Hopewalk1's Weblog

The Church in the Wilderness Trailer

hopewalk1 — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:36:40 +0000

Please be sure to watch the newly released trailer for my first publication, The Church in the Wilderness, which hit the book stores back in August! And most of all, thank you for your continued support in helping to make this ministry possible!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IdA59siBjU

Dec 17

hopewalk1 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:51:44 +0000

This is what it looked like driving home. I guess God held off the weather just long enough for us to finish the walk. We did make it home. We stopped one night with Pastor Mike and Sharon Bannon in Vale, a stop with Pastor John Williams in Monticello UT and a night and breakfast with Pastor Jason Parnell in Carthage MO. The weather was miserable pretty much all the way, even in North Georgia there was rain so hard you could hardly see the end of the hood. We arrived at 1:30 am Wed. Morning. Noah went to Waynesville Wed. afternoon and we took Matt to Wilmington on Friday. We got to his house in time for him to meet his daughter at the bus stop. You could hear her screaming “Daddy!” for a block. Regina and I drove back up on Friday night and finally got home about 3:00 am Saturday morning. I’m still exhausted but starting to remember where my bed is. We have some plans to use the knowledge we gained on this journey to help folks who have come to a Crossroads in their lives and to encourage the church to “Arise, shine, for our light has come.” There are so many who need the hope that only comes from Jesus and as the Lord said, “the harvest is ripe.” Pray that the Lord will allow us to be full time laborors in his kingdom. God bless you all and have a merry CHRISTmas!!! Check in now and then, I’ll try to keep you updated. My cell phone is 706-490-3481 home phone 706-746-3688. Should God speak to your heart to help us in our ministry, checks can be made to: Crossroads, PO Box 454, Otto NC 28763. We still have a lot of gas to pay for.

Dec 6

hopewalk1 — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 07:39:50 +0000

Praise God, we made it!! Today at 1:00 Pacific Time the guys walked across Haceta Beach and ended this part of HopeWalk 2008. I say this part because we believe God isn’t done with us yet. It has been an amazing journey but we are glad to be heading home to spend Christmas with our loved ones. I am writing this blog from Vale OR where our good friend Sharon Bannon has once again put us up at the Vale Church of the Nazarene. We left Haceta Beach this afternoon and drove across Oregon to Vale. I dumbly forgot to get gas at John Day so had to pray us across the desert to Vale. God brought us into town 15 minutes before the last station closed and with only fumes left in the tank. Our Father sometimes is gracious even our stupidity. It is very late and I am exhausted and emotionally drained so will fill you in more as soon as I get the time. We are going to try to see as many of the Family as we can on the way back but have some deadlines to meet. You will all be hearing from us, we promise.

Dec 5

hopewalk1 — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 03:53:48 +0000

The owner of this restaurant, Tim Perkins, personifies what I have been discussing about the family of God. Tim didn’t know us when we walked in for supper, but when he heard what we are doing, he came over, shook our hands and said supper was on the house. He told us that the church needs to be inspired and thanked us for trying to do just that. By the time we left, we had a new brother and were further blessed to meet his daughter, Tabitha, and son-in-law, Marshall, this morning when we stopped in for breakfast. The restaurant is in an old church building and is called, Our Daily Bread. If you are in the neighborhood, stop in and give Tim’s food a try. I recommend Curry Chicken Salad.

This is Tabitha and Marshall Eck, Tim’s daughter and son-inlaw. She is the breakfast cook and a very good one indeed.

Tomorrow we will walk the last 20 miles and finish this part of our journey at Heceta Beach on the Oregon Coast. We will have covered over 2,800 miles, over 2,100 of which we walked. We have witnessed to thousands, seen many come to the Lord, and been thanked by hundreds for what we are doing to inspire and encourage. We have made many very good friends and have rejoiced with the Family of God across this nation. I don’t believe any of us would trade this time for anything. We have walked in and witnessed the incredible grace of God at every turn. God bless each of you who have been with us in spirit through this journey, we haved walked in your prayers.

Dec 4

hopewalk1 — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:22:35 +0000

This very appropriate banner was hanging in the room I used for blogging last night at Sisters Church of the Nazarene. Remember that spreading the HOPE in Jesus is why we are out here. Jesus is our hope and the hope of the world. I spent a good deal of time over the past few months considering why anyone would want to live without him. I believe its because we, the Body of Christ, have failed to show his truth to the world around us. We have not not been the City on a Hill that we are called to be. There is a poem that speaks loudly to us all.

My Friend – by D.J. Higgins

My friend, I stand in judgment now

And feel that you’re to blame somehow

While on this earth I walked with you day by day

And never did you point the way

You knew the Lord in truth and glory

But never did you tell the story

My knowledge then was very dim

You could have led me safe to him

Though we lived together here on earth

You never told me of your second birth

And now I stand this day condemned

Because you failed to mention him

You taught me many things, that’s true

I called you friend and trusted you

But now I learned, now it’s too late

You could have kept me from this fate

We walked by day and talked by night

And yet you showed me not the light

You let me live, love and die

And all the while you knew I’d never live on high

Yes, I called you friend in life

And trusted you in joy and strife

Yet in coming to this end

I see you really weren’t my friend

Oh, God, don’t let me fail to tell all I meet the Good News of Jesus. Help me, Father to be a true friend.

Sorry, that has been weighing heavily on my spirit for a few days. Please, family, share your testimony with others, tell them about the hope in Jesus before its too late.

We were blessed tonight by the Valley UMC in Veneta. Brother Doug Esselstyn and Rod Burch welcomed us to stay in their fellowship hall with the blessing of Pastor Eilidh Lowery. They also invited us to join them for the Parade of Lights, local Christmas parade. It was a very pretty event though I could take no pictures to show you guys.

We did find out today why the University of Oregon mascot is the Ducks. These pictures were taken not far from the U of Oregon campus.

We have only two more days of walking before we reach the Pacific. We are excited to be finished with this part and be able to come home before Christmas, but we are saddened that the journey ends for now. I will try in the next few days to put into writing some of the stuff we have learned on this missionary journey to the American people and church.

Dec 3

hopewalk1 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:06:27 +0000

As we near the end of our missionary journey across America this picture says so much. “Oh Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made.” We have truly seen the glory and wonder of our Father, Almighty God. We have been so blessed to witness his wonder before our eyes time after time. This was taken this morning above Prineville OR.

At the end of the day we witnessed his glory in a different way in Sisters OR as the sun set over the Three Sisters mountains. We walked almost forty miles today from sunup to sundown. The beauty of the creation is particularly shown here in the great northwest. We are blessed to be housed this evening at the Sisters Church of the Nazarene. Pastor Chuck Perry welcomed us to stay for the night and to attend the prayer service.

I had to show at least one of the mountain pictures I took today. This is Mount Jefferson, over 10,000 feet high. Along with the beauty comes the cold, high tomorrow is supposed to be 39.

Dec 2

hopewalk1 — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:04:24 +0000

It snowed last night but only on the mountaintops. We were blessed to be in the valley. We walked from Mt. Vernon to Dayville and then drove through the desert to Prineville.

Dayville is a neat little place like stepping back to the old west. This is the main store owned by the Jones Gang.

When I asked what they were building this facade for, I was told “so people like you would stop and ask.” Makes sense to me!

The scenary was gorgeous as we traveled over to Prineville.

That’s where we met today’s angel, Pastor Matt Huff of Prineville Church of the Nazarene. Pastor Matt hosted us at his church and provided all we need.

Dec 1

hopewalk1 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:22:36 +0000

This is the way our day began. Driving through the heavy fog of the high desert on our way to Prairie City. We actually had to go through two mountain passes and then descend into town.

Just before we got there, the fog lifted and we were presented with this beautiful view. We went to the edge of town where we began walking and walked through Prairie City and John Day and on to Mt. Vernon. Then we backtracked to John Day to stay at the John Day Nazarene Church. Pastor Dan Wiese and Youth Pastor Brad Williamson stopped by on their day off to welcome us.

The guys drove this Conestoga wagon part of the way but their oxen got loose so they had to walk the rest of the way. Though this part of Oregon doesn’t have a lot of people, the ones we have found have been very hospitable. Many have told us we have really been an inspiration to them. We hope that inspiration only grows and never wavers as the Holy Spirit begins to direct their paths. God only requires that we be available to serve, He will supply everything else.

Nov 30

hopewalk1 — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:43:56 +0000

This is where we worshipped our Father today. The Family of God comes in all shapes and sizes. This is one of those small, wonderfully loving places where after the first ten minutes you feel like you’ve known each other all your life. We spoke breifly and then heard a good message by guest speaker, Dave Jacobsen. We headed over to the Starlite Restaurant again and met several of the church family there for lunch. Great fellowship and encouragement to us. Sister Sharon Bannon, who is holding down the fort while her husband is out of town, invited us to do our laundry at their house. We so appreciate the way God leads his family to help one another.

So as the sun sets on our time in Vale, we are again thankful to have made connection with another part of the Family. Tomorrow we will drive through the high desert to Prairie City and walk from there to John Day. We are nearing the end of this missionary journey. It has been and continues to be an amazing walk in the presence of the Lord, witnessing his grace, mercy and glory across this nation. May God ignite the flames of renewal and revival in our wake.

Nov 29

hopewalk1 — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 03:19:02 +0000

I don’t think I’ve ever shown you guys the places we sleep. This is in the basement of the Vale Nazarene Church in Vale OR. Last night we slept on our blow ups in the gym/fellowship hall at Nyssa Nazarene Church. We have slept in church sanctuaries, nurseries, gyms, fellowship halls, classrooms and hallways. Some have showers and kitchens we can use and others only a bath. Some are warm and cozy, some barely warm enough to keep the icicles from forming. All are better than being outside in the elements of winter. We are very grateful to the family of God all along our journey for opening their doors to us and often giving us far more than a place to stay. Tonight, for instance, Pastor Mike Bannon’s wife, Sharon, comped us a meal at their restaurant, Starlite Restaurant, here in Vale. Thank you, Sharon, the food was fantastic and the service was perfect.

Oh, and just in case you guys forgot there are volcanoes in the US…..