers in 2014.  This information will be sent to youth ministers, Acteens and Challengers leaders, WMU directors and others.  We will post information on our web site and on Facebook.  We hope that you will bring your youth group to experience a life-changing week.

As I sat with the Tates Creek leaders who had come to express support for Kentucky Changers and learn about our plans, their passion for this ministry was evident. Person after person had stories to tell of how a week at Kentucky Changers had impacted teenagers as well as youth leaders and home owners.

Join us in welcoming Peggy and commit to pray for Kentucky Changers in the year ahead.