The Weasel
10-13-2002, 22:58
Peaks and others in another hostel thread have made a really good point about the costs of running a hostel to a church, and why it's important to put in a REAL donation. I've stayed at a number of church hostels, as well as other places with some religious relationship, including places like the Blueberry Patch, where the owners don't even raise the issue (other than a few tracts on a table in the kitchen, almost unnoticeable).
These hostels, as Peaks says, as a part of a church's mission to the world, part of the Gospel's reminder about "I needed shelter, and you took me in." They're always non-denominational in terms of who is welcome, and there is never - in my experience - any "push" to worship or otherwise take part in the church's worship, although all are usually welcome.
It's not as well known that these hostels are NOT universally supported within a particular church, and many (probably most) of these churches are VERY small, so a hostel is often a VERY major issue in a lot of them. That's why when a hostel gets trashed by hikers, it often leads to the hostel being closed or very, very limited. But even when they aren't trashed, and when donations are given freely, they are still a difficult issue for some churches.
One thing that we can do along the trail is to drop a note to say thank you to the sponsoring church. Just buy a postcard at the post office at your next mail drop and mail it to "Hostel Committee" at the church. If you don't have the address, that's not a problem. Put the hostel name and/or the church name, and the town. It will get there.
Cards/letters like that are POWERFUL support to the Hostel Committee to show that we are good people who appreciate their service. Even if the hostel wasn't perfect, it deserves our thanks, since it is usually better than nothing at all.
These hostels, as Peaks says, as a part of a church's mission to the world, part of the Gospel's reminder about "I needed shelter, and you took me in." They're always non-denominational in terms of who is welcome, and there is never - in my experience - any "push" to worship or otherwise take part in the church's worship, although all are usually welcome.
It's not as well known that these hostels are NOT universally supported within a particular church, and many (probably most) of these churches are VERY small, so a hostel is often a VERY major issue in a lot of them. That's why when a hostel gets trashed by hikers, it often leads to the hostel being closed or very, very limited. But even when they aren't trashed, and when donations are given freely, they are still a difficult issue for some churches.
One thing that we can do along the trail is to drop a note to say thank you to the sponsoring church. Just buy a postcard at the post office at your next mail drop and mail it to "Hostel Committee" at the church. If you don't have the address, that's not a problem. Put the hostel name and/or the church name, and the town. It will get there.
Cards/letters like that are POWERFUL support to the Hostel Committee to show that we are good people who appreciate their service. Even if the hostel wasn't perfect, it deserves our thanks, since it is usually better than nothing at all.