Loading...When the Rev. Kempton Baldridge supplied at St. Paul's, Henderson and St. Paul's, Louisville and preached the gospel, he never expected the grace of God to move them into action as much as they did. In his sermon, the Rev. Baldridge shared the story of an Illinois towboat worker, Jarvise Shelton, and crewmate Kyle Hardman who sprang into action to save lives of those in peril and ultimately costing Kyle his.
In June 2012 on the Mississippi River near St. Louis, Jarvise and Kyle were prepping barges aboard the MV Richard A. Baker when they saw a small fishing boat without paddles being carried by the strong Mississippi current toward a fleet of barges. Onboard were three adults and two children under 3 desperately trying to avoid collision. Jarvise and Kyle ran to a towboat and jumped into a rubber Zodiac to reach the fishing boat just a dozen feet in front of the anchored barges. During an attempt to rescue an infant, the nose of the Zodiac went under, flipped the boat, and threw the rescuers into the current. Jarvise was able to grab ahold of a rope on the Zodiac and pull himself back into safety. His crewmate was not as lucky and drowned. Two nearby towboats were able to reach and rescue Jarvise and all five in the fishing boat before the river claimed them as well.
For his bravery and self-sacrifice, Jarvise was presented the Gold Lifesaving Medal by the U.S. Coast Guard. This medal, equal to the Medal of Honor, has been issues fewer that 700 times since 1874. The Coast Guard said, "It is one of the rarest and oldest awards issued by the military." Kyle received the medal posthumously.
The Rev. Baldridge continued by sharing that Jarvise's dream was to become a towboat pilot and how his next step to achieve said dream would be to take steersman training. St. Paul's, Henderson responded quickly by underwriting the Seamen's Church Institute's Center for Maritime Education's first-ever scholarship to train a deserving mariner at their Paducah facility.
This experience led St. Paul's, Henderson to create the Road to Damascus award. This annual award of $1,500 is for members of regional community who are seeking to turn their life around specifically through education. The Rev. Richard Martindale said of the award, "Everybody has a path their on, and not necessarily one they want to be on. Sometimes an award such as this is all it takes to change someone's life."
When St. Paul's, Louisville heard about this effort from their sister parish when the Rev. Baldridge preached there in February of this year, they too were inspired and matched the funds already underwritten. After that service, a member of the congregation approached the Rev. Baldridge and pledged to cover any additional costs not covered by the two scholarships.
Empowered by the generosity of these two congregations and in the spirit of good stewardship, the Rev. Baldridge set out to find Jarvise the best deal for the training course he needed. When he called the director of the Inland Waterways Academy in Huntington, WV and explained who it was he intended to send to steersman training, the director immediately offered Jarvise a full scholarship including tuition & books for the class starting the following Monday.
Thanks to the generosity of the two St. Paul's congregations and the dedication of the Rev. Kempton Baldridge, Jarvise Shelton is currently attending his steersman training at the Inland Waterways Academy and on his way to achieving his dream of becoming a towboat pilot.
