58-Year-Old Walks 5 Million Steps for Jesus
Moses was more than 80 years old when he climbed the mountain to meet God. So at 58, Charles Anderson didn’t think taking five million steps along the Appalachian Trail was too much, especially since he was on a mission for Jesus.
Anderson set out to section-hike the entire length of America’s most famous footpath for one simple reason: that’s where the youth are. Indeed, Anderson discovered that many of America’s youth were walking along the same path—and many of them are searching for the meaning of life. Anderson knew he had the answers they were looking for: Jesus Christ.
“I remember one young man who emerged from the fog near Neels Gap, Georgia,” recalls Anderson, a former missionary to France. “I recognized him as one of the hikers at a stone shelter to whom I had given a tract.”
The young man held up the tract and told Anderson he had read it—and he wanted to talk to him about it. For the next 20 minutes, Anderson shared God’s plan of salvation with the college student, as well as his personal testimony. At the end of the discourse, Anderson urged the young man to put his trust in Christ.
Although he didn’t get a decision just then, the young man promised to think about it—and he continued down the Appalachian Trail. Anderson continued along the trail too, and offers similar stories of his work spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ in his new book, “Beyond My Limits,” a book he hopes will encourage Christians “to get off their La-Z-Boys and on the trail.”
