A Ray of Light

The Light Community will offer a ray of light for those in need.

The lush valley in southern McCreary County, surrounded by forested hills and echoing with the peaceful melody of a bordering creek, has always been a place of serenity.

However, if Crossroads Community Baptist Church (CCBC) is successful in their next major endeavor, the tranquil valley will offer more than just casual pause for those delighting in its beauty as they pass by on the highway; instead, the peaceful oasis will blossom into “The Light Community” offering shelter to those battered by the storms of life. As The Light Community, the valley will offer hope to those searching for a way out of personal darkness by providing a landing place to begin life anew. Additionally, CCBC hopes the tranquil valley will provide an economic boost from tourism benefitting all of McCreary County as it grows into a self-supporting artisan community.

According to CCBC’s pastor, Grant Hasty, the name of The Light Community (TLC3) is the third church project name with the initials of TLC. CCBC’s first major TLC outreach, The Lord’s Café (TLC), and The Learning Center (TLC2) are both direct outreaches of CCBC with the Café offering hot meals to the hungry and the Center providing educational support to students.

Hasty is clearly excited about The Light Community. With thirteen acres of property in the valley, he foresees twenty tiny homes designed for single individuals, married couples, and married couples with up to two children.

The tiny home community will focus primarily on (a.) families who are at risk of being split up or are in the process of being reunited as a family and need a safe place to get traction, (b.) individuals who have completed rehabilitation for addiction and need a place to keep on track with their sobriety (c.) families who need temporary shelter because of house fires.

Hasty noted those who reside at The Light Community after rehabilitation will be subject to drug testing and home checks to ensure the residents are living up to their obligations. Parenting, financial, and educational classes will also be offered.

Additionally, the staff at The Light Community will work closely with the Department of Community Based Services in helping at risk families. Background checks will be conducted, and registered sex offenders will not be allowed.

Low rent homes in The Light Community will be available for short or long term lease and will range in size from 400 to 600 square feet.

Hasty envisions The Light Community growing throughout the valley with four groups of five homes per group. He hopes, with the help of volunteer missionary teams, to begin building the tiny homes no later than spring. He noted the community will be designed for low maintenance with an emphasis on being “green”-focusing to a great extent on the use of solar energy and the recycling of water.

Within the community, there will be a livestock and garden area along with a combination craft/community center where residents can learn crafting skills such as sewing, quilting, woodworking, and hopefully blacksmithing. The property already supports a prayer chapel, property overseers’ home, and flock of chickens. Midnight the Horse, Clyde the Goat, and Deacon the Donkey peacefully graze in the community’s pasture.

With God’s guidance, Hasty is optimistic The Light Community will become self-supporting as an artisan center showcasing the talents and skills of its residents. He is confident visitors and tourists will be drawn to the area.
Hasty pointed to a verse from the Bible, Psalm 46:1, as a basis for CCBC’s latest outreach.

“By the end of last summer, we had already identified three or four groupings of people who needed a landing-something beyond a traditional shelter,” he remarked. “Their need is for a place “to land”-a place of their own where stability can be learned. Everyone living in The Light Community will have expectations and responsibilities.

In this newest area of ministry, our goal, like always, is to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ.”

Crossroads is actively seeking individuals, businesses, and organizations who would like to be involved. For more information visit http://www.crossroadscommunitybc.org/the-light-community.html.