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Hikers find mission in mountains Backpackers often eager to unburden
By Bill Osinski
The Atlanta Journal - Constitution
February 27, 2006

Oftentimes, the heaviest thing carried by hikers of the Appalachian Trail is a burdened soul.

To lighten those loads, Craig and Suzy Miles have created a ministry called Appalachian Trail Servants. Their brand of evangelizing comes after they and their volunteers have passed out buckets of trail mix and boxes of foot medicine to weary long-distance hikers.

"Most of the people who walk the trail are at a transition point in their lives," Craig said. Typically, they are young people recently graduated from college, or adults facing a crossroads such as retirement or divorce.

"They start off with questions like, 'What is my purpose in life? What am I going to do with myself now? It can be pretty scary," he said.

Surprisingly often, Suzy Miles said, people who started out seeking solitude in the wilderness will openly talk about such spiritual questions with someone they've just met.

"When you've walked through the same rainstorms with someone, and have been kept awake by the same person snoring at a campsite, then you're not really strangers," she said.

The Mileses spoke about their ministry Sunday at their home church, Mountain East Community Church in Lilburn. Their unusual mountain ministry started about three years ago when a brief prayer turned into a life-changing moment.

Craig, who grew up in Snellville and graduated from South Gwinnett High School, said he was praying for some direction in his life. At the time, he was working as a technician for an information technology company. He wanted to do something more in line with his education --- he has master's degrees in both philosophy and divinity studies.

At the end of his prayer, he glanced at a table. On it was a magazine with a cover story about missionaries who minister to hikers in China.

For Craig, the article was an answer to his prayer for guidance. He and Suzy, who was a college student at the time, decided to turn their pastime of hiking into a ministry. Rather than China, however, they chose to stay closer to home.

Suzy, a native of Dahlonega, had hiked parts of the Appalachian Trail with Craig. They'd been married only about a year, but she said she did not hesitate to support Craig's vision.

They developed a 50-page plan and presented it to officials of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. They received an endorsement, but were told they would have to raise funds on their own to make the ministry a reality.

The couple spoke at dozens of churches along the 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail, seeking financial support and volunteer workers.

This year, the third of their ministry, Craig and Suzy will leave their home near Cleveland and do a "through hike." That involves walking all way from Springer Mountain in North Georgia to the trail's northern terminus, the peak of Mount Katahdin in Maine.

Besides walking and talking with fellow hikers, the Mileses will work with the volunteers who support their ministry. These "trail angels" staff the way stations set up by Appalachian Trail Servants, usually at spots where the trail crosses a road. They offer food, drink, medical supplies, and conversation --- if it's wanted --- to the hikers.

Craig said the deep wood is an ideal setting for deep conversations.

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