We’d like to thank Steve Anderson for sharing his experience with us in the reflection below. He details here part of his story after serving with BENCHMARK during the 2024 17th Annual Appalachian Trail Outreach:

It is such an honor to be used by God. 

This was the second year that I’ve had the honor to be used by God to serve through BENCHMARK’s Appalachian Trail Outreach. This year was very special for me in that one man really touched my life. The second to the last day that we were there a man wandered into camp that was obviously not equipped for the Appalachian Trail. We fed him that evening and he stayed with us that night and the next morning for breakfast. He still hung around while we tore down camp, helped us tear it down, and stayed for the closing prayer. He shared with me later that in watching us serve the hikers for 2 days and knowing that we had come from many different states just to serve and then listening to each of us pray at the closing, he witnessed extreme sacrificial giving to our Lord through helping others.

When we were packed up and ready to go, I mentioned that there was one more hiker on the trail that I was a little concerned about and that I was going to hike up the trail to find him and this man asked if he could come with. I said sure. Well we did find that hiker who needed a ride out so I was able to give that person a ride back to his truck. Then I asked this man what his plans were and he asked me if I could give him a ride into town to make a phone call. I agreed to. It was a ways away and we had time to talk.

I knew that something was deeply troubling this man. And I found out through the conversation that his intention was to disappear into the woods and never be found again. When I pushed for the reasons why, he shared with me that he had lived a very rough life. And that this world would be better off without him. I was able to share with him about my past which, in short, is that I am a recovered addict and alcoholic who was also worthless at one point. And I shared with him my “road to Damascus”experience that allowed me to begin to live a useful life.

He listened and became hopeful that God could even use a person like him to help others. We have since become part of each other’s lives. And I am glad to report that he is well on his way to repairing the damage done through his lifestyle and to learning how to serve God by serving others. It is such an honor to be used by God.