The name-defining landmark that set Trinity Pentecostal Lighthouse Church apart from numerous other places of worship framed by rugged sections of Bell County has disappeared under layers of paint. Nearby buildings along Kingdom Come Scenic Parkway outside Pineville, however, remain as physical tributes to the work of a small congregation.
   In addition an abandoned grocery store that is now the church, there is a former junkyard recycled into a repair shop that has been revived again as a combination food pantry, clothing closet, community center, a day care facility and a free-standing medical-dental clinic.
   What began 11 years ago as the dream of the pastor, the Rev. Darrell Lowe, to help Bell County’s poorest residents has expanded to nearby Tennessee and Virginia communities since the first of the Lighthouse Mission Center programs started in two small rooms above the church sanctuary.
   An integral part of the transformation is James Teaney, a Kentucky Farm Bureau senior auto damage appraiser based at the London District Office. The Bell County native spends most of his free time at the center where his high school sweetheart and wife of 30 years, Sharon, is the unpaid administrator.
   "This is my weekend and night job," said Teaney, who described himself as originally reluctant to move back to Southeastern Kentucky much less devote so much time to charity work.
   Now, he said, "This is my stress relief. And this is where I have my reality check."
   The Teaneys enjoyed a very comfortable lifestyle in Northern Kentucky, where he operated his own businesses before joining Farm Bureau in 1992 and she had a successful career at Procter & Gamble, the food and household goods giant based in Cincinnati.  The couple also were active in their Verona church and made frequent mission trips to Southeastern Kentucky to repair homes and distribute donated food and clothing.
   When Sharon Teaney announced to her husband in 1996 that she wanted to quit her job to work fulltime with needy people – near their hometown - it "didn’t go over too well," he said. "We easily had a six-figure income. Like everyone else, I wanted to retire a millionaire."
   Although "it took awhile, she softened me up," Teaney said, and Farm Bureau agreed to his request for a transfer to the London office in the summer of 1997. The Teaneys and their now 19-year-old son Michael, lived in London for almost two years. It was during that time that they discovered Trinity Pentecostal Lighthouse Church, which was formed in 1998, more than 60 miles away and became acquainted with Rev. Lowe.
   Still, it wasn’t until they joined Lowe’s congregation of about 50 people that Teaney said he really embraced his wife’s life-altering plan for the family. "I never fully accepted this," he said, before their pastor convinced him and others that the church should buy adjacent property to truly fulfill the vision he had for community outreach programs.
   It was almost literally done on faith and a prayer, Teaney said, as five church members put up $20 each to start a building fund.  Within three months - on Sept. 11, 2001 – the new food and clothing distribution center was dedicated. "It was a joyful, yet sad day," said Teaney, who is listed with his wife as directors of Lighthouse Mission Center.
   The bank account grew, and construction of the medical clinic was completed in November 2002. The day care center - over-seen by Lowe and his retired school teacher wife, Jean, for no pay - also began operating that same year. Currently, 72 children are enrolled.
   There have been times when the center’s checking account has been down to 98 cents, and Teaney admits there have been moments when he has felt like he’s "having a nervous break down."
   The pastor and a core group of about 10 volunteers persevered and found the $50,000 needed to operate all aspects of the Lighthouse Mission Center last year; only the day care workers – who must be licensed by the state – draw salaries.
   All aspects of the operation, which has earned the 501(3)c nonprofit status required by many groups and companies donating to charitable causes, are approached like a business, extending to an audited annual report detailing expenses and contributions.
   With the exception of income from the day-care center and a $20,000 grant from Bell County’s share of the state coal severance tax that was used to pay off the clinic mortgage and purchase a forklift for the warehouse, all the endeavors have been financed by private donations.
   Contributions come in many forms.
   A rental company practically gave away the tractor-trailer rig needed to meet federal food-safety regulations and handle the volume of food contributed from outside the region. Churches, religious and secular charitable groups, food companies, corporate entities and retailers donate meat, canned goods, produce, clothing and personal items.  Doctors, dentists, nurses and other health care professionals volunteer their services at the clinic and other individuals help distribute food and clothing and repair houses.
   Strangers have driven from Georgia and points beyond to bring money. It may be a few dollars, a large wad of bills or checks with four or five zeros before the decimal point. A young father hauling coal mining equipment stopped by recently and handed Teaney some money without leaving his name and saying only, "I appreciate what ya’ll are doing here."
   Sharon Teaney said, "What you see here is a miracle."
   Religion-centered counseling is offered weekly at the local jail through the mission, but no one is expected to attend any church service to receive help at the center. James Teaney said: "We do not discriminate. We don’t ask. The only requirement is that someone is in need."
   Such people are not hard to find in an area where one-third of the residents have incomes below the federal poverty level and more than 80 percent of the children are eligible for free or subsidized school meals.
   Teaney credits his Farm Bureau background and his wife’s corporate experience as valuable assets in his avocation. "At Farm Bureau, it is about helping people who need our services."
   He said he learned to ask the right questions through programs that taught him to listen to people who file claims for their autos and homes in Kentucky or those he has assisted after hurricanes devastated Gulf Coast communities.
   "I am a big man," said the 6’6", 300-pound Teaney. "I can intimidate people. I had to realize that I had to quit always taking control."
   He is no pushover for every hard-luck story he hears, however. "I think I know a scam when I hear it," Teaney said.
   He’ll give in, though, when children are involved and there is a chance – however slight - that the food or clothing leaving the center will go to them and not be sold so the adult can buy drugs or alcohol. "It’s not the children’s fault."
   As the Lighthouse Mission Center has grown – sometimes in great leaps – it has built a reputation throughout the Southeast and nation as an efficient, as well as caring, organization. The operation has become more sophisticated, too, with its own Web site, www.lighthousemissioncenter.org that includes financial reporting along with highlights of events.
   The activities have even caught the eye of Louisville native Diane Sawyer, who lives in New York and is a co-anchor of Good Morning America and reports for other ABC News shows. Her producers have suggested that Sawyer might do a feature on Lighthouse Mission but no interviews have been scheduled.
   Teaney is pragmatic about his personal plans to remain active in the Lighthouse’s efforts and a Kentucky Farm Bureau employee.  "I have to take care of my family. My work at Farm Bureau allows me to do this."
   And in a sense, Teaney said, he is carrying out the mission statement of Kentucky Farm Bureau as a Lighthouse volunteer.
   "They tell us to leave it better than we found it. That is what I hope to do here, too."

By Rachael Kamuf
KENTUCKY FARM BUREAU