Samaritan’s Purse president and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft were in Knott County, Kentucky, on Friday to dedicate 18 new homes to families for the glory of God.
Family, friends, and local community representatives stood on a blanket of snow in the mountains of eastern Kentucky on Friday, Dec. 5, to dedicate 18 new homes built by Samaritan’s Purse in Jesus’ Name.
“This is a great day—a day we have been praying for,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse, to the crowd of families before they received the keys to their new homes. “Today, we want to give God the glory because all this comes from God. We thank God for all of you, and we come today to dedicate these houses in Jesus’ Name.”
The warm smiles and deep hugs thawed the frozen air as families who’d lost everything from floods in 2022—which were eastern Kentucky’s worst on record—stepped into their fully furnished, free homes for the very first time. The community of houses, built on a ridge in the small town of Leburn, Kentucky, give these families a place to call home just in time for Christmas, after years of living in old campers, RVs, or crowded homes of family members.
Graham laughs with Paul Johnson as they celebrate the completion of his new home. Paul will now be able to go on an organ donor list.
“They are finally going to be in a home that is warm, a home that’s safe, and one that’s going to be a place where they can just relax for a change,” said Curtis Bradley, the superintendent of the eastern Kentucky rebuild for Samaritan’s Purse.
Friday’s joyous occasion was also attended by Kelly Craft—a longtime philanthropist and businesswoman who served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 2019 to 2021. Her husband, Joe Craft III, president and chief executive officer of Alliance Resource Partners, L.P., the third-largest coal producer in the eastern United States, participated in the event as well. The Kentucky natives ensured there was quality land to build on and helped support the Samaritan’s Purse rebuild program in eastern Kentucky from the start, as they embarked on a new development named Chestnut Ridge.
”I can’t imagine anywhere to look for Jesus than right here today.” –Kelly Craft
“We have always been very partial to eastern Kentucky because this is where the heart of the state exists,” Kelly Craft said. “To be able to partner with Samaritan’s Purse and to dedicate this property, of all times, in between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a time when families are thinking of gifts and toys. But the gift of warmth, the gift of a home—I can’t imagine anywhere to look for Jesus than right here today.”
Joseph Craft III, the president and chief executive officer of Alliance Resource Partners, L.P., the third-largest coal producer in the eastern United States, spoke at the dedication. His wife, Kelly, formerly served as the U.S. amabassador to the United Nations.
Joe Craft thanked the Samaritan’s Purse volunteers who worked on these homes since the project started in March.
“Samaritan’s Purse was driven by volunteers who gave their time and their commitment to build these homes and I just want to say thank you for what you do, because you are truly making a difference in these people’s lives,” Joe Craft said.
Providing a New Start
Each key turned tells a story of perseverance and rekindled hope.
Graham visited with Paul Johnson, one of the first residents to be approved for the rebuild.
“This exceeds anything I ever expected,” said Paul as he walked through his home. “I’m coming from this little camper to this beautiful house as my home. … You get discouraged a lot whenever you get in situations that you haven’t faced, but we didn’t lose hope the whole time that’s for sure.”
Graham tours a home with Kelly Craft, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who grew up in rural Kentucky.
Paul lost his home completely to the flood and has lived in a trailer with his elderly mother ever since. She’s slept on the sofa as he’s fashioned the kitchen table into a bed each night. However, Paul lost more than just his house when the floodwaters came. That same day his house flooded, Paul was returning from the hospital with news that he was put on the waiting list for a double lung transplant, but was soon taken off the list as the trailer he moved into didn’t meet the requirements for transplant care and recovery.
“I never gave up,” Paul said. “God has helped me through some hard times. I knew He didn’t bring me this far to give up on me, so I knew He would provide a way somehow.”
Homeowner Paul Johnson signed the deed to his new home on Dec. 5.
Today, Paul moved into a three-bedroom home free of charge and can now reapply to be put back on the transplant waiting list. One room is for himself, another is for his mother, and a third room is reserved for his full-time caregiver following his transplant surgery.
Graham signed and presented Paul with a special Billy Graham Training Center Bible, signed also by the Samaritan’s Purse volunteers who worked on his home. Holding the Bible up, Graham exhorted Paul to read it.
“Every word of this is true,” Graham said, pointing to Paul’s new Bible. “Read all of it and it will help you.”
“Every word of this is true,” Graham said. “Read all of it and it will help you. We are praying for your health. This is yours. God bless you!”
Graham signs a Bible to be given to a new homeowner. Staff and volunteers who worked on the home also signed.
Paul can’t wait for Christmas dinner with the rest of his family, and for some of his mother’s famous slow-cooked ham.
“[I hope my future] is to see me and my mom being happy here, bringing my little dogs with me and getting to relax to where I can build a little bit of a better future for myself,” he said.
Offering Hope
Just down the street from Paul, Lora Honeycutt stomped on the ground of her new home to make sure the floorboards were secure. For three years, she had been living in a flood-damaged home with holes in her roof covered by tarp and a rotting floor that gave way under her feet.
“With God, all things are possible—that’s what I kept telling myself,” Lora said. “I feel like God put Samaritan’s Purse on my path, and now I have more faith now. When something comes up, I know God is in control.”
The new community built by Samaritan’s Purse will provide warmth and stability for residents, even on cold December days.
Lora cried as she sat on her mattress. “I’m at ease and I think it’s because I’m safe,” she said. “It’s peaceful here.”
She stood up and walked into the second bedroom where she again broke down in tears. Her 2-year-old grandson couldn’t visit her at her old house because it was dangerous and breathing in the mold was unhealthy. Now, Lora has a plan to convert the spare room into a play area for her grandson when he visits.
Lora Honeycutt was among homeowners to receive their house “PAID IN FULL.”
“It feels like a dream. If it hadn’t been for Samaritan’s Purse, I think I would have given up,” she said. “I have a home now, and I don’t have to worry about my family getting hurt.”
Strengthening the Local Church
Beyond building homes, Samaritan’s Purse partners with the local church to build for an eternal purpose.
“Hope isn’t in a new home, hope is in Him. We tell them there’s only one Name they need to remember and that’s Jesus.”
“Hope isn’t in a new home, hope is in Him,” Bradley said. “We tell them that there’s only one Name they need to remember and that’s Jesus. We pray with them in their house; we pray with them when there was just dirt; and we pray with them when we walk out that door for the last time.”
These new homes in Kentucky were built for the glory of God with gifts from Samaritan’s Purse supporters.
Since March, Hindman First Baptist Church hosted our army of dedicated volunteers as the homes were being built and will continue to minister to the families long after we leave.
“I can’t commend Samaritan’s Purse enough for the ministry and work they’ve done,” said Steven Bell, the lead pastor at Hindman First Baptist. “We have seen growth in our own church members as a result of partnering with Samaritan’s Purse, so God is using this ministry not only to build houses and meet needs but to strengthen the church globally.”
The church is growing through people like Paul, who recently started attending church for the first time in decades.
Please pray for each of the 18 families who moved into their new homes in eastern Kentucky. Pray that the witness of Samaritan’s Purse volunteers and staff would penetrate their hearts and they’d come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
Samaritan’s Purse has been rebuilding in eastern Kentucky since floods hit several years ago.
