Blog: Outdoor Blessings SS Class

A number of years ago, Ed Beam and other men who live in Cherryville, NC came together to form a Sunday School class aimed at drawing in men who love to fish and hunt.  

  They chose as the venue for the class the sporting goods store known as the Great Outdoors.

     Over the years, this group of men have taken on various projects aimed at drawing in men and boys who love to hunt and fish, and in the process share the Gospel with them. 

     Ed is a pharmacist and avid hunter. I reckon he has traveled to more

places to hunt and fish as any other man I know. However, as passionate as he is for such sports, he is more passionate about winning men and boys for the gospel. So through the years he has done a great job at combining those two passions for the sake of the Gospel.

     Over the last two years, Ed has invited me to join him for deer hunting on the lease land he has in AL.  While with Ed and two other brothers in early February of this year, I reached the final decision to accept Nephew's invitation to join him on his AT thru hike.  I appreciated greatly how they joined me in praying about the whole matter, and their obvious enthusiasm for such a venture. 

     Before Nephew and I started our hike in early April, Ed lined it up for me to speak to the Outdoor Blessings Class and he sponsored a dinner at the Cherryville Community Center where I presented to all in attendance just what Hiking to Help Refugees was about. Over $3,000 was given at the latter event. He also helped me to get an interview on a local radio station where once again I was granted the chance to talk about my background in East Africa and share how that produced in me a passion to help the suffering South Sudanese church while in exile due to war.  Lastly, Ed and another class member, Tony Abernathy, came up with the idea to produce T-shirts bearing the logo of Hiking to Help Refugees. A number of them were sold and the profit given to the cause.

     Last week, Ed and the members of his group put on a fund raiser that centered on selling to the public various types of wild game meat, along with various side dishes. Their goal was to raise $2,189 which would equal the # of miles of a complete thru hike of the AT. I am sure they will accomplish their goal. 

     So today I am thanking God for Ed's support and encouragement, as well as for all the others in the class who stood with him in their various fund raising efforts. Thanks guys! May the Lord bless and reward you as only He can. 

Uncle