Staff Spotlight – Dylan McGowan

Our staff come from all over the country and all walks of life. Many work with us after volunteering and feeling a call to serve full time. Dylan’s story is a little different. After the 2021 tornadoes in Western Kentucky, his friends and family were in dire need of assistance. When Operation Recovery showed up, asking for a local coordinator to facilitate the projects and housing, Dylan saw an opportunity to change his life and serve his hometown.

Operation Recovery

“I had never done ministry work before, didn’t have any experience like that,” shared Dylan. “I had been saved for about a year, still trying to figure out how to live out my faith. My prayer was for an opportunity to actively show my faith, and it felt like God was giving me an outlet through Operation Recovery.”

“Now I get to serve God as my Job,” Dylan continued. “We serve people, we show love through action. I hadn’t been given an opportunity like that before, the opportunity to serve my own family and make a difference in my hometown.” For three years Operation Recovery worked to rebuild homes and restore hope to communities devastated by the largest tornadic event in recent history.

Serving in his hometown provided some unique opportunities. “In Princeton, the neighborhood I grew up in was completely leveled. A couple of months after starting with CrossRoads I drove through to see how rebuilding was going. I saw my old high school wrestling coach helping a lady get stuff out of her house. I stopped to talk to both of them. She was at her wits end trying to get back on her feet and my coach was doing what he could to help.”

“Soon Mt Carmel brought a group to serve and completed almost 1k hours of work in 1 week. They completely gutted that house – giving her hope back. At the end of the week she looked like a different person. She was overcome with emotion. That group gave her hope back when she had lost all hope.”

Help Build Hope

“Operation Recovery had a time limit; we knew it wasn’t a forever thing. But, I wanted to keep working with CrossRoads. I can’t imagine God wanting me to go back into secular work when a ministry opportunity was an option.” That opportunity came through Help Build Hope. While still living in Western Kentucky, Dylan started traveling to more churches to lead building events.

“In Western Kentucky my job was everything outside of construction. Help Build Hope has let me get on the other side and develop those skills. Like pulling a trailer,” explained Dylan. “I’m a people person. Getting to meet all these organizations across the US has been really enjoyable.”

Dylan continues to use service as an opportunity to build relationships. “Its not about getting done fast – its about experience, fellowship, and service. If we wanted to be efficient, we wouldn’t build walls this way. We do it to worship through our actions. As Christians we are called to serve – Christ talked about it all the time. Help Build Hope brings the mission trip to your front door, it gets you fired up for service.”