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Middle Georgians Help with
Appalachian Trail Ministry bby Jean Swann
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The Appalachian Trail is a 2,175-mile
footpath from st1:placename w:st="on">Springer
Mountain in North Georgia to Mount Katahdin in
Maine. About
1,200 people – many of them nature lovers who worship the Creation rather than
the Creator – begin a through-hike of the AT each year, but only 25 percent
complete it. In a certain sense, through-hikers are “homeless” for five to seven
months as they make their way up the trail.
Middle Georgia Christians assisted many of those through hikers along their way
by providing a “resupply” of hygiene items such as toothpaste, toothbrushes,
toilet paper, hand sanitizer wipes, and zipper-top plastic bags at the
Appalachian Trail Days festival May 12-16 in Damascus, Virginia.
Spearheaded by Mark and Jean Swann of Warner Robins, leaders of Central Baptist
Church’s camping and backpacking ministry, the effort involved collecting
partial rolls of toilet paper from Central’s 68 restroom stalls – rolls that
were destined for the garbage due to having little paper remaining on them.
“These ‘end rolls’ are perfect for backpackers because they aren’t heavy or
bulky in your backpack like a full roll would be,” observed Mark. “We used them
to make what we call ‘potty packs’ for the hikers.
The packs included toilet paper, several hand sanitizer packets, several
zipper-top plastic bags for storing used paper until it can be thrown in a trash
can, and a small booklet with scriptures in it.” Pat Braski, who operates two
Chick- Fil-A restaurants in the Warner
Robins
area, donated the hand sanitizer packets. Braski, a member of Sacred Heart
Catholic Church, has hiked several hundred miles of the
Appalachian Trail himself, so he was eager to participate.
So were thirty or so first- through sixth-grade boys in the Royal Ambassadors
program at Central Baptist. They assembled the potty packs as a missions project
under the watchful eye of RAs director Kevin Kalmbach and several other adult
leaders.
Ed Graham of Central ferreted out the booklets of scriptures, remarking that
they are good for witnessing in all sorts of situations, even on the trail.
The Swanns’ Sunday school class at Central funded the items that needed to be
purchased. Elease Chambers, a local dental hygienist and member of Second Baptist
Church, helped the Swanns purchase travel-sized
tubes of toothpaste (perfectly sized for backpacking) and disposable
toothbrushes.
With all the supplies in hand, the Swanns drove to
Damascus, Virginia. At the festival,
First Baptist Church of Damascus led the hiker ministry, providing 1,200 meals,
more than 600 showers, medical screenings and first aid, an Internet café, foot
care and new hiking socks, a shuttle service, a coffee house with live band, and
a special worship service for hikers – all free. Amazingly, First Baptist
Damascus is a small church with an average attendance of 150, but church groups
from Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and
Maryland came
to help provide the hiker ministry.
The slogan of First Baptist Damascus’ hiker ministry is “Love Wins.” So what did
all these efforts of love win? Hundreds of seeds were planted, and 13 hikers
prayed to become Christians this year at Appalachian Trail Days! For those 13,
the footpath to Mount Katahdin was also the
path to God.
For more information about
Central Baptist
Church’s camping and backpacking ministry or to
participate in 2011 Appalachian Trail Days, contact Mark and Jean Swann at
478-953-4778.
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