Hike with Hope and Brewers Lantern Join Forces
Above is the joint effort of a local brand Brewers Lantern and Hike with hope. Since the beginning we have built an incredible relationship with April Harris, who is the owner of The Squire Shop and now also the owner of Brewers Lantern. We have partnered since the beginning, and today April and Brewers Lantern took a huge step to show their support in our cause. For every shirt you purchase Hike with Hope will receive a portion of the proceeds. This shirt is available online or at The Squire Shop. But we would love for you to come out this Friday April 8th from 1:30 till our team will be at the Squire shop presenting these shirts along with our story! We are forever grateful and forever indebted to April and her support to our cause!
Blood Mountain
We are currently within 20 days of leaving for Honduras, and this last weekend we loaded up the team and went and conquered Blood Mountain on the AT. If you are interested in doing some of these day hikes, or taking a weekend with us please contact us so that we can get you involved!
Here are a couple of pictures from this weekend.
One Day Without Shoes Event!
Tonight’s event went really well! As most of you know Hike with Hope sells our bands and other products at several local retailers in Carrollton. Well Sweet Peas is one of those retailers and they are also our local licensed Tom Shoes retailer. So together we took a stand tonight and marched around the University of West Georgia College! Here are some pics from tonight!
One Day Without Shoes
On April 5 2011 this Tuesday we will be partnering with Sweat Peas in Carrollton Georgia to take a stand for children all over the world that go everyday without shoes, so how can you help…leave your shoes at home and come join us in a walk around The University of West Georgia. We will be meeting at 5:30 pm at Sweat Peas. Also all day you can pick up a pair of Toms shoes at Sweet Peas for 30% off! Would love to see you all and hope you will join in this movement! If you can’t come out you can still spend One Day Without Shoes!
Night of Hope
Saturday on March 19th from 7-9 we will be having a benefit night for Hike with Hope at Bella Coffee in Carrollton. This night will consist of Great music from Carson Ray, Jeremy Hicks, and Kristen Hicks, along with several ways you can partner with us to bring hope to the hopeless. We will have many handcrafted art pieces from the Lenca people, as well as many local art pieces. Please come by and check out what we are doing in the coming of days and partner with us as we reach out to the forgotten. Just one night that can bring hope for a lifetime! See you there!
New Products Available Now!
Here are three NEW PRODUCTS you can check out now on our online store at Storenvy!
Red T-shirt
Grey T-shirt
Sew on Patch
The World Race
Hike with Hope has been given an incredible opportunity to sponsor Kim Butler who is joining an incredible organization called “The World Race.” Here is a little about Kim:
“I’m what they call a type A personality. I’m a perfectionist… I’m even trying to perfect not being a perfectionist! (a work in progress). I’m also an over committer, I always have multiple things going on at a time and as soon as something comes off my plate I find something else to replace it. I’m excited to spend 11 months committed to nothing except God and sharing His love with others.
I’m 24 years old and I graduated from Berry College in May 2008 with a degree in Business Management. I’m currently working in property management, an industry that I am less than passionate about, I coach a women’s crew (rowing) team at Brenau University, something I am overly passionate about, and I’m almost done planning a wedding for my oldest friend. God has used each of these things and more, even the job, to prepare me for this trip and grow me up in Him.
So, how did I come to make the decision to go on “The World Race.” Well, it started with my sister who mentioned that she thought it might be something I would be interested in. We didn’t talk much about it, and honestly I forgot about it. A few days later the idea came back in my mind, and again and again for a few weeks. At that point I said, “God, are you trying to tell me something?” So I went online and looked up this elusive trip. I got really excited about it after reading just a few things and decided I should shut the computer. I tend to get my hopes up about things and then they become about me and not about God’s will for my life, and I wanted this to be ALL God if it was His will. I made the decision to not actively think about the trip and only pray and surrender it to God anytime He brought it to mind. For about 2 more weeks the Spirit continued to speak to my heart and remind me of all the events that He had used to lead me to this place. He began to confirm that this was not my own voice but rather His still small voice leading me to this place. After looking more deeply into the trip online I decided to pray more intentionally for God’s guidance and spoke with my mentor who advised that I begin walking through the doors God opened. Not 100% confident, I decided to take a vacation alone, something I have never done. I ended up going to 4 cities in 4 days and God revealed to me more about Himself and His desire to fulfill my desires. It was a sweet time to get quite and alone with God and He confirmed even more that I was to lay down my desires and trust Him to give me life to the full!”
To Keep up with Kim or to partner with Hike with Hope in supporting her please visit her site HERE!
Thanks Kim for all that you are doing for the kingdom and we are looking forward to reaching the world with you!
We are Going back, are you coming?
As many of you have heard the Hike with Hope team is heading back to Delicias, Honduras on April 25th. We do want to announce that we still have a couple of slots available if this is something that interest you.
Here is a little about the trip:
This is a 6 day trip in which we will leave on the 25th and return on the 30th.
The cost will be about $700-$800 pending on plane tickets between then and now
You will need to be able to Hike for roughly 6 hours through rough terrain and climate change.
During this trip we will be living among the Lenca people and providing for some of their immediate spiritual and physical needs (such as but not limited to Food/Water/Shelter/agriculture)
Noteworthy:
Before you email me with a desire for a slot you will need to make sure that you can have $700 by March 1st
Be able to meet with me or a team member by February 6th
Passports are required to leave the country, but there are no immunizations needed
If you are at all interested to come with us on our next adventure to Honduras please email me at cmr070@gmail.com
The village down the street
For the last month we have been building relationships with a village that is down the street from my house. It has been such an eye-opening experience for me and everyone else involved with Hike with Hope. This village consists of 15-20 residence living in tents and shacks, Women and Men and even a dog name Sadie. We have went in a couple of times a week for a while now and have gotten to the point of being on a name to name basis. The idea of this process is to restore dignity, to love the unloved and to bring hope to the hopeless. Ultimately we want to bring awareness of the need and give you the opportunity to get involved. Be the Change.
Last week we got the opportunity to bring in a meal(thanks to Project Axis) and not just serve these people but actually sit down and have Thanksgiving with them. As we set up this feast on the makeshift ping-pong table, the eyes got big in the woods! It was such an unbelievable feeling to be able to sit down and do life with these people. Be the Change
The most incredible thing happen the other day while we stopped by to visit, a guy named Scotty came up and handed me several pairs of pants and shoes and expressed his desire to be apart of this movement and he wanted to help clothe and meet the needs of people too. How ridiculous that generosity comes natural to those who have nothing to lose. You and I are rich, Be the Change.
Here is a list of things we need for these people
Tarps, Tents, Long Johns, shoes(Men/Women), Personal products(Men/Women), Work Opportunities, Gloves, Coats, toboggans, Hand and Feet Warmers, Shoes, batteries, candles, plywood, Sponsorship/Partner. Be the Change
View from the lens
Here is one of many videos put together from our hike in Honduras
A word from Chris “Khaki” Altman
By now many of have heard about our friends from Delicias and Benigno in particular. Benigno was the gentleman who gave his life to Christ during one of our services within the village. Since our visit the village has encountered episodes of persecution and no doubt public rejection. The Hike with Hope teams heart is very heavy for Beningo and other professing believers within the village. We’re thankful for the persecution as it confirms to us that God is at work. Specifically and intentionally God is at work within the hearts of this village. This is very evident through the resistance being shown and the thickness of a religion that is depending on man rather than relationship with the Father, through Jesus Christ. Our prayer here is anything. Anything it takes God for your glory to have maximum exposure in my world. That’s a tough prayer but we’re thankful for Benigno and his stand for the Gospel and glory of Jesus Christ.
We encourage and beg you to pray for Benigno. He didn’t accept Christ amidst a loving congregation that would accept, equip, and love him. He accepted Christ amidst the stares, whispers, and soon coming persecution. He’s likely to be shut out from the inner circles of the village. Maybe not allowed to walk a certain trail or share in a meal. We really don’t know the truth of it because truth is our world is different. But is it all that different? How well do we rejoice when one soul comes to Christ? How well do we come along their side to equip, accept and love? Maybe a quick hug or pat on the back and then it’s back to our usual routine? Truth is those who accept Christ often have to backslide or “calm down” before they’ll ever fit in at an average American church, and that’s sad. So this is post is both an encouragement and challenge. Be encouraged, thankful and mindful of the freedom we have here. Bondage exists within religion but freedom is there for those in Christ Jesus. Walk in that freedom! Be challenged to pray for Benigno and resist religion. Stand strong with those around you to be the hands and feet of Christ as we possess His mind.
As I pray for Benigno and the people of Delicias this is my prayer, this is my hope, and a great reminder of how specific and intentional our prayers should be for Benigno and those around this world, even within our own communities:
“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, the you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills in all.” Eph. 1:15-23
A word from Chris "Khaki" Altman
By now many of have heard about our friends from Delicias and Benigno in particular. Benigno was the gentleman who gave his life to Christ during one of our services within the village. Since our visit the village has encountered episodes of persecution and no doubt public rejection. The Hike with Hope teams heart is very heavy for Beningo and other professing believers within the village. We’re thankful for the persecution as it confirms to us that God is at work. Specifically and intentionally God is at work within the hearts of this village. This is very evident through the resistance being shown and the thickness of a religion that is depending on man rather than relationship with the Father, through Jesus Christ. Our prayer here is anything. Anything it takes God for your glory to have maximum exposure in my world. That’s a tough prayer but we’re thankful for Benigno and his stand for the Gospel and glory of Jesus Christ.
We encourage and beg you to pray for Benigno. He didn’t accept Christ amidst a loving congregation that would accept, equip, and love him. He accepted Christ amidst the stares, whispers, and soon coming persecution. He’s likely to be shut out from the inner circles of the village. Maybe not allowed to walk a certain trail or share in a meal. We really don’t know the truth of it because truth is our world is different. But is it all that different? How well do we rejoice when one soul comes to Christ? How well do we come along their side to equip, accept and love? Maybe a quick hug or pat on the back and then it’s back to our usual routine? Truth is those who accept Christ often have to backslide or “calm down” before they’ll ever fit in at an average American church, and that’s sad. So this is post is both an encouragement and challenge. Be encouraged, thankful and mindful of the freedom we have here. Bondage exists within religion but freedom is there for those in Christ Jesus. Walk in that freedom! Be challenged to pray for Benigno and resist religion. Stand strong with those around you to be the hands and feet of Christ as we possess His mind.
As I pray for Benigno and the people of Delicias this is my prayer, this is my hope, and a great reminder of how specific and intentional our prayers should be for Benigno and those around this world, even within our own communities:
“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, the you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills in all.” Eph. 1:15-23
Now that we are back
So now that we are back believe it or not there has been word from this village. I know I spent some time helping you understand how far off the map it is, which it is but we have people who are local to this area going in that are actually doing bible studies within this village(the organization who were our guides in). Which is awesome, essentially they are fighting the good fight on the beliefs side while we get the opportunity to provide for these people, while supporting the ministry that is in there. Well the week after we vacated this gracious place, those religious people who I told you about came in and they began burning the Bibles that they had and really distracted them for the whole reason we were there. Grant you believe it or not these Bibles carry a truth that is in their Bibles, but the whole point of this control is about power. These people are being told that they can’t read the scriptures on their own without someone going to God for them. So now this situation began to become complicated again. But our locals just got back from going into Delicias and they were welcomed with loving arms, because unlike what these people are being taught our faith compels us to do good not harm. While we are back in the states it is hard to not be there loving on these people. In fact it is extremely hard to see how much torment religion has brought to this place. Because unlike you and I these people are persecuted daily for what they believe, because what they believe comes with a cost.
I say all this to say Hike with Hope exist for the forgotten, the invisible, the hurt and the forsaken. We exist for the need, the provider and the story. We will never enter a battle of religion with these people because that is not what we are or what we are there for. This doesn’t mean that things don’t get messy. But we have found out, though the powers over the suppressed want to try to make this about religion, that love overcomes it all. We have been able to love more, help more and do more because it isn’t about religion to us its about relationship with the one true way, Christ.
Won’t you join our movement?
While we were there
As many of you know when we began this adventure of “Hike with Hope” the directions was wide and the cause was broad. But immediately after accepting this journey we were introduced to the opportunity to venture out to Delicias, Honduras. The first thought was, why not? This is a place where people live lives trying to exist. The needs of these people were many, but a huge need was telling the story of the Lenca people. Within their story is a story about the battles in which they step into everyday in their hopes of making it to tomorrow. Knowing this about the Lenca people it was an easy decision that we would be going. Now you should know this trip was a planned trip before hand and it was one of many trips apart of an association that make their way down to Honduras yearly. But there have been few that attempt this long stroll in the mountains to make it into this village. We were going to be among the first. If you can imagine the end of the world as you know it, and then add your imagination on even greater of a distance, then add several more miles and that was our destination. The thought of hunger and thirst, poor hygiene and disease are among the many understood problems we would face. But when we arrived, there was an “elephant in the room.” And that elephant was religion. Who would have thought that a place so far separated from society could be in such bondage to religion. Honestly though all of us who attended this trip were men of faith and a faith in which drives to care for the forgotten, I never thought this would be apart of this trip, that is a battle on beliefs. Sure most people have a belief system, and when they are so disconnected from societies sometimes they even make up their own, so this was something that I figured we would run into. But not to a measurement of this extreme. Here you have several people from across the world trying to bring hope to a forgotten people and the first obstacle was that they were extremely terrified of us. The first thought is sure because we are white and they are not, but it was more than that. This was because some religious leader that happens to be tied within their government told them that people of our nature(white) would come one day to harm them. I knew that during our stay we would provide food, water and our story, but they didn’t know that and yet they were distant. So of course once they saw we were there for them and not against them, and that they didn’t have to believe in the same things as we do in order for us to serve them, they became very welcoming and very fast. We sat for many hours among their homes, played for many days with their children and infiltrated their communities with Hike with Hope Bands(which they loved to have something to call their own). It was a dream come true, we were doing life with people who have felt alone for some time. But then we had to go. The hike back was glorious knowing we would have a warm meal back at the bunk house and even maybe a cold soda. But as I laid my head down that night I was distraught over how controlling these religious forces were. This is where more layers of this story began.
To Be Continued….
the trip
These faces represent the joy in which many of you helped us bring to this nation.
The trip was nothing less than remarkable. We began this journey in hopes to locate many of the forgotten people out in this world and we are back to share their story. Over the next several weeks we will begin sharing the many photos and stories of the Lenca people in hopes to capture your attention. This journey is not over and has developed with several more diverse layers. With your help we will begin meeting the needs of these people and restoring their hope in life that exist outside of the valley in which they reside.
Let me introduce to you the Lenca people.
Stay apart of this story by subscribing to these post and being apart of this journey!
A word from Honduras…
I’ve heard from Chris and the guys joining Hike with Hope in Honduras. They made it safely to the village- though the hike was really difficult- and have seen 30 people accept Christ through their time sharing their testimonies and the love of Jesus! Each phone conversation was only a few minutes long, but it sounds like they all have had an incredible time! They were leaving really early this morning to hike back out to La Esperanza and will be traveling home tomorrow. They still have a lot of travel ahead of them, so please continue to pray for their endurance. Thank you everyone for your love, support, and prayers that makes this cause happen!
Many Thanks,
Kelly Reynolds
Romans 10:13-15
Chick-fil-a Spirit Night
Monday night was an incredible night! We raised tons of awareness and support for our trip coming up in only 3 days! Here are a couple of pictures from that night!
The Crew!(notice how incredible the beards are come along)
We had so many varieties available in our bands(You can buy one today just check out our retail tab)
Here is our new Key Chains!(Available November 1st.)
Thank you so much if you came out and supported our cause!
…..Without Ceasing
This time next week we will be arriving into the village in Honduras called Delicias and we need your help! Before we leave I have set a goal to get at least 100 people praying for us and with us as we bring hope to the forgotten. In 1 thessalonians 5:16 the Bible says that we are to pray without ceasing! I am asking you sincerely to help us through prayer! There will be many moments on this trip that are going to be treacherous and trying and the only thing we have to offer that satisfies for good is the love and hope that we have through Jesus Christ. Below is our itinerary and information. I would love for you to leave a comment on this post with your name so that I will know you are committing to do this with us! Heres the plan:
Monday October 18
–will leave Atlanta and arrive in Honduras
–We will be traveling 5hrs into the mountains toward the trail head
–Stay the night in LaEsparanza
Tuesday October 19
–We will Backpack into Delicias (this will be a complete days hike)
Wednesday October 20- Friday October 22
–We will live among these people
–Provide resources
–Proclaim Truth
–Pursue Change
Friday October 22
–Pack out of Delicias and head back to LaEsparanza
Saturday October 23
–We will be traveling back to the U.S
TEAM MEMBERS: Chris Reynolds/ Mike Annas/ Micah Kilgore/ Jason Poor/ Chris Altman/ Scott Hellman/Kirk Richeson/Andrew Owensby/ Christian Harris
Please Share this post and Sign Up to Pray through next week with us!
Chick-fil-a Spirit night!
This Coming Monday the 11th, Hike with Hope will be having a spirit night at the Carrollton Chick-fil-a. This event will be from 5-8 pm. 15% of all sales will be raised for our organization and this vision! We will also be on site selling HWH bands and sharing information with you all! If you love Chick-fil-a and have a heart for the forgotten, then don’t miss this chance to help impact the lives of those in need around this world!
Please print this slip to bring with you or if you forget it or are not capable to print it then just walk up and ask one of us that night and we will have some on site!
Hope to see you there! Please Spread the word!
Hike With Hope 