Our new Friend of Barnabas, Steve Claxton, is continuing his hike up the Appalachian Trail, and is nearing the Roanoke, VA area! Linwood Cook and others are hoping to meet up with Steve this week. Steve is hiking about 15-20 miles a day and is making great time.
Here are some excerpts and photos from Steve...Kyle was able to meet up with Steve in Damascus, VA, and thank him in person for carrying the torch for Friends of Barnabas. You can see more of Steve's photos on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/steve.claxton.75
...Just how many blessings can one hiker handle in one day?! I got word from Greg Wright who cuts my hair back home (what little is left) that he offered to drive all the way to Erwin, TN (two hours away) to cut my hair one last time before I hiked north....
Kyle and Steve
...And then I found out that the founder of the organization "Friends of Barnabas" who I am carrying their Spot satellite device to raise money for medical care for children in Honduras, is a pastor at a rural church in Virginia. There is no Internet there so each Sunday he prints off a map of the Appalachian Trail and marks where I am at the end of that week so that the congregation can keep up with me. I'm on their prayer list each Sunday...
...I posted a video today from the trail talking about my day and where it would be ending. I walked into Uncle Johnnie's Hostel, (no he's not a relative, just the name of the hostel) and as I pull my billfold out of my pocket to pay, the phone rang. "Hello" I heard the man helping me say. "He just walked in the door two minutes ago and is standing right here in front of me" he explained to the person on the phone. He listened to the person on the other end of the line and then began taking their credit card number info. "What in the world was going on" I wondered! He then finished up their transaction and told me that someone had paid for my cabin. "THEY DID WHAT?" I asked if he would ask if they would reveal who they are? Here he said, and handed me the phone. I asked who I was speaking with and to my astonishment it was Murphy Blevins, a young school teacher from St. Augustine, Florida who I hiked a couple of days with past Neil's Gap a couple of years ago when she was thru hiking the A.T. I was only hiking from Springer back home 160 miles. She said that she saw the video that I had posted so she knew where I would be staying and just wanted to pay it forward with a little trail magic of her own...
To date we have raised over $31,000 for the children of Honduras! Thanks to Steve, and to Kyle, and to Ronnie Dillon who's keeping track of Steve and encouraging him on his way.
Mountains of Virginia
