For the past month, when Rick Hagans woke up in the morning, he laced up his tennis shoes, stretched his sore muscles and continued his journey — a 500-mile trek across North and South Carolina. With each step across the Carolinas, Hagans, an ordained Southern Baptist pastor, secured a pair of shoes for one more child.
One more child who will no longer have to walk barefoot on the glass and garbage throughout the streets of Mexico. One more child who will no longer have to walk miles to school on the dusty roads of Zambia without shoes. And it’s all because of Hagans’ promise to a young Mexican boy 15 years ago.
As the founder and president of Harvest Evangelism, a Christian outreach organization in Auburn, Hagans organizes missions trips to distribute supplies including toys at Christmastime.
During one trip to Mexico in 1992, a boy cradling an armful of toy trucks and action figures approached him with one question.
“The boy came up to me and said, ‘Señor, could I give back all these toys for a pair of shoes?’ I thought it was so ironic that he would rather have shoes than toys, but then I looked around and no one had shoes in the entire area,” he said.
Walking among broken glass, the boy stood with his toes protruding from rugged and worn shoes and awaited Hagans’ answer. Although he couldn’t grant the boy’s request, Hagans gave his word to this little boy that he would come back in the summer with shoes for his community.
Thousands of shoes
From that moment on, Hagans decided to take odd jobs and save $100 a month for shoes. But he soon realized that was not how the Lord wanted to provide shoes for the children in Mexico.
“It was a spur-of-the-moment thing while I was preaching at a church in Birmingham. As I preached, I thought, ‘I’m not going to get shoes until I walk across Alabama.’”
So Hagans challenged the congregation to give a pair of shoes for every mile he walked. There was some interest so he went a step further — agreeing to walk the entire state barefoot to identify with his friends in Mexico.
In response to Hagans’ spontaneous proposal, the congregation shouted “Amen” and agreed to help him raise 10,000 pairs of shoes. Thus began his pilgrimage to keep his promise. “It gets me out of my old comfort zone, in church behind a pulpit. Jesus walked the highways and byways so why shouldn’t I?”
And with that challenge, he has walked across 24 states since (only walking Alabama barefoot), averaging 7,500 miles and collecting more than 100,000 pairs of shoes. On his Carolina journey, Hagans said he hoped to raise 5,000 pairs of shoes for children and adults, which will then be matched shoe for shoe by Soles4Souls, a ministry dedicated to distributing shoes worldwide. Hagans plans to deliver the shoes in Mexico and ship several crates to India and Zambia.
Blake Gilbreath, director of missions development for Harvest Evangelism, said such abandon is not out of character for Hagans.
“Rick started preaching in my church when I was 6. He told stories about his ministry and they were not typical. But he’s not a typical pastor,” said Gilbreath, who accompanied Hagans on his Carolina walk. “Since I’ve known him, he’s been a mentor. … On the walks, I get to spend time with him and pick his brain.”
Since Aug. 21, Hagans walked 20–25 miles per day and planned to wrap up the walk in late September. Hagans said he enjoys the time he can spend in prayer and the ministry opportunities that the Lord provides during his walks. “I want to see people touched and saved along the way,” he said. “Hopefully somebody will be encouraged.”
And Hagans has seen the Lord answer his prayers for ministry on this trip. Just recently, he met a man whose wife was considering abortion. Once Hagans began talking to him, the man poured out his life story, pleading for his prayers. By the end of their conversation, the man decided to try to convince his wife to keep the baby.
Several days later, Hagans met a family that had hardened its heart against God and accused all Christians of hypocrisy. But when he shared his heart with the family members, they revealed a past of rape and pain that they had been holding onto. As he prayed with them, they slowly opened their eyes to his mission and asked to be a part of his ministry.
Hagans said these encounters are what make the walk a ministry instead of just a fund-raiser. “Walking is not routine. I may sleep in the bushes, have bikers yell at me or share salvation to truckers. But I know God gave me these divine appointments.”
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