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Trusting the Lord to guide them to where they were needed most, 11 men set out for Eastern Kentucky to offer flood relief. Along the way, God shifted their mission from providing physical support to aiding in spiritual blessing.
Answering the Call
The weekend of Feb. 14 brought heavy rain across Kentucky, with 2 to 6+ inches of rainfall leading to widespread devastation. In Pikeville, David Francisco was among those affected. While his living quarters were spared, his basement flooded, turning years of memories, appliances, and keepsakes into muddy debris.
Meanwhile, in Eubank, a small town about three hours west of Pikeville, God was stirring hearts. Jacob Pelston, a pastor at Pilot Baptist Church, and Ryan Gentry from Liberty Baptist Church were attending a men’s group meeting when they felt a strong calling.
“We just looked at each other and said, ‘When are we going to Eastern Kentucky?’” Pelston recalled.
“I think Thursday I mentioned it, and Friday there was people just getting stuff together. It started off as I thought, just me and Ryan. And then it carried onto even more, up to the 11 men that went.” Pelston said.
Led by Faith, Not a Map
With no detailed itinerary, the group relied on God to lead them. Their first stop in Pikeville was a local dollar store, their plan was to hand out hot coffee to flood victims and relief workers and see where the Lord took them. A store employee suggested they visit her church, where they did some cleanup but finished quickly.
Still feeling called to help, they continued searching for the project God had in store for them.
“How we 100% know that God led us in the right direction is that we ran into some random ladies on the side of the road. Asked if they knew of anybody needing any help, and they handed us a sticky note. That sticky note had David’s neighbor’s address on it.” Gentry.
Arriving at the home, they saw that others were already helping there, so Pelston decided to start knocking on doors. The first he came to was David Francisco’s.
“I was in my basement, feeling overwhelmed and in a really bad mood when I heard a knock at the door,” Francisco remembered. “They said, ‘We’re here to help if you need us.’ And they just kept coming in. I was like, ‘How many of you are there?’”
Accepting help was difficult, but Francisco soon felt at ease. “Each one of them took the time to talk to me. They made me feel comfortable,” he said. For hours, the men worked to remove water and debris, even resorting to holding the sump pump hose out a window to keep water from re-entering the basement.
A Greater Purpose Revealed
While cleaning, Pelston turned to Francisco and asked, “Are you saved?”
“No,” Francisco replied.
“Do you want to be?”
Without hesitation, Francisco said, “Yes.”
The work stopped as the men gathered in a circle, praying over Francisco and sharing the Romans Road to salvation with him, as he accepted Christ into his heart.
“God was already working on him,” Pelston said, his voice filled with emotion. “I felt like I couldn’t leave without asking him that question.”
Pelston said it best “We didn’t know where we was going that morning, but we knew that if you just trust in the lord, he will guide you where you need to go.” Continuing with “God was moving in that basement, it really just goes to show you He don’t just move at church, He moves everywhere.”
The spiritual impact of that moment rippled beyond Francisco. “The next day at church was amazing,” Gentry shared. “When a man is in the right spirit, it reflects on his whole family. And I believe this has trickled down to all of ours.”
For Pelston, the experience reignited his own church community. “It has fired our church up more. The worship has gotten better”. Pelston realized that it trickled down onto his wife, “I don’t know that she’s missed a night, just sitting there by herself, reading her bible in the bed or reading her Bible on the couch. Its’ like she wanted to do that more than watch TV or more than anything else.”
Continuing the Journey
Francisco says he feels like a new person. “When they left, I almost didn’t want them to go,” he admitted. Though he hasn’t yet found a church home, he plans to after rebuilding his own home and asks for continued prayers for Pikeville along with all those affected by the flood. His story is a reminder that God can use anyone to further His Kingdom—all it takes is a willing heart.
The men’s group continues to meet and grow, carrying the lesson they learned that weekend: obedience. When God called, they answered. And because they did, lives were forever changed. This story is a reminder that God can use anyone to further His Kingdom—all it takes is a willing heart.