Day 3, June 6, 2024

This was the day that could make me an emotional wreck and I knew it.
Like many other followers of the Amy For Africa ministry, I have seen the breathtaking photographs of the AFA Christian Academy in Uganda.
But this was going to be different. My emotions were on edge riding up the big hill to where the school is so perfectly located for all to see. We could catch glimpses of it riding up the bumpy road.
What was it going to look like in person?
When our driver pulled around to the front of the school, the celebration was about to begin. The schoolchildren greeted us with cheers and song and dance. The older ones were on the front lawn and the others were lined up on the balconies of the massive school.

I was overwhelmed and so was everybody else in the van on this perfect morning. Many riding with us were like me, longtime AFA supporters who had only seen photographs of the school.
But it was more than the school itself, as magnificent as it was. And it was more than the dancing and singing of these beautiful children who treated us like royalty. We were showered with confetti as we exited the van, hugged by these strangers who did not seem like strangers with their smiles that seemed, well, grateful – not to us, but to the Lord Almighty. We reached for our cellphones and took pictures in every direction. Videos were rolling too.
They were all smiling and rejoicing because of what the Lord has done. You could not keep them from smiling.
I flashed back to 2013 when Amy Compston, fresh off competing in the Boston Marathon – the one where the bombs went off – decided she was going to run for Jesus and asked if I could help. We barely knew each other but I said yes. The first goal was to raise money for Christian schools in Uganda. She had seen videos that absolutely broke her heart.
Little did any of us know that it would soon be a life work for she and her husband Chris. Amy For Africa (she was not a fan of the name but a friend of mine and I were insistent) was launched as a fundraiser. That was the beginning and it seems to have no end.
So much has happened since then as God worked through the lives of Amy and Chris, calling them into the full-time mission field of Uganda as independent missionaries. They have become vessels of the Living God, leaving self behind and leaving the details to Him.
This Christian school, which educates more than 400 students and can eventually hold 1,000, stands as a testament to what can happen with faithful obedience. It is also a reminder that God can and does use ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
While admiring this beautiful building, the tears and prayers that went into it all came flash-flooding in my mind, too. So many victories, so many setbacks, so many answered prayers and oh what victories.
The calling on the lives of Chris and Amy Compston goes beyond breathtaking.
The live-changing education and, most importantly, the life-changing gospel that these students are receiving will resonate through eternity.
God has put many people from all walks of life in the path of Amy For Africa. Sometimes they came out of nowhere and met a need, sometimes it was simply an encouraging word, sometimes it was a prayer.
With AFA, it always came down to prayer. And the power of prayer is what built this school. COVID stopped the world cold in 2020 but not the building of God’s school in Uganda because the government said construction work could continue and it did to completion.
It is not a mirage or an AI image. The AFA Christian Academy is real – I saw it through my own watery eyes.

Day 1-2, June 4-5, 2024

My brother reminded us of these three little words as we were starting our mission adventure with Amy For Africa on Monday.

It may have to be our adopted motto for the next two weeks as we spread the gospel in Uganda. The first day is one of the toughest to “find the joy” with traveling 24 hours with little to no sleep, flight delays, airline meals and no way to make yourself comfortable.

But we also know this trip is not about our comfort. It is about introducing people who do not know the one who brings the ultimate comfort – Jesus Christ. We are going to evangelize and encourage, exhale and exclaim the name of Jesus and to see for ourselves what the Lord has accomplished through the ministry of Chris and Amy Compston, aka Amy For Africa.

We can “find the joy” in the passion they have for the Ugandan children and adults where they serve. We see it on the many photographs, videos and stories that Amy shares.

Several members of this team have been involved in multiple ways with multiple trips, mighty donations and many prayers. 

Having my brother with me makes it bucket list worthy. I have so much love, pride and respect for how mightily God has used him in ministry throughout a lifetime. He retired from being a pastor about a year ago but has not retired from being a witness for God. This will be his fifth mission trip since “retiring.” He has embraced the AFA ministry and Amy will be putting him to good use with 13 preaching assignments. That shows how much she thinks of him. He never flinched. It will also be the longest trip we have been on together since we were little boys going to Myrtle Beach with our parents back in the early ‘70s. 

“Find the joy?” That will be easy for me.

My guess is no matter what comes, it will be easy for us all to “find the joy” in the next two weeks. We will all be sharing in Bible studies with children and adults through the many outreaches of AFA.

My brother will be preaching Sunday at Victoria Baptist Church in Jinja, which Harold Cathey built some 30-35 years ago. My father-in-law and mother-in-law were integral in that project from top to bottom and inside to outside. The beautiful church is a circular design and my father-in-law tells me how you can see Lake Victoria from the top of it. He knows because he was working on the rooftop when it was being constructed.

The thread to what the Lord did through Harold and Beverly Cathey runs directly through Amy For Africa. God knew all along.

Pray with us as we seek the Lord and “find the joy.”

(Originally written in 2009 on the silver anniversary of East Carter winning the 1984 state baseball championship)

Kevin Bair sometimes wonders what would have happened if that hanging curveball had fooled him.

But it didn’t. Bair got all of it, and then some. The towering home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning capped a miraculous four-run rally that made a state champion out of East Carter.

Forty years later, they still talk about the home run in Grayson.

“There’s a lot worse things to be remembered for,” said J.P. Kouns, the Raiders’ coach that season.

They probably remember in Cynthiana, too, the hometown of Harrison County, the stunned victim in the 10-9 state championship game loss to the Raiders in 1984 at Johnson Central High School.

With one mighty swing, Bair made history.

While it hasn’t exactly defined his life, it does give him a bit of celebrity status, especially in Carter County.

Bair will always be the player who hit the home run that won the state championship for the Raiders in ’84.

“I think about it, I’m not going to say I don’t,” he said. “It comes back when I drive by the field. My son (Kyle) plays basketball for East Carter. I’ve been to Paintsville several times and always point out that Johnson Central field, which they’ve changed. He’s not near as interested as I am but I make sure he knows about it. He doesn’t want to talk about it as long as I do.”

It’s more than that magical home run that Kevin Bair remembers. The Raiders were a team built on good hitting, great fielding and crafty pitching.

They were improbable champions, having entered the 15th Region Tournament as a district runner-up to Rowan County. East Carter outscored three foes, 22-1, in the regional tournament.

But the Raiders got on a roll, winning seven consecutive postseason games to claim the only team state championship in school history.

“It’s definitely a blur,” Bair said. “I remember bits and pieces of it. If I see a photo, I can remember that.”

East Carter trailed Harrison County 6-0 in the fifth inning, but rallied for four runs to get back in the game. Then Harrison County scored three in the sixth to make it 9-4. Again, the Raiders rallied, this time for two runs, to make it 9-6.

But could they keep coming back?

“I know we thought we had a chance,” Bair said. “We had the top of the lineup (coming) up.”

Bair was the No. 6 hitter in the lineup, the designated hitter with a looping left-handed swing.

With one out, Cass Hall reached on an error and then Jamie Swanagan walked. A popup to second base brought the Raiders down to their last out.

Steve Lambert laced a two-run double to right center field that barely eluded the diving center fielder to make it 9-8.

Then it was Bair’s turn to bat.

With the count 1-1, pitcher Billy Fisher tried to get ahead with a curveball. Bair didn’t blink. He made him pay and the rest, as they say, is history.

“I can still see the pitch and remember hitting it,” he said. “Hanging curveball. I knew when I hit it it was gone.”

Bair was a junior on the senior-dominated team that included Art Daugherty, the best three-sport athlete in East Carter history. Daughtery was the shortstop and Hall the second baseman, a keystone combination that led to many double plays.

The pitchers were the durable Swanagan, who won three games in eight days over the regional and sectional tournament, freshman Craig Collier and senior Joey Thomas. At least, that’s the only pitchers they needed in the postseason.

The rules were different in those days and it’s a good thing for the Raiders, who finished the season 29-8.

“It was one of those special teams,” Kouns said.

Those Raiders grew up together, played on the same Little League, Junior League and Senior League teams. They played other sports, too. Daughtery was the quarterback and Bair the center on one of East Carter’s best football teams in 1983.

Others on the team were basketball players. It was just a good collection of athletes who came together.

“Those guys were close-knit because they played together for years,” Kouns said.

Kouns considers himself lucky to have won a state championship. He’s in the Kentucky Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame but the state title is the major achievement.

‘‘It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal when you can win that thing,” he said.

Ashland’s football family lost one of its all-time receivers with the recent death of David Gifford, who fought his illness with the same ferocity he had on the field.

Gifford played three years for the Tomcats from 1983-85 with his last two years earning him All-State honorable mention honors. Few, if any, tight ends in Ashland history had the seasons he had his junior and senior seasons. He hauled in 36 passes for 541 yards and five touchdowns as a junior and topped that with 33 catches for 626 yards and six touchdowns as a senior.

He accomplished those numbers with two different quarterbacks – Chuck Broughton as a junior and Wes Morrison as a senior – and in a run-oriented offense of coach Vic Marsh.

Gifford had some huge individual games in both seasons, including seven catches for 122 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 27-6 win over Clark County his senior season. He had three other games with four catches, including four for 90 yards and a TD in a 35-6 playoff loss to Boone County that ended his fabulous high school career.

As a junior, he had a seven-reception game for 120 yards in a heartbreaking 29-22 loss to Ironton and was strong in the playoffs that season, too, catching four passes for 46 yards in a 10-9 loss to Dixie Heights.

Gifford’s receiving numbers of 69 catches for 1,167 yards stood for years. What made it more astonishing was that it happened in the run-first offense. The Tomcats found ways to get the ball to Gifford, who could break tackles after making catches and had the speed to take them a long way. As good as he was on offense, Gifford was equally valuable as a defensive end and certainly would be in consideration asone of the Tomcats best all-around players.

Ashland was 7-5 in 1984 and 8-4 in 1985.

His playing career was far from over after high school. Gifford earned a scholarship to Morehead State University where Gifford played defensive end where he contributed immediately on special teams and alternated at defensive end. David Gifford was one fine football player along with being one fine man.

Last weekend while visiting in Ashland, I walked over to Putnam Stadium to peek inside to check on progress and saw David’s father, John, and his wife Mary who were driving around. He stopped and we talked, sharing some good memories of his son who was so highly thought of in the community. David’s death was not only a loss for the Ashland football community but for the entire area. John, who was an incredible youth league baseball and football coach in Ashland, said more than 500 paid their respects to his son at the visitation and funeral services.

Death of ‘Nuns’ tough loss for East Carter football family

Longtime loyal Raider Michael “Nuns” Nunley also passed away recently. He enjoyed life and especially East Carter football, said Garry McPeek, who coached the Raiders from 1989-1994. That’s where Garry came to know and love Nunley, who overcame a lot in his life.

“If you ever feel sorry for yourself, stop and take a look at how ‘Nuns’ lived. He was dealt a big bag of sour lemon and he just kept making lemonade! He loved everyone he came in contact with except (West Carter) Comets … and he really liked them, he just wouldn’t admit it,” McPeek said.

Tim Champlin, the head coach at East Carter, had glowing remarks about Nunley, too.

“To know him was a blessing. Nunley taught us all hard work, dedication and loyalty. He didn’t ever want a hand out, he wanted to earn everything he had, no matter what it meant he had to do. He was dedicated to whatever he was involved with and would defend you to anyone. Mike was as loyal a person as I’ve ever met.”

Champlin called having Nunley on the sidelines “a joy and a comfort. I like to say he was East Carter’s luck charm.”

East Carter’s head coach said he met Nunley at Fairview and when he came to East, it worked out that Nunley was able to join the team on the sidelines.

Nunley had a passion for area sports, McPeek said, and loved it when the ADI’s football preview came out every August. He had an ongoing ranking of the worst team photo in the preview, including last year, and share the choices with McPeek.

Even after McPeek’s stint at East Carter ended, Nunley made the rest of McPeek’s coaching stops Hazard, Greenup County, Lawrence County, Boyd County and Fairview and “lived with me most of the time,” McPeek said.

McPeek called him his “Radio” from 1989 to 2014, a reference to James Kennedy, who was knwn for his association with the T.L. Hanna High School football team in Anderson, S.C., and became famous for the movie by the same name. He gained that nickname because of always having a small radio with him.

Speaking of East Carter Raiders…

Congratulations to East Carter for winning the 16^th Region baseball championship for the first time since 2009 and only the third time ever. One of those three came in 1984 when East Carter won the state championship on Kevin Bair’s walk-off homer against Harrison County. It has been 40 years since that feat that will be remembered in Grayson forever.

Bair’s shot heard ‘round Kentucky is one of the biggest home runs in state tournament history. East Carter is one of three 16^th Region teams with state titles – Ashland won three (1966-68) and Boyd County one (2001) under coach Jody Hamilton.

Speaking of Jody Hamilton …

Hamilton is still coaching and achieved the 1,000 victory mark this season along with winning the State All “A” Classic title for Owensboro Catholic. The Aces are also Third Region champions after defeating Muhlenberg County 3-2 on Wednesday.

Hamilton will be shooting for his third state championship. He also won a title at West Jessamine.

Owensboro Catholic, a 28-game winner, plays Thursday in the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop State Baseball Tournament at Legends Field in Lexington.