Thank You Letter

Hey folks!

The following is a thank you letter that I am sending out to all those who prayed for and supported this ministry. Take care, and God Bless!

Stickman

September 28, 2007


Hello, everyone!

It is time for an update on the ScriptureStick Appalachian Trail Mission, and to extend a big “thank you” to all of you for your prayers and support, and for making the mission successful!

A few of you are already up to date with everything going on, as I have had opportunity to talk with you, but for others...well, here goes!

In our letter of March 29, 2007, we reached out to all of you for prayer and support, and explained the goals and plans for the mission. I talked about how “my plans” did not always coincide with “God’s Plan”, and that I had repeatedly had to modify “my plans” to fit His. Although I couldn’t always see where His plan was leading, it always ended up being the “right plan”. For example, I may have wanted to hike twenty miles in the day, only to wake up to a lot of rain, and miserable hiking. But, at the end of the day, cold, wet, tired, and having hiked only twelve miles, I would find that he placed me exactly where he wanted me...short of MY goal, but safe, sitting in a shelter with another hiker, having a great conversation that would invariably allow for a gentle sharing of my faith.

My attempted hike of the Appalachian Trail, (a distance of 2,174 miles), would have taken me six months to complete, from June through November...I came up a little short, but count every step as a success! My hiking partner, FAITHFUL, and I were on trail June 1st. We started from Andover, ME, and hiked North to Mt. Katahdin, allowing us to meet all of the SOBO’s (South-bound hikers). We then returned to Andover, to start hiking SOBO. The plan was that we would now be hiking with other SOBO’s, and would meet the NOBO’s (Northbounders) as they made their way from Springer Mtn., in Georgia, to Mt. Katahdin, in Maine. All was going according to plan, (my plan), until we reached Manchester, Vermont. After spending the day there, we moved down trail to a shelter. My lower right leg had begun to swell, and was a bit painful, but over the next two days, I kept plodding along. Forty miles later, we made it into Bennington, VT. It became obvious that I had a major problem with the leg, and on August 3rd, my brother Larry made the six hour trip from Maine to pick us up. Once back in Maine, I had an x-ray, then a bone scan, and finally an MRI, ultimately finding that I had an infection in my lower leg. One week later, Faithful returned to the trail, and I considered that my hike had ended. However, after being home for three weeks, the antibiotics had done their job, and brother Larry once again got me back on trail, on August 23rd. At this point, I was well behind the other SOBO’s, and the huge wave of NOBO’s had already made it past Bennington, VT., while I was off trail. At this point, I began to pray as to what God would have me do, and it seemed that for the time being I would stay on trail. I only met about two dozen NOBO’s, but had many great meetings with section and day hikers, and Freshman orientation groups from various colleges. I also had a few opportunities to see people in the small towns that were more prevalent near the trail. Eventually, though, I was finding myself alone, not just when hiking, but when at the shelters. It seemed to me that the time had come to go home. I did not want to stop my hike, but after considerable prayer, I came home. I had made it as far as Greymore Friary, a monastery just outside of Peekskill, New York. I had hiked 800 miles! That is more than a third of the entire trail, and certainly covered much of the more difficult terrain. I believe that at some time, I will return to the trail, and complete the remaining miles...just don’t know when...

Things happened quickly once I decided to come off trail. On September 5th I decided to come home, but didn’t know how I would get there. God handled that, and, after a train ride and three different busses, I was picked up the next morning in Waterville, ME, by Larry! That was a Thursday. On Monday morning, after resting a bit, I was back at work at my previous job, thankful to be able to help pay the bills!

What, exactly, was accomplished during this mission trip? While I was out on the trail, I was able to interact directly with other hikers, sometimes one on one, sometimes in groups. I would be able to share the fact that I was a Christian, talk about the mission trip, and listen to what they had to say. I would also give them a card with contact information and encourage them to go to the Scripture Sticks.com site, where they could view more information. I also let the NOBO’s know that when they got to Maine, if they needed assistance, they could call our home, or e-mail Cari, and she would do her best to help. There were meetings with all kinds of folks, hikers, storeowners, postal workers, trail angels, just about everyone you could think of. When I could, I talked with them, and gave them a card. The opportunities to “plant seeds” were endless!

What about the ScriptureSticks? That has been such a big and wonderful part of the ministry! If you remember, we wanted to place at least 220 sponsored ScriptureStick hiking sticks during this mission, representative of every 10 miles of the length of the trail...Well, good news! We received sponsorship for 90 ScriptureSticks! Thank you so much for your generous support! Your sponsored sticks are everywhere, witnessing to untold numbers of people! They have been given out by various youth groups from Maine to West Virginia, shipped direct to folks in several states, left at trailheads, shelters, and motels. Many of the hikers that I have met have now received hiking sticks!...MORE good news! We didn’t stop at 90 sponsored ScriptureSticks! Cari, seeing the need, was incredible, and, with our daughter, Elizabeth, helping, made up a bunch more sticks...and sent them out...so we actually have planted 160 ScriptureSticks!

We aren’t done yet, either! We intend to keep making and giving away ScriptureSticks! We are still working on a list of people that would benefit from having a ScriptureStick. Most of these folks are hikers, and have said that they would like to have a stick. We would like to keep this part of the ministry going, and are mailing out sticks as best as we can!

Currently, we are trying to give support to the NOBO hikers that have reached Maine. This weekend past, Elizabeth and I made a trip up to the trailhead, just before Stratton. We were able to offer rides and refreshments to two hikers, both of whom I had met while I was out on the trail. We had a great time, and it was nice to reconnect with these hikers. We also were able to have one of the hikers leave a ScriptureStick with the owner of the White Wolf Inn, in Stratton!

We certainly are not done with this mission, but are thankful for all that has been accomplished to date, and are blessed by your support and prayers. If you have not visited our website, the address is www.SCRIPTURESTICKS.com . You will also find contact information, and a link to a weblog. You will find a journal of my hike on the blog, with most entries made by Cari. However, I am slowly adding my daily journal notes to the site (for the corresponding dates). You will be able to check past entries to see if I have added my notes, so feel free to check back frequently. We will eventually be putting together a presentation of the mission that we will hopefully be able to share at churches, and possibly online, but it will take some time, so please be patient!

Thanks again for all your continued prayer and support! Also, please keep Faithful in your prayers. You can follow him at http://faithfulpilgrim.blogspot.com. At my last check, he was doing well, and is hiking in Virginia.

We can still be reached the good ol’fashioned way at snailmail as follows;

ScriptureSticks
Kelly and Cari Hibbard
50 Hardy Street
Madison, Maine 04950

and by PHONE (207)-696-8072

and of course, E-MAIL khibb57@beeline-online.net

...And, don’t forget to check out our website! It’s.......

www.SCRIPTURESTICKS.com

THANK YOU! Happy Trails!

In Christ,
Kelly (Stickman) and Cari Hibbard