Monday Afternoon

Jameson Parrino’s surgery to remove his tonsils today did not happen because the doctor had a death in the family.  Pray for him and his family during this time of delay.

Aileen Hano Kliesch
(June 2, 1935 – March 15, 2010)

A resident of Kentwood, LA, died at 12:15 p.m. on Monday, March 15, 2010 at Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in McComb, MS. She was born June 2, 1935 in Bains, LA and was 74 years of age. Visitation at Greenlaw Baptist Church, Kentwood, from 9 a.m. until religious services at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Services conducted by Rev. Milton Kliesch and Rev. Joe Warden. Interment Woodland Cemetery, Kentwood, LA. She is survived by her husband, Herbert Arthur Kliesch; 3 sons, Ivan Dwight Kliesch, Bruce Woodrow Kliesch and Dan Nathan Kliesch and his wife, Marta, all of Kentwood; mother, Bertie W. Hano, Kentwood; brother, Luther Hano and his wife, Annette, Roseland; 2 grandchildren, Sarah and Sterling Hagan. She was preceded in death by her father, Lafayette Hano

Monday

“But God proves His own love for us

in that while we were still sinners

Christ died for us!”

~Romans 5:8, HCSB~

Cheryl Hart Pierre

My sister, Cheryl Hart Pierre, is in need of prayer. Cheryl is going through medical tests concerning a very serious health problem. She and all of her family appreciate every prayer that is prayed in her behalf. A cat scan is scheduled for Tuesday and then she will see the surgeon on Wednesday. I will post an update after she talks with the surgeon. I also really appreciate and sense the power of prayer for Cheryl.

Thank you
Fay Raborn

From Cheryl Hughes Green

They postponed Linda’s surgery Friday to yesterday around 12:30pm. She is doing well and should be able to come home Monday. Thanks for all who have said a prayer for her.

John is also improving everyday. Only one side of his face is still swollen.

Thanks again to everyone who lifted our family up in prayer. God bless.

Cheryl

CaringBridge

Annie Armstrong Easter Offering

The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering® is much more than an offering envelope and an annual missions-giving emphasis. When people give to the offering, 100 percent of their gift will be transformed into missionary salaries and ministry supplies. Those missionaries and supplies will help others hear the message of Christ and respond in faith to His offer of salvation. Time and again our missionaries relate how the offering is their lifeblood. They know that behind each penny given, there is a Southern Baptist who believes in what they do and are affirming the need to equip them to share the gospel with those who need a Savior.

Join us at the cabin Thursday night at 6:30 for food, fellowship, and a devotional.

Have a great day!

Anna Lee

Sunday

22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart

in full assurance of faith, h

aving our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us

from a guilty conscience

and having our bodies washed with pure water.

23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,

for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10: 22-23 (NIV)


CaringBridge

Micah Tolleson’s family has learned a lesson the past two weeks.  They are now more careful to tell each other how much they love and appreciate each other.  through all the problems and unanswered questions, God has been so faithful to all of the family!

Annie Armstron Easter Offering

Winning souls in Arizona
Missionary Louis Spears did not let the tragic, sudden death in 2008 of his wife, Shelley, sidetrack his ministry to multihousing residents and “gypsies” in the greater Phoenix, Arizona, area.
By Mickey Noah

As a Southern Baptist pastor for the last 30 years – and as a North American Mission Board missionary for the past six – Louis Spears has conducted many a funeral. But none of them prepared him for the long, lonely walk behind his wife’s casket almost two years ago.

A native of Guthrie, Okla., Spears and his wife, Shelley, had been married for 32 years – ever since they were both 20-year-old church planters in Oklahoma. But in May 2008, she succumbed to a pancreas-related illness only 11 days after its sudden onset.

“Shelley was an incredible person, a woman of many talents,” says Spears. “The main thing I miss about Shelley – other than just being together as not only my spouse but also my best friend – is the amount of prayer-time she spent on my ministry. She was really my partner in ministry. It’s a huge loss and huge gap in my life.”

Spears’ strong, tried-and-true personal faith prevented him from caving in to the temptation of chucking his whole ministry and blaming God in the process.

“I never thought about blaming God. I was not mad at God. The worst thing was being totally cut off from Shelley, missing her encouragement and positive reinforcement.”

Still after almost two years, the 54-year-old missionary said the grief is still “like big ocean waves that just swell up over you and you can’t fight them, but you know the Lord is the Lord, that He is supreme, and that in His design, He had a purpose for it.

“I can’t see it and I don’t understand it but I really don’t argue with Him about it. I really tried during Shelley’s 11-day crisis and through the last year to live my life without regrets. I didn’t leave anything undone or unsaid,” said Spears, who has a 24-year-old daughter, Amy, one grandchild and another on the way.

Spears is one of some 5,300 missionaries in the United States, Canada and their territories supported by the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering® for North American Missions. He is among the North American Mission Board missionaries featured as part of the annual Week of Prayer, March 7-14, 2010. This year’s theme is “Live with Urgency: Share God’s Transforming Power.” The 2010 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering’s goal is $70 million, 100 percent of which benefits missionaries like Spears.

While no one or nothing can ever replace the vacuum in his life caused by Shelley’s death, Spears depends on his challenging missionary work in Arizona to take up some of the slack, ease the pain and bring new victories.

With an estimated 71 percent of Arizona residents as unbelievers, Spears, a church planting strategist with the Valley Rim Baptist Association, faces a huge challenge. In addition to Mesa, the association serves 50 churches and missions in the Tempe, Scottsdale, Chandler and Gilbert areas of metro Phoenix.

Because land and buildings are so expensive in the greater Phoenix area, Spears focuses on planting “tactical” churches instead of brick-and-mortar churches, which can financially strap a congregation with huge indebtedness in its infancy and make survival more difficult.

“Tactical churches are collections of people who have not been reached before,” Spears explains. “We try to target an area where the Kingdom of God hasn’t been before. Some may be apartment complexes, mobile home parks, house churches or just a gathering of people at a Starbuck’s.”

According to Spears, the Phoenix area is the 12th largest metro area in the United States. “We’re in a vast multicultural setting. We have a lot of unchurched, unsaved individuals.

“We’re way behind on the number of churches we need in order to impact these individuals’ lives. We have only one church for every 23,000 people in Arizona. Since we don’t have many churches that run 23,000 every week, it’s vital for us to have funds to do evangelistic outreach, buy Bibles and other resources to help posture the churches we do have.”

Evangelical Christians – of which Southern Baptists represent the largest group – only represent two percent of the state’s population, trailing Catholics and Mormons.

“We have some churches that are in senior adult communities. We have multi-ethnic churches like Native American, Filipino and African-American churches. We have a large Spanish-speaking population. Over 35 percent of the people in Arizona speak Spanish.”

On top of the diversity, the uncertainty in the Phoenix area housing market is driving people to multihousing developments – whether apartments, townhouses, condominium communities or mobile home parks.

“Statistics show that only a small percentage of those people will ever come out and go to anyone’s church, so we believe it’s important to take church to them,” says Spears.

Spears begins by meeting a multihousing development’s property managers — to get in from the ground up and establish good working relationships.

“We begin by asking the managers what their needs are,” he said. “We try not to assume that we know the industry better than the people who work in it. Most apartment communities know how to evict people, know how to charge the rent, know how to handle air conditioning problems and pest control. But what they don’t understand is the human element.

“They lose money every time somebody moves so by building a ministry and a partnership with them, it helps to build a sense of community. The people are more likely to stay,” Spears said.

To assist both the property managers and the tenants themselves, Spears and his team do things like forming kid’s clubs in the afternoon to give them a place to go and something meaningful to do. They often provide lunch to latch-key children, who are on a break from school and whose parents work. Afternoon soccer games are offered. Summer sports camps via mobile trailers can be deployed to various multihousing communities.

An offshoot of Spears work with multihousing communities was his introduction to the Travelers, the substantial “gypsy” culture and population of Arizona.

Spears says outsiders like him are usually not successful at trying to approach and penetrate the closed gypsy culture. “American gypsies actually discovered me and began to attend our church in Mesa,” he explains. “Eventually, I was accepted into their fascinating culture.”

The gypsy mission field is a natural extension of Spears’ missions work in multihousing since so many gypsies travel in RVs and live in mobile home parks throughout southern Arizona because of the area’s warmer winters.

“People who give through the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering help supply a base of church planters and allow them to have a living while they’re beginning to build new congregations,” said Spears.

“Without the Annie Armstrong offering, I would be able to devote only a fraction of the time to tactical church plants, and even less to reaching the Travelers (gypsies) population. But because of the offering, in addition to my salary, I receive training, materials for evaluation and training, demographics for new and existing church areas, and am able to network with other church planters across the country.”

Mickey Noah is a writer for the North American Mission Board.

Have a great Lord’s Day!

Anna Lee


Saturday Reminder

Set your clock to 2 A.M.  When it goes off, get up and turn all the clocks in your house back to 3 A.M.  Try to go back to sleep.

OR

Set your clocks ahead before going to bed tonight.

David and I will do the second one.  I hope you do too!  If you don’t set your clocks back, you’ll be late for Sunday School in the morning.

Saturday

As each part does its own special work,

it helps the other parts grow,

so that the whole body is healthy

and growing

and full of love.

~Ephesians 4:16b (NLT)~

Pray for Rev. Walter Mixon, pastor of Friendship Baptist Church (east of Amite), as he has  heart concerns.

Continue to pray for Micah Tolleson (22) and his family.  He has been sent home while they wait for results of the biopsy to determine the next step.  As you pray for him, please pray for his parents and other family members who have continuing health issues of their own.

CaringBridge: Callie Cole (2 posts)

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/calliecole/journal

From Cheryl Hughes Green

Talked to Momma last night and Linda’s surgery to remove her gall bladder is today at 3:30. She should be dischared from the hospital and go to Momma and Daddy’s house tomorrow.

John’s face is still swollen pretty bad from his little surgery of his widsom teeth.

Thanks to everyone who has and are praying for our little family. Please also pray for our parents: Wilton & Sandra Hughes who have been with Linda and taking care of Philip during this time. Thanks again and God bless.

Virginia Goings Blades
(June 24, 1947 – March 11, 2010)

Died at 5:05 p.m. on Thursday, March 11, 2010 at her residence in Walker. She was born June 24, 1947 in Franklinton and was 62 years of age. Visitation at McKneely Funeral Home, Amite, from 9 a.m. on Monday until religious services at 11 a.m. Monday. Interment will follow at Wilmer Cemetery. She is survived by 2 daughters, Sheila Dale Griffin and Michelle Blades Wirtz, 2 sons, Ricky Wayne Dykes and Joseph Scott Blades, 1 sister, Carolyn Ann Spears, 3 brothers, Buddy Joe Goings, Glen Spears, and Lynn Spears, 5 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. Preceded in death by husband, Arthur L. Blades, mother, Vivian C. Spears, and father, Joseph D. Goings.

Annie Armstrong Easter Offering

Expanding God’s work in Puerto Rico
Luis and Lourdes Rodriguez are missionaries for the North American Mission Board, responsible for planting churches in Puerto Rico. With a corps group of 15 they planted a, now thriving church in Coamo.
By John Correa

At the onset of his missionary career, pastor Luis Rodríguez and his wife, Lourdes Santiago, were dismayed at the lack of commitment from church members at the church they’d planted in Coamo, Puerto Rico. However, this apathy did not hamper the efforts of these Southern Baptists. Besides, from God’s divine perspective, this was only the beginning.

Luis remembers the challenges faced during those uncertain days after being sent by the Raham First Baptist Church of Santa Isabel to plant a new church in Coamo.

“When we arrived at Raham-Coamo, we noticed the believers there didn’t really have a commitment to come to the services,” said Rodriguez. “When we were on our way to a prayer service, they started calling to excuse themselves from coming to the service. In that moment I turned and looked at my wife and wondered if our efforts were really worth it. We began doubting if God was really involved.”

When Luis and Lourdes arrived at the small church for the prayer service, only one other couple had come to intercede for God’s work there – but a couple with a very special need.

“With great sorrow in our hearts, we found brother Carlos Santiago and his wife, Andrea, who was kneeling in prayer,” recalls Rodriguez. Andrea’s hair had fallen out due to the chemotherapy she was undergoing to fight her cancer.

“I looked at my wife, she looked at me, and the Lord spoke to my heart, saying, ‘For the love of that solitary life I’m sending you to Coamo. It’s one life, one soul. Don’t worry about the ones who made excuses and didn’t come.’”

Because of Andrea’s commitment, Luis and Lourdes were motivated to press on with God’s challenge of planting a church in Coamo. The result was the creation of the Raham Baptist Church in Coamo.

The name of the church, “Raham,” is the Hebrew word for “God has shown compassion.” This is precisely the spiritual gift that continues to be one of the driving forces behind Rodriguez’s work in Coamo.

Luis and Lourdes Rodriguez are missionaries for the North American Mission Board, responsible for planting churches in Puerto Rico. They are two of the some 5,300 missionaries in the United States, Canada and their territories supported by the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering® for North American Missions, and are among the NAMB missionaries featured as part of the annual Week of Prayer, March 7-14, 2010. This year’s theme is “Live with Urgency: Share God’s Transforming Power.” The 2010 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering’s goal is $70 million, 100 percent of which benefits missionaries like Rodriguez.

Luis, 46, was ordained as a Southern Baptist pastor in 2001 by his local church at the time, Raham Baptist Church of Santa Isabel. He came from a background in business, with a concentration in accounting – working up to a vice president’s job at the company where he worked for over 20 years.

Since becoming a missionary three years ago, he has completed coursework at Luther Rice Seminary in Puerto Rico, and is planning to continue his studies at the Baptist Seminary of Puerto Rico, through Liberty University.

“My decision to become a missionary wasn’t an easy decision. I faced all sorts of difficulties,” Luis says. “I quit a job with great benefits. Temptations came, uncertainty, good advice and bad advice. But God, who is rich in mercy, sustained me. My wife’s support was unconditional and awesome. I simply couldn’t resist what God wanted to do with me.

“One day in a prayer meeting I began asking God, ‘Lord, what do you want to do with me?’ After several months went by without the slightest involvement in the ministry, without a desire to continue pastoring, God sent us to Raham in Coamo, where, with a group of 15 people, we planted a church.”

Although the most predominant religious group in Puerto Rico is Roman Catholicism – about 85 percent of the population – the remaining 15 percent is made up various groups like Southern Baptists, who impact the culture through schools and universities, among other means.

Coamo is a city of approximately 39,500, located in the southern region of Puerto Rico. Three years ago, Luis Rodríguez and his church planting team also started a bilingual, Christian school – Coamo Christian Academy — to minister to local children and their parents.

Coamo Christian Academy has met with great approval in the community. Beginning with only four students in 2006, the school now has more than 40 enrolled.

Luis admits he couldn’t do the work without the support of Southern Baptists.

“Contributions given to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering® support me as a missionary in the work we are doing, and help us support the church to reach children and the parents who participate in this ministry. To God be the glory!”

Adalberto Muñoz, a member of Luis’ ministry team, spoke of Luis’ commitment and passion for the lost.

“When you talk to Luis and see him carry out his duties, when you see the fruit this ministry is bearing, there is no doubt that God really called Luis to serve in this capacity.

“Pastor Luis and members of Raham Baptist Church in Coamo have a genuine calling from God to the ministry, a sincere love for the Word, integrity, and commitment towards the community,” said Munoz. “It’s a church that inspires a lot of love. You feel you are in a wholesome environment full of love for God and for people.”

Commitment to prayer and keeping God’s Word have also inspired door-to-door evangelism, prayer walks, interactive team sports with non-Christians, radio talk shows, Bible studies in neighboring towns and the capital, and other activities such as “One Night with Christ,” during which sister churches interact to impact the Coamo community.

Rodriguez said his ministry’s most pressing need is adequate facilities and more space.

“The current facilities aren’t sufficient,” he says. “We have limited space, and if we don’t do something about it soon, the growth of our ministry will be adversely affected.”

Luis and wife Lourdes are the parents of three children, Victor, Luis and Lyanne Rodriguez Santiago.

John J. Correa is a writer living in Dacula, Georgia.

God is providing another beautiful day.  Give Him back some of your day.

Anna Lee

Friday

All of you together are Christ’s body,

and each of you is a part of it.

~1 Corinthians 12:27 (NLT)~

Kathy Wales

Kathy would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support. The doctor has released to her start wearing shoes again. She will return to the doctor for another check-up in 6 weeks to ensure that everything is as it should be.

Larkin Dorris

Update from Kelly…
They only had to push one syringe of stem cells today because her “product” was so good. They started at 10:57 and were finished at 11:03. She is doing fine so far. She still smells like a strong dose of V8. We should go back to the apartment by this afternoon.

We are half way finished with chemo.!!!!

Thanks,
Kelly Dorris

From Cheryl Hughes Greene

Sister, Linda, will have gall bladder surgery at 3:30 today.

Son, John, still has much swelling in face from his surgery.

Julie, my youngest sister, as for prayer for her grandson, Jameson Parrino, who will have his tonsils removed Monday.  I think he is two years old.

Annie Armstrong Easter Offering

Reaching out in word and deed in Uptown Chicago
Michael Allen serves in Chicago’s Uptown area where diversity, poverty, intellect and wealth converge to form a mosaic of ministry opportunities for Michael’s congregation at Uptown Baptist Church.
By Adam Miller

Two blocks east of the “El” Train Red Line in Uptown Chicago, a lady named Susan limps over from under a covered bus stop.

“That’s my spot. I was here. I just had to sit down.”

She marks her spot by hanging two canvas bags on the fence where a dozen men and women are lined up outside Uptown Baptist Church.

“I was here. This weather is killing my arthritis.”

Her voice is husky but kind. She limps toward the bus stop, sits and takes a sip from something tightly wrapped in brown paper, looks over her shoulder again, then settles back against the glass enclosure.

As the line builds, she comes back.

Next Monday, she says, they’re giving out shoes.

“Could you help me with this?” asks Susan, holding up a kids’ Revenge of the Sith wristwatch six hours fast. “It’s a cheap watch. I don’t know how to fix it. It’s not a very nice watch.”

Every Monday around 4:30 p.m. the iron gate separating Uptown Baptist from the sidewalk creaks open and some 350 homeless men and women file into pews for a word from scripture then to the basement for a hot meal.

Shouldering computer bags and backpacks, a flock of Chicagoans scatter from the train and the buses toward home or an evening job in one of the city’s most diverse communities.

This is North American Mission Board missionary Michael Allen’s mission field.

“Uptown is one of the most diverse places in the Chicago area,” said Allen. “It’s diverse in almost every way you can imagine — ethnically, socio-economically, in gender and in age. It’s home to retirees, young couples, newborns, the brilliant and the mentally ill.”

Nearly 80 languages are represented in Uptown’s public schools.  The neighborhood’s population includes government officials, college professors, business professionals and a sub-culture of “down-and-outs.”

Allen is one of more than 5,300 missionaries in the United States, Canada and their territories supported by the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering®. He is among the NAMB missionaries featured as part of the annual Week of Prayer, March 7-14, 2010. This year’s theme is “Live with Urgency: Share God’s Transforming Power.” The 2010 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering’s goal is $70 million, 100 percent of which benefits missionaries like Allen.

Allen has worked with social ministries for years, beginning with his tenure at Moody Bible Church and continuing with leadership at homeless and recovery ministries throughout the city. His ability to interact across a broad spectrum has given the Jamaican-born pastor a voice among Chicago businessmen and politicians.

“One day I could be at a press conference with the mayor of Chicago and all the movers and shakers and be in a suit and tie, then later that day on the street talking to somebody who’s drunk and just gave his girlfriend AIDS,” said Allen. “It’s a powerful thing. It’s an amazing thing. It’s God at work changing people’s lives and I get to be used by Him to accomplish it.”

Tonight, Allen is hosting an hour-long Q & A session with a top Chicago attorney who’ll help attendees understand and navigate the legal system. Then those who’ve come here will hear the Gospel and gather for a meal of hot chicken and pasta. Later on in the evening, 50 homeless women will make a pallet for the night in one of the church’s rooms.

Outside the walls of the church, Uptown Baptist also is impacting local schools with a launch of Child Evangelism Fellowship, a door opened when the church provided backpacks and school supplies at the request of Chicago’s mayor. Allen joined other church leaders, challenging them to show up at schools nearby to welcome children, interact with teachers and administration, and provide students with backpacks full of paper, pencils and notebooks.

“One of the principals said, ‘I didn’t know what we were going to do. I didn’t know how we were going to provide for all these kids who were unprepared on the first day of school,’” Allen recounted. “And here we were –at the mayor’s invitation — showing up during the time of need.

“The deepest need of humankind is always to know God and to reconnect with God,” Michael added. “Whatever surface problems are going on around us, if we stop long enough and look carefully enough, we would see that it’s a spiritual problem. It’s a heart problem. We need to seize that opportunity before us and to continue to be real with people.”

If you were to ask Allen his priorities in order of importance, loving his family and discipling his children would come first. His resume credentials mount up, from education to inner-city experience, but his job as father is of primary importance to him.

“In a survey of hundreds of homeless people, the recurring theme we saw was an inability to respect authority and a lack of strong male leadership in the home,” Allen said. “I’m passionate about seeing the church change some bleak statistics.

“Whether times are good or bad, Allen added, “the opportunities are there to be a light, to be a witness and to share the good news of the Gospel in word and deed. The time has come for us to be a living example and to speak the truth in love and I think if we do this, we will be more like Jesus.”

Adam Miller is a writer for the North American Mission Board.

Thanks for allowing the rest of us to pray with you!

Anna Lee

Thursday

Your love for one another will prove to the world

that you are my disciples.

~John 13:35 (NLT)~

Mr. Billy Brabham has been having some problems that sent him to have medical tests.  He will be meeting with an oncologist next Tuesday.  Pray for him and his family as they determine future treatment.

My cousin, Micah (22), had surgery for the brain tumor.  The doctor was not able to remove it.  The family will be meeting with doctors to determine the next step.  Please keep Micah and his family in your prayers.

Mr. “Cete” Dillon is doing well.  The recent eye procedure seems to have helped. Keep him in your prayers.  He and his caregiver, “Miss” Ruby, are taking turns taking care of each other.

CaringBridge

Anthony Justice Golman
(October 28, 2003 – March 9, 2010)

A resident of Roseland, died at 12:35 a.m. on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans. He was born October 28, 2003 in Covington, LA and was 6 years of age. Visitation at Roseland Baptist Church from 6 p.m. on Thursday until religious services at 10 a.m. on Friday. Services conducted by Rev. Tommy Hicks. Interment Amite Memorial Gardens, Amite. He is survived by his mother, Ashley Burch, Roseland; father, Anthony Golman, Independence; sister, Allie Golman, Roseland; maternal grandparents, Toni Ensign and Matthew Ensign, Roseland, Robert Burch, Tickfaw. Preceded in death by his paternal grandmother, Willie Mae Golman; maternal great-grandmother, Pearl Burch.

AAEO

http://www.onmission.com/site/c.cnKHIPNuEoG/b.5818463/k.FDE2/

Reaching_a_vast_wilderness_of_lost_souls.htm

(I’m sorry the link is on two lines.  You’ll need to copy and paste both in the address bar this time.)

Have a terrific Thursday!

Anna Lee

Wednesday

Love your spiritual family.

~1 Peter 2:17b (MSG)~

I know Mrs. Faye Price loved her physical and spiritual family.  Yesterday, it was very obvious that both her physical and spiritual family loved her.  What a special lady and what a large, loving physical and spiritual family!

David and I both enjoyed seeing the family pictures on the screen at church yesterday.  Our favorite was the one of her with a big smile and both hands spread out.  I can just picture her in heaven with those arms spread out for hugs as she meets family and friends already there.  I know she will be there to meet other family members and friends with her loving hugs as they join her in heaven.

Linda Hughes Benefield

I talked to Mom and Dad today and they told me Linda is in the hospital in Hickory, North Carolina.

She has an infected gall bladder and pancreas. They are treating the infection and when it has cleared up, they will operate to take out her gall bladder. They said she was luck with her pancreas.

They might operate on Thursday or Friday, that is Daddy said. He will keep me updated on any new developements. We would appreciate any and all prayers for her and her recovery.

Cheryl Hughes Greene

Cheryl’s son, John, is having four wisdom teeth removed today and Cheryl’s sister is in the hospital facing gall bladder surgery later this week.  I think we need to pray for Cheryl too.

Continue to pray for my  Texas cousin, Micah (22), who has a brain tumor as he faces surgery.  Pray for his family as they gather to support him and each other during this time.

Caring Bridge

Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions

Off the beaten path


Craig and Suzy Miles represent Christ through service, evangelism and discipleship to reach the longtrail hiking community trekking the 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail (AT).
By Adam Miller and Mickey Noah

Mission Service Corps missionaries Craig and Suzy Miles serve the longtrail hiking community trekking the 2,175-mil Appalachian Trail.

understand a person, walk a mile in his shoes. But if that person is an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker, you’ll have to walk several hundred miles.

“It’s not until about mile 500 that they start to listen,” says North American Mission Board Mission Service Corps missionary Suzy Miles. “Before that, they’re superheroes.”

MSC missionaries Craig and Suzy Miles started Appalachian Trail Servants (AT Servants) six years ago so they could help represent Christ through service, evangelism and discipleship to reach the longtrail hiking community trekking the 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail (AT).

The couple has hiked about 1,000 miles of the trail themselves, and visited most of its length to conduct ministry training to churches near trailheads and to minister to hikers through acts of kindness.

The Mileses are two of more than 5,300 missionaries in the United States, Canada and their territories supported by the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering®. They are among the NAMB missionaries featured as part of the annual Week of Prayer, March 7-14, 2010. This year’s theme is “Live with Urgency: Share God’s Transforming Power.” The 2010 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering’s goal is $70 million.

As NAMB Mission Service Corps missionaries, the Mileses must raise their own support among family, friends and related churches. Although they are self-funded, they also receive additional support – such as training, administrative support and field ministry assistance – from the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.

The Appalachian Trail is a marked, yard-wide footpath winding through the Appalachian Mountains from Springer Mountain in north Georgia to Mount Katahdin in central Maine. Conceived in 1921 and completed in 1937, it passes through 14 states. More than four million people hike some part of the trail each year, and another 2,000 “thru-hikers” attempt to go the entire distance.

Suzy grew up in Dahlonega, Ga., with a family and a father who took hikers in, fed them and shared with them the truth about Christ.

A native of Stone Mountain, Ga., Craig had already earned a degree in economics at the University of Georgia and seminary master’s degrees when he met Suzy. Suzy had been the hiker in her family and shortly after, the couple and her family began hiking almost every weekend in the North Georgia mountains.

At the time he met Suzy, Miles was working in information technology for a regional bank but believed he had a higher calling.

One morning on the way to work, he stopped by his Baptist church and prayed a simple prayer: “Lord, how can you use our time and talents for your glory?” God was about to answer Craig’s prayer.

“Right after I prayed that prayer, I spotted a missionary magazine on a table next to me,” Miles said. “On the cover was a story about extreme hiking in China. It just clicked in my head that we needed to start a ministry on the Appalachian Trail. Suzy and I were seeing hundreds of hikers pass over the roads and trails and through the woods of north Georgia, but we knew their spiritual needs were not being met.”

Miles and Suzy married and now six years later, their home and ministry are based in Franklin, N.C., only a short drive from a major Appalachian Trail trailhead. With two infant children and an expanding ministry, they continue to serve hikers but are beginning to focus their attention on training churches and leaders who have a heart for hikers.

Hikers are a subculture, Miles said, and most of them use trail names rather than their own. The Mileses are no different.

Craig’s trail name is “Clay,” taken from Romans 9:21, which describes God as the potter molding the clay. Suzy’s is “Branch,” which comes from John 15:5 where Jesus refers to Himself as the vine and believers as branches.

Whether simply hiking on a crisp autumn weekend or thru-hiking the entire Appalachian Trail, the sport is not for the faint-of-heart. Backpacks containing tents, sleeping bags, food, clothes, first-aid and water purification equipment can weigh 35 lbs. or more.

In addition to the obvious physical and mental challenges, other hazards include severe weather, Lyme disease, steep grades, limited water and poison ivy.

“Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail takes a tremendous commitment of time and resources,” Miles said. “And the hardest part is not the physical aspect but the mental. Within the first 30 miles, 20 percent drop out. By North Carolina, 50 percent have dropped out. By West Virginia, 75 percent have quit. Only 15 percent of those who start in Georgia make it to the peak of Mount Katahdin in Maine.”

To reach these hearty souls, the Mileses have focused their efforts on training churches and trail chaplains—a select position with AT Servants that requires a mature walk with Christ, a missionary mindset and the ability to walk thousands of miles under often heavy loads.

“We receive dozens of applications every year, but only one or two meet the criteria,” Craig said.

Trail chaplains, which have the greatest direct impact on hikers, trudge the 2,175 miles with every ounce of gear any other hiker would carry and with a goal of enjoying the journey and reaching the end. But chaplains sit around shelters and campfires with the purpose of representing Christ, answering hard questions from thoughtful, hurting people and walking alongside those same people for days, weeks and months.

In 2005, recent college graduate Jonathan Carter finished his stint as a trail chaplain. In October 2009, Joel and Cortney Leachman completed their journey. Both of these projects created entree into very difficult seasons of people’s lives, and resulted in several hikers receiving Christ.

The Mileses believe God gives Christians divine appointments, and they should expect them and take advantage of them.

“We pray for and expect a daily divine appointment during which we might be able to share our testimonies, answer difficult theological questions, provide counsel or share the Gospel,” Craig said, recounting his and Suzy’s experience on the trail.

He recalled a sudden evening thunderstorm that drove him, Suzy and a group of fellow hikers into the closest trail shelter for protection against a cold, stinging rain.

“Since the next shelter was 10 miles away and none of us wanted to brave the cold rain to get there, we stopped and shared the same shelter for the night. This gave us an opportunity to strike up some spiritual conversation,” he said. “This was a divine appointment.” Still on the lookout for divine appointments, Craig and Suzy cultivate the soil of the hiker community with a sense of urgency for those churches and individuals with a heart for hikers.

“We have an amazing opportunity,” says Suzy. “If we can represent Christ to someone during a critical few months on the trail, we can see Christ change them for a lifetime.”

Adam Miller and Mickey Noah are writers for the North American Mission Board.

Have a wonderful Wednesady!

Anna Lee