After nearly six years from the time its sanctuary was destroyed by a tornado, Mount Zion Baptist Church in Peducah, Kentucky, moved into a rebuilt sanctuary on Jan. 19. Pastor Jason Medley said there were numerous times that God providentially worked to make the rebuilding occur, but the highlight was not construction related.
Last March, on the five-year anniversary of the tornado, the church had a groundbreaking for its new sanctuary. In June 2024, construction began with a collaboration involving Chilton Baptist Builders and other volunteer groups.
One of the construction groups that came included a worker from Russia, who was involved because he wanted to learn building techniques. He spoke very little English.
‘Working side by side’
Medley said that same week, a group from Alabama arrived to help, and in that contingent was a retired missionary from Yugoslavia who understood the Russian language as well as the culture and church situation in the country that is considered the largest in the world by landmass.
“They (missionary and the Russian worker) ended up working side by side,” Medley said. “On the third day of building, Anton accepted Christ as his Savior, and on the fourth day we baptized him in our building. Our baptistry was not finished, but it was functional, and we were able to baptize him right there in the very church he was working to build.”
The words of a longtime church member stand out for Medley. “She had gone to church here as a kid, and it was a very dear place for her. But she said, ‘If God took away my sanctuary so that Anton would have to come here to build so he would get saved, then it was worth every bit of it.’”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chip Hutcheson and originally published by Kentucky Today.
