Appalachian Trail Servants
P.O. Box 2116, Cleveland GA 30528
Craig and Suzy Miles, Directors; Cell (706)482-8537; www.atservants.org; info@atservants.org
february-march 2004
|
Download the printable version of this newsletter! Here are some specific needs: ************* As A.T. Servants grows, there is a greater need for Craig to be full-time in ministry (he is currently working at Regions Bank). Please pray that God provides our full-time financial support. ************* Pray that thru- hikers will connect the beauty of the creation around them with the one true Creator. ************* Craig and Suzy will be attending Support School in Denver, CO in April. Please pray for a safe and productive trip. ************* Please pray for volunteers to commit to Trail Angeling. ************* Pray that the deeds of Trail Angels will be seen by thru-hikers as the good deeds of the church and Christians and not the individual Trail Angel. ************* Pray for partnership contacts to open in North Carolina. ************* Pray for Trail Angel leaders to be developed in each state. ************* Since Craig and Suzy will be traveling to the 14 states that host the A.T. (to train volunteers), please pray that God will receive a R.V. for them to live in. ************* Pray for the following hikers: Mickey-One-SockJack Joshua Mother Nature Shout Out Kaya Meg Flyin' Brian--hiked 7,000 miles in one year Scraggley John Helga--husband recently deceased. Now off of the trail. Scraggs Gordo Quest Silvergirl Martin Becky Meg Zach Emory Mary Chigger Casey Regular Bryan Julie Doc Boston Jason Swiss Miss Adam Adam2 Blaine Pheonix Kansas Brain Jason DocksD-Bone Nicole Wanderlost--77 years old, Mormon, wife deceased 5 years ago, lost his pack twice in 50 miles. Kelly Smokestack Hoke Craig--non-Christian that receive a Bible from Trail Angels Coyote Opelika Bramble--hiking for cancer research
|
Trail Angel Season is Here! |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Trail Angel season is here and
it is in full swing. In March, hikers began to walk through Georgia while
they started their 2,174-mile journey to Mount
Katahdin, ME. Before the end of May, about 2,000 people will have walked through Georgia in attempt to hike the entire Appalachian Trail.
A.T. Servants has been busy coordinating Trail Angel efforts to help to serve the hikers’ needs. Churches and Christian organizations have been quick to answer God’s call to help the hikers.
In Georgia, we have worked with over 20 volunteers during March.
During this time, these wonderful volunteers served 108 hikers or about 5.5% of
all the hikers! We would like to thank New Day Worship Center,
Truett McConnell Baptist Student Union,
North Georgia College Baptist Student Union,
and Jefferson State College Baptist Student
Union, and Lanee and Trey Reed for serving God by
volunteering with Appalachian Trail Servants. With the help of these volunteers,
A.T. Servants has been busy answering God’s call to serve hikers on the Appalachian Trail.
In May, we plan to help the hikers as they traverse Tennessee. Recently, we received a newsletter from our former Mission Service Corps (MSC) state coordinators in Alabama. The newsletter displayed the cumulative statistics from all of the MSC missionaries in the state of Alabama. We knew that we were extremely busy doing the work of A.T. Servants since moving back to Georgia, but the statistics revealed that, comparatively, we would have done about 33% of all the MSC work reported in Alabama over the two month period of the newsletter (if we were still living there, that is)! We will continue to work hard. A quick tally of our calendar revealed that in February and March of 2004 :
We currently have THREE PRIMARY NEEDS OF A.T. SERVANTS: 1) PRAY for the hikers that the volunteers of this ministry have impacted on behalf of the church. Pray that the hikers will recall what the church has done for them. Also pray that God will give us endurance and encouragement as we do the work of trail ministry. 2) We need VOLUNTEERS to hand out food to the hikers. In April, most thru-hikers will will be in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. In May, most thru-hikers will be in either North Carolina, Tennessee, or Virginia. 3) We need your MONTHLY FINANCIAL SUPPORT. We are attempting to train Trail Angels in 14 states. In our first year, we will be working with 3 states (i.e. Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee). As you can imagine, working with volunteers takes a lot of time and money. Currently, Craig is working both a full-time job and, together with Suzy, they are doing the full-time work of A.T. Servants. Without your monthly financial support, A.T. Servants will not be able to keep up this blistering pace and reach the goal of impacting hikers in all 14 states. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Chattahoochee Association Donates a Truckload of Food |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 The Chattahoochee Association of the Georgia Baptist Convention has made Trail Angeling much easier! Rev. Mike Walston’s food
panty ministry recently donated a literal truckload of soft drinks, chips, pretzels, and Little Debbie Snack cakes to
A.T. Servants for the purpose of handing the items out to hungry hikers!
As the ravenous hikers guzzle down the average of three drinks and
inhale the average of 4 Little Debbies, we always tell them that the
food that they are consuming is from the Church. It is a testimony
to the hikers of the Church's love and Christ's love when they find out
that the Church cared enough to try to make their day bright.
We now need helpers to hand out the food to hikers! It’s fun, it’s easy, it’s rewarding! You will be the most popular and hugged individual around the trail! If you or your church is interested in serving as a Trail Angel, please contact Craig and Suzy at 706-482–8537. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Birmingham Trail Angels have a Divine Appointment on the A.T. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Six students and two leaders from Jefferson State University
As the group gave food to hikers, they made sure to introduce themselves as Christians. One of the
thru-hikers approached them, he identified himself as a non-Christian, and he asked the volunteers why he should be a Christian. One-by-one, each volunteer told this hiker their individual story of Christ’s love. They shared with him how freeing God’s perfect love can be and how the hiker, Even though the thru-hiker did not pray to receive Christ at that moment, he will have six months to read the Bible, consider the Trail Angels’ words, and talk to his Christian hiking partner named Hoke. We will continue to pray for Craig as he continues his search for purpose on the Appalachian Trail. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Months later, we found themselves on a couch in front of about 250 college students being interviewed about A.T. Servants for North Georgia College’s Baptist Student Union meeting. After our “David Letterman-like” interview, we slid over on the couch for the next person to be interviewed. To our bedazzlement, the person began to talk about his hiking mission in China. Our minds raced and our ears were perked as he spoke. “Could this be the same person as the missionary in the article?”, we thought. After the “show”, we talked with the missionary. Indeed, he was the X-treme hiker that we read about! He was the same person whom God used to motivate us to do ministry on the Appalachian Trail! As we told this missionary how God used the article and his ministry to motivate us, we all began to realize how big God’s purposes are even though we were worlds apart. It was a very emotional time. Later in our conversation, it was revealed that the X-treme hiker works next door to Craig's place of work and he and his wife will be living in Dahlonega, GA (20 miles from Craig and Suzy's home). Please pray that God will continue to develop a friendship between us. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
On Saturday, March 6, Heather and Jarrod from Truett McConnell’s
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
A big highlight of the TN trip was meeting Becky Brummitt of Hale Community Ministries. Becky’s ministry feeds about 400 families per week. Just meeting with her for one hour, fed our faith and changed our perspective about the mighty power of God. Her ministry is less than ten miles from the trail and she looks forward to helping hikers in her area. We hope to meet with her again in May. Another underscore of the TN trip was meeting Scott Capshaw of Smoky Mountain Resort Ministries (SMRM). SMRM is a ministry A.T. Servants would like to pattern ourselves after in part. Meeting us at Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountain National Park, Scott introduced a number of ministry models to us. The advice that Scott imparted to us will prove to be priceless. Another highlight of the trip had nothing to do with ministry. It did, however, have everything to do with comfort. When we were planning this trip to Tennessee, Kelly Campbell suggested that we call the Tuckaleechee Inn as a possible place to stay. The Tuckalechee Inn is a part of CBM Ministries and they offer a discount to missionaries. When we called, the cabin that they offer the discount on was already booked, but Ruth, the lady in charge, offered us a great deal. They let us rent an entire 5 bedroom lodge for a very inexpensive rate! During the day, we networked with pastors and DOMs all over Tennessee. During the night, we felt as if we were on a second honeymoon. We reveled in the beautiful view of the Smoky Mountains from the hot tub, enjoyed the beautifully decorated living area, and dined by firelight. If you are planning a trip to Townsend, TN, we highly recommend this wonderful lodge. |
in Birmingham, AL came to Trail Angel at
Woody Gap during a Spring Break mission trip to North Georgia. Even though most of them had never
been to the Appalachian Trail before, they served as though they were seasoned trail veterans.
In July of 2003, before the idea of the A.T.
Servants ministry, we began to ask God how we could use our time and talents for His glory. Prior to attending work one morning, Craig went to
our church to pray. God answered our prayers that morning. On the table next to Craig was
the 
BSU volunteered part of their Spring Break to serve the hikers on the
A.T. They joined Suzy’s sister, Rachel, and us at Tesnatee Gap, in Georgia. Soon after we arrived at the site, a group of 10 thru-hikers crossed our path. The hikers all smiled
as they happily devoured Little Debbies and gulped down soft drinks. Two of the
hikers, named “