{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"The News Journal","provider_url":"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net","title":"Cedaridge celebrates its first 30 years &ndash; The News Journal","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"ZWq83vhjm5\"><a href=\"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net\/cedaridge-celebrates-its-first-30-years\/\">Cedaridge celebrates its first 30 years<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net\/cedaridge-celebrates-its-first-30-years\/embed\/#?secret=ZWq83vhjm5\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;Cedaridge celebrates its first 30 years&#8221; &#8212; The News Journal\" data-secret=\"ZWq83vhjm5\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/4-col-Keith-and-Jerry-Wyatt.jpg","thumbnail_width":480,"thumbnail_height":328,"description":"Cedaridge Ministries President Keith Decker has seen some remarkable things during Cedaridge\u2019s 30-year history. During one instance, he was working at the ministry on a Friday when an elderly man\u2019s wife contacted the ministry saying that her husband had gotten a bad report from the doctor regarding his heart. It was the kind of report where doctors tell patients there isn\u2019t anything they can do. The woman was bringing her husband to Cedaridge because he was lost, and she wanted Decker to witness to him. When they pulled up in the parking lot, Decker walked over to the man and started talking. \u201cRight there in the parking lot, he accepted Christ as his savior,\u201d Decker said. On a Tuesday, the man went back to the doctor, who told him that something had happened to his heart. The man told the doctor that he knows and he had gotten saved. The doctor replied that wasn\u2019t it. Something had literally happened to his heart, and it didn\u2019t need fixing any longer. This was just one of the many wonderful things that Decker has witnessed at Cedaridge. Cedaridge celebrated its 30th anniversary during a celebration held Friday at the ministry, which is located in the old TCA building near Three-Point. \u201cWe expect our communities to do things for us, but one of the better things that you can do for your community is give back. That is what Cedaridge Ministries is all about,\u201d noted Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison, who was one of the guest speakers during Friday\u2019s event. Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr. noted that over the years he has had numerous opportunities to work with Cedaridge. While making preparations to speak Friday, White noted that he started researching volunteerism and charity and came across a quote by Aristotle, which stated, \u201cThe essence of life is to serve others and do good.\u201d \u201cI have seen this organization do that for 30 years helping the needy and under privileged in our area, everything from food boxes to wheelchair ramps to recycling and shelter during emergencies. I have seen this sort of help come from Cedaridge when, generally in America, we have seen volunteerism and charitable numbers decline,\u201d White added. \u201cKeith Decker has been selfless and tireless in his efforts to lift up people in this region. I think that is why Cedaridge has been able to buck this national trend. Strong leadership. I have watched as he completely devoted his life to his mission, helping others in this community while trying to help bring them to Christ.\u201d Humble beginnings Cedaridge Ministries can trace its roots back to a fundraising yard sale at the Williamsburg Tourism and Convention Center, which was done in 1990 to raise money to buy a youth center for the Mount Zion Association Youth Ministry. Afterwards, some of the youth ministry leaders, including Decker, approached Janus Jones, who was director of missions for the Mount Zion Baptist Association, about using the association\u2019s basement for possibly another yard sale. Jones, who was happy to have recently gotten the basement cleaned out via another yard sale, said \u201cOK\u201d to the request. About this time, Decker got laid off from his job and ended up giving a lot of his time to the project. On Feb. 18, 1992, God gave Decker the word \u201cCedaridge\u201d as the name of the ministry. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know exactly what that word was going to mean going forward. We just knew that it was a lot shorter than Mount Zion Association Youth Ministry. That is how it started,\u201d Decker said smiling. A few months after this, Cedaridge outgrew the associational office basement and moved into a facility next to Family Fitness in Williamsburg where it stayed for about six months before moving into an old warehouse on Second Street next to the RC Cola Bottling Plant. \u201cThat is where we really started getting semi loads of stuff,\u201d Decker said about donations the ministry got through the Christian Appalachian Project, Feed the Children and the Society of St. Andrews among others. Before Cedaridge had its own forklift, Decker would go in the evenings to W.D. Bryant &amp; Sons to borrow its forklift then drive it to Cedaridge, organize the donations and then get the forklift back to W.D. Bryant\u2019s by 7 a.m. the next morning. IGA let the ministry borrow its pallet jack. When planning for the Williamsburg floodwall started, it became apparent that Cedaridge would have to move. Then Williamsburg Mayor Bill Nighbert suggested the Bailey Brothers building, which is off Exit 11, as a possible new location for Cedaridge. The only problem was that Decker didn\u2019t really want to be the person to shut down the Bailey Brothers store. It was a place that, as a child, he had dreamed about visiting. As he learned more about the Bailey family though, Decker came to view it as an opportunity to continue the legacy of the Bailey Brothers country store. In 1996, Cedaridge officially moved into the Bailey Brothers building. Public-private partnership About 2007, Harrison had only been mayor for about two years and recalled that he had started getting several requests to restart the recycling program. The prior recycling center had burned down. At the time, Harrison didn\u2019t have a place to put such a program, nor any of the equipment, which would be needed. Then one day Decker walked in off the street, introduced himself and started talking about wanting to partner up with the city to do recycling. \u201cWe both knew that it was divine intervention that made us partners to do things with the recycling. It was something that was just meant to be. There is no way I would have ever though to call him. I don\u2019t know how he knew to come see me,\u201d Harrison recalled. Move to Three-Point In December 2012, the University of the Cumberlands approached Cedaridge wanting to purchase its building at Exit 11 in order to build new ballfields. About the same time, Cedaridge got the opportunity to [&hellip;]"}