Rick Hagans hasn’t been the same since a little boy in a garbage dump in Mexico asked him for a pair of shoes.
“We were on the last day of our annual Christmas missions trip when a little fella, no more than 5 or 6 years old came up to me and asked if he could swap the toys we’d given him for a simple pair of shoes,” Hagans said. “His own shoes were tattered with his toes sticking out well beyond the soles, and his were among the best in the dump.”
Hagans promised the little boy he’d come back with shoes for everyone — and to raise the money, he walked across the state of Alabama the following summer.
That was in 1996. In the years since, Hagans — who founded Harvest Evangelism in Opelika — has walked across more than 34 states, covering more than 8,000 miles and collecting more than 400,000 pairs of shoes. One year he walked the entire Trail of Tears.
He calls these walks a “pilgrimage of promise.”
And he’s at it again. On Oct. 15, he started walking across Texas.
Between now and Thanksgiving, Hagans will make his way along the cattle trail made famous by Larry McMurtry’s “Lonesome Dove.” He started his route on the Rio Grande and will head north through San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth and on to Wichita Falls — a total of about 700 miles.
Hagans said he doesn’t rely on a specific route during his walks.
“If the road to my left looks more interesting than the road on my right, I’ll probably take it,” he said.
He walks 20–25 miles each day and then hitch-hikes back to a van he travels in.
“Seeing who will pick me up is part of the adventure,” he said. “You can’t imagine the tales I have where someone picked me up and were shocked to find I’m a preacher. That’s become a big part of my pilgrimage. I pray for divine appointments and God never seems to disappoint.”
Hagans said he’s prayed with people out on the highways in every state he’s crossed.
“Sometimes the road seems more sacred than the sanctuary,” he said. “I guess that shouldn’t surprise me — Jesus seemed to share the same sentiment.”
Hagans said when he was able to find that boy after returning to Mexico and put new shoes on his feet, he felt more like Jesus than he’d ever felt like while preaching a sermon.
“We’ve taken tractor trailers full of shoes to Mexico and given away tens of thousands here in our own needy neighborhoods,” Hagans said.
For more information, visit harvestevangelism.org.
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