Adam and I are not walking the AT alone. We run into people every day who are either walking just a section of the AT, or who started a thru hike of the AT down in GA last January or February, and like us, are headed to Maine.
All the folks we have met thus far have had interesting stories, and we have enjoyed each opportunity to fellowship with them as they are able to make time. On other occasions, we have met folks not on the AT, but in hostels we have utilized along the way.
Up to this point, when I tell such folks what "Hiking to Help Refugees" is all about, the unanimous response has been, "send Bibles to refugees? Why Bibles and not food, clothing and other things needed by the body?" Generally those words have been uttered in a manner that implies I am at best uninformed, and at worst some sort of religious nut.
I find it quite interesting that folks who have never been in a refugee camp, nor have ever spent even 1 hour speaking to leaders in a refugee camp about their heartfelt needs, can believe themselves to be such experts on the subject. Armchair quarterbacks are not just a phenomenon found on Sundays watching NFL games!
What these supposed experts apparently do not realize, is that the American taxpayer, as well as citizens of other countries, have already spent billions of dollars providing for the physical needs of South Sudanese. And it's not just taxpayers money, but also the money donated by generous souls to organizations like Samaritan's Purse, World Vision, or one of the other charitable organizations. Such donations have literally kept millions of S. Sudanese people alive, at various junctions in history, for decades. Yet, despite all that outside aid, S. Sudanese went to war again in mid-December 2013, but this time not against the Islamic dominated north, but against each other.
Most of the aid provided by secular or government funded groups has addressed only the physical needs of people, and have not dealt with matters of the heart and soul. So in effect, they have addressed only the symptoms of war, not the root causes.
Our partnering organization on the ground is the Baptist Convention of South Sudan. It has some fine leaders: Edward Dima, Ding Lual, Mathew Dhol, Simon Gatluak, etc. Almost all of the Sudanese pastors/leaders we work with were once soldiers, or at least were made refugees back in the late 1990s or early 2000s. The effects and causes of the conflicts which have uprooted them, their families, and their fellow countrymen, are well known to them.
While they are refugees once again in neighboring countries, they have requested that we help them to obtain Bibles, New Testaments, solar powered MP4 players containing the NT, theological education and Bible related training, so that they can thereby address the root causes of conflict. They understand like no American armchair expert can, that if they do not address the root causes of hatred, tribalism, greed, etc, which unmask the darkest forms of sin in men's hearts, then their current plight will just be repeated in the future.
So yes, Hiking to Help Refugees is about providing scriptural resources and training to S. Sudanese Christians who are now refugees. They understand better than anyone what the ultimate antidote to war is; and that is individuals, families, and entire communities living in humble submission to Him who is the Prince of Peace: Jesus the Messiah.
David Crane
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