Team Work

David and Tommy Sills in front of map of Crowder's Mountain State Park

No 60 year old man undertakes a venture like a thru hike of the AT without the help of many people.  After announcing my intent to do a thru hike, I began to actively pursue team members whose input and help I believed would be invaluable.

One of my first team members was Brandon Lovelace.  He leads up the media team of the Parkwood Baptist Church of Gastonia, NC.   He most graciously agreed to provide me with a logo/graphic to utilize on my Face Book page (I will soon publicly launch "Hiking to Help Refugees" on FB).  Brandon also made another significant contribution immediately.  He sent me Tommy Sills' contact information because he knows Tommy has been an avid hiker for decades, and regularly hikes in the Crowder's Mountain area, a place he has been intimately acquainted with since childhood.

Although I literally only have a month remaining to train and prepare, walking in the terrain this park offers will be a big help.  While hiking there, I will be able to start familiarizing myself with how to hike with trekking poles.  I will also start the process of gaining my "trail legs" as long distance hikers refer to the process of acclimating one's body to the rigors of hiking in rough terrain on an extended basis.

I will make my trek in the company of my 33 year old nephew, Adam Crane.  I am praying we will discover that we make a good team.  Adam has  been teaching English to S. Korean children in the Seoul area for the last 4 years.  Previous to his moving to Korea, we did not have the privilege of spending much time together because I and my family lived overseas.  That is one element of the price one pays to live abroad: you have to say goodbye to family and friends for extended periods.  If we prove to be a team "made in heaven" then I believe we will each discover that we both bring something to this venture that will make our long trek more bearable and enjoyable.

The importance of team work is a factor emphasized in the Bible, see I Corinthians chapters 12-14.  There our Lord teaches us about the importance of team work by comparing the members of the church to a human body.  Not every member can be an eye, an ear or a hand.  But just as the human body would suffer and be incomplete without any given part, so the church suffers when all of its members do not utilize their gifts for the building up and work of the body. Team work.

You can be an important part of my team by following my progress through this blog and my Facebook page.  Hopefully doing that will help raise your awareness of what our South Sudanese brethren are facing as they live in refugee camps.  And I trust that awareness will ultimately lead you to donate to the ministry we are undertaking on their behalf through the nonprofit, Calvary Road Ministry.

The AT is 2,181 miles long.  I am asking individuals and groups to sponsor me at X amount per mile.  A quick math check will show that a 50 cents/mile donation would be $1,090.  We will use the funds collected to buy Bibles and scripture resources, i.e. solar powered digital players containing the New Testament in various S. Sudanese languages, as well as provide training events which help with education, trauma healing counseling and leadership development.  All donations will be tax deductible.

Very soon I will inform you how you can make your pledge and ultimately your donation, should you choose to join our team.