A Sunday hike at El Shaddai

This past Sunday, what began as an idea for a small-group hike, turned into a battalion of El Shaddai children walking down the road armed with water and joined by World Racers from the Fusion Squad ready to hike a neighboring rocky peak. Racers and children held hands and chatted about church that morning. A rowdy game of let’s-walk-on-peoples’-shadow broke out and many little boys laughed and scampered around each other for a long time.

When they approached the mountain, the group thinned out; some kids opted to climb at full speed, racing up the rocks and others slowed down to go at their own pace. Zeus, one of the mission’s large dogs kept up with the children the whole time, leaping from rock to rock with his tongue out. It only took a half an hour for everyone to reach the top. The children who arrived the quickest began calling after the other kids and Racer’s, encouraging them as they climbed. For a while everyone enjoyed the view from the top, but soon they grew restless and ready to move and began their descent. Once again, some had little to no fear of the sharp declines and others hung back with a more cautious pace. Lots of kids enjoyed piggyback rides once they reached the road. Before sunset everyone got home, some with much less energy than when they started, but most can’t wait for a much longer hike next weekend. ​

Author: Aly Badinger