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Please pray for us!

Here are some specific needs:

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We feel a great urgency to develop volunteers and the breadth of A.T. Servants, but we cannot do this until we have full time support.  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.

*************  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.

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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.  

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  Pray for the following hikers:

Jack

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

Kansas

Brain

Jason

D-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

Meanderthal

Camera 1

Camera 2

Bumpo

Coyote

Opelika

Ichabod

Casey

Syracuse

Bramble--hiking for cancer research

Morning Star

Phoenix

Trail Angel Season has Come and Gone

Our first Trail Angel Season was extremely successful.  With the help of 43 volunteers, we helped 164 hikers in Georgia!  In Virginia, First Baptist of Damascus helped about 300 hikers.  All together, about 450 hikers along the Appalachian Trail were shown Christ's love through the Church!  Furthermore, 17 of these hikers were helped at least twice along the way.

A.T. Servants would like to thank North Georgia College's Baptist Student Union, Truett McConnell College's Baptist Student Union, Michelle and Rachel Toombs, Mountain East Community Church, Mt. Yonah Baptist Church, and Damascus First Baptist Church for their work on the Appalachian Trail in April and May.  God has used each of these groups in wonderful and lasting ways.  

During April and May we have also had the opportunity to speak to 6 different groups in Georgia and Tennessee about A.T. Servants.  Each of these groups are very excited about how they can fit into God's plan for this ministry and several are already making plans for the 2005 hiking season.

For the next several months we are focusing our efforts in planning for next season and raising our financial support.  We hope and pray that we will be able to help even more hikers next year.

  In early April, we spent a Saturday Trail Angeling at Tesnatee Gap, GA.  Around 4:00 in the afternoon, about 10 thru-hikers came through.  They needed to lighten their load and hasten their pace to get to the next shelter before dark.  So, we offered to take their packs to a second road crossing while they walked the one mile-long section without their packs (this is called "slack packing" and it is not a recommended practice).  While the group was loading their packs into the back or our truck, a 77 year-old Mormon gentleman called "Wanderlost" added his pack to the pile.  Having loaded their packs in our truck, the group headed up the trail.

Not long after we arrived at the road crossing where we were to meet the group, we spotted them  skipping down the trail.  They were happy to walk a mile without their respective pack, but Wanderlost was not in sight.   It turns out that Wanderlost had gotten his name from losing his pack several times in the 50 miles that he had walked previously!  The group gave us hugs of appreciation and headed on their way, leaving us with Wanderlost's pack.  

An hour passed and the sun began to go down.  It was obvious that Wanderlost was lost.  Craig shouldered his 60+ pound pack and we headed up the hill in search for him.  After walking 1.5 miles down a side trail, the Lord guided us to find the misguided hiker.  Like so many hikers, Wanderlost was in a state of transition in his life.  The death of his wife had left him alone in the world, so he decided to hike.  He told us that he did not care at all whether he died along the way.  Amazed that someone genuinely cared for him, he asked us what church had sent us to serve his needs.  As we talked to him, we were able to show this lonely old man the love of Christ.  Furthermore, in just a few sentences, we were also able to cause him to doubt his newly chosen Mormon religion.  As the sun slid behind the mountain, we gave him our contact information and headed down the dark mountain.  

Chattahoochee Association Provides Again

In mid-April, as part of our requirement as Mission Service Corps missionaries, we attended Support School in Denver, CO.  Because we are Mission Service Corps missionaries, we are required to raise all of our financial support.  This means that our salary comes completely from individuals who choose to support us.  At this school we were able to learn the Biblical principles behind building up ministry partners, ways to find and approach possible ministry partners, and ways to involve them in in the ministry of A.T. Servants.  This was a great time for us to get excited about gaining partners in the ministry that God has given us.  

During the same week, we also decided to take a 2 days of vacation in Colorado.  We rode the Cog Railway to the top of Pikes Peak, drove through the mountains, and couldn't resist a peek at another trail--the Continental Divide Trail.  Being surrounded by the beauty and fierceness of God's Creation recharged our batteries and renewed our spirit.  Click here to see more Colorado pictures.

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TRAIL DAYS PICTURES

In May we drove to Damascus, VA to attend a hiker rally called "Trail Days".  This is the largest gathering of hikers on the Appalachian Trail.  God is already at work preparing the churches of this region for ministry on the Appalachian Trail!  

For the first two days we stayed in Elizabethton, TN (which is about an hour drive from Damascus) at Hale Community Ministries (HCM).  HCM is a mere 10 miles away from the A.T. and naturally is excited about the opportunities that this close proximity affords them.  Julie Lyons organized a meeting of interested individuals in the Watauga Association and allowed us to share the vision that God has given us.  Several people at this meeting  seemed very interested and they are already beginning to make plans for next season.  

In Damascus, the Appalachian Trail literally goes through the main street of the town.  This gives First Baptist of Damascus a unique opportunity to serve hikers who literally walk by their front steps.  This church does a spectacular job of taking advantage of this opportunity.  During Trail Days, we partnered together with this remarkable church to serve the hikers who had swarmed the town.  On Thursday, the church fed about 300 hikers a home cooked meal!  13 of these hikers were people that we had already been in touch with in Georgia.  Many of these people remembered the help and care that the churches in Georgia had given them and were still appreciative.  On Friday, the church arranged for the hikers be able to watch a movie and snack on some popcorn and soft drinks at the expense of the church.  On  Sunday, the end of "Trail Days", they even shuttled the hikers back to the trail.  What a blessing!