Walking Humbly

Above, left to right: Judy Stevens and her sons Kenneth and Sam.

It was 1959. She was 17 and married. She delivered the first of her three sons in the hospital. They told her he had a cut on his lip, but that was a gross understatement that did not prepare her. When they laid her newborn son in her arms she saw that his cleft lip and palate were so severe that she described her son as having half a face, no nose, no mouth. But on that day, not only was a child born with special needs, but an even stronger advocate was birthed. She would fight tirelessly for her son, Kenneth, and every child with special needs in Floyd County and the surrounding community from then on.

“I thought my heart would stop,” said Judy Stevens, as she passionately told a story she has recounted many times. “From the time he came in the world, I knew that having a special needs baby was going to be a lifelong process, but my baby was my inspiration, the motivation to reach out to other children with special needs.”

Kenneth had his first plastic surgery when he was just six weeks old. That was the start of a long journey for his family. As Kenneth has gotten older, he has increasing mobility challenges.

This has created a need for better access in and out of their home. “I prayed to God to give me a wheelchair ramp,” Judy said faithfully. “God gave it to me.”

The answered prayer came in the form of volunteers from St. Anne’s- Belfield School in Charlottesville, Virginia. The freshman class and their chaperones traveled to Appalachia as part of Christian Appalachian Project’s (CAP) YouthFest 2018. One team spent the week building a wheelchair-accessible ramp for the Stevens family while other student teams served on additional elderly housing projects.

St. Anne’s-Belfield has been participating in YouthFest since 2013. Their annual visit to Eastern Kentucky is known as Doug’s Trip, a community service program for their ninth-grade class.

“We want our students to experience a culture and lifestyle that is different than the ones they are accustomed to in Charlottesville,” said Bob Troy, a faculty member at the school and the trip coordinator. “Our students get to see that limited material resources are not (in and of themselves) an impediment to happiness. In many ways, Doug’s Trip helps put our material advantages in perspective. Their experiences on the worksites give them a new view of what they can accomplish when they work together to pursue an important goal.”

In order to prepare for the week, students participated in Hammer Camp at school for training with hand tools. They also undertook fundraising activities to support the trip. They put those skills to good use as they dug post holes, nailed 2x4s, and screwed spindles to the ramp. The hammering and drilling could be heard in the background as Sam, Kenneth’s younger brother, continued their story.

“My mom has dedicated her entire life, since she was a teenager herself, to Kenneth who was the catalyst behind her work to help children with special needs,” said Sam, who moved in to help his mother. “This ramp has been a godsend. Most of the time I had to move him on my own, and it was getting dangerous because we couldn’t move him in the wheelchair.”

The members of the Stevens family were familiar with the work of Christian Appalachian Project after hearing people in the community talk about CAP. Judy, as always, found out more about how to help her son.

“We had to tear down the other wheelchair ramp. It became dangerous and we had to take it down. The ambulance had to come to get Kenneth once while the ramp was gone. It was an unmitigated disaster,” Sam recalled. “They had to bring the stretcher to the foot of the steps. We had to carry him to get him to the stretcher. Time was of the essence when the ambulance came to get him. Having this ramp is a game changer.”

Seven students and two teachers worked to build the 68-foot ramp. All of their preparation paid off and they were able to start and finish the job in four days.

“We have been so impressed with them,” Sam said. “They started each day off in a prayer circle. One day, one young man prayed that God would allow him to do quality work. It’s been such an incredible sight watching these young people put their heart and soul into making life a little bit better for my brother. I couldn’t thank them enough.”

Two of those young people were Alec Freedman and Cheryl Oppan. “You can learn a lot about yourself and those around you,” Freedman said. “Even when things seem to be going wrong, look for the good in each situation. There was definitely a strong element of relationship building on this trip. We are now closer as a class, and that will help the whole school.”

Oppan added that the trip was a life-changing experience. “I didn’t expect to make a difference in someone else’s life,” Oppan said. “I learned that wherever you go, there is going to be people in the world who are not as fortunate or wealthy, but it is up to you whether you want to make a change in their lives and help someone in unimaginable ways.”

One interaction that impacted Oppan was an encounter with Judy who told them it was possible to have as little or as much of God as they wanted. They just needed to decide.

“She inspired me and made me realize how important God is in our lives,” Oppan said. “She told us that in the end it matters how much God impacts our lives. He can be the hope and joy in our lives or the listener of our problems and struggles.”

Judy lives her faith and never misses an opportunity to talk about God’s work in her life. She sat on her piano bench in her home tucked away in a holler. Behind her was a hand-painted sign on rustic wood that is a testament to her life of service and compassion. “So what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8 NIV)

“God has walked with me all through my life,” she said. “If nobody else was there, God has always been a permanent help that I could count on anytime. When others failed to come through, I had that relationship with God.

“I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt, if I never live another day, Kenneth Stevens’ existence in this world, altered, changed, made my life better,” she said defiantly. “And the lives I’ve touched for all of these years, he was the main influence in my life.”

Students work on the upper portion of the 68 ft. ramp installed on the Stevens property.

Jacob Stoner, a St-Anne’s Belfield faculty member, and Alex Freedman anchor a post.