Prayer-walk goes through here en route to The
Sunshine State
By FRANK WALLIS Bulletin Staff Writer
Bulletin Photo by Kevin
Pieper
Lyn Hanush, (from left) Joni Balog and
Samantha Hanush-Garrett spend a moment in prayer Wednesday
afternoon during their cross-country walk. The California trio
began their walk at Peace Arch Park in Blaine, Wash., in May
2003 and plan to finish at Key West, Fla., in May of this
year. At each town, the three stop to pray for the town and
its residents.
For 50 years, Lyn Hanush dreamed about biking across the United
States. After the 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, she
decided, "It's time to do it."
Joining Hanush, 61, were Joni Balog, 66, and Hanush's
granddaughter, Samantha Hanush-Garrett, 16. The trio decided to make
the trip a prayer-walking excursion instead of a biking one.
Wednesday, the three walked through Mountain Home and stopped at
4 p.m. under a city limit sign to pray for the city's churches,
families, schools and businesses. Their walk, which started May 12
last year at Peace Arch Park in Blaine, Wash., will end 4,503 miles
later in Key West, Fla., on or about May 26.
The walkers represent the Paso Robles, Calif.-based Seek Him
First Ministries' Great American Journey. The prayer-walk will take
the team through 15 states.
"As we walk, we observe and we pray," said Hanush.
The team is accompanied along the way by dogs, Cassie and Owashta
Bishke Waliluke, which means "traveling dog walking".
According to the team's Web site -- http://www.greatamericajourney.com/
-- Hanush has been an avid walker for 20 years and is the organizer
of the Great American Journey. Hanush already has completed
prayer-walking excursions from Tijuana, Mexico, to the U.S.-Canada
border, ending at the Peace Arch in Blaine, Wash., and several other
prayer walks throughout Pacific coastal routes.
Balog, born near London, England, is a draftswoman by education
and trade. After traveling in Europe, Australia and the Middle East,
Balog and husband, Karl, moved to San Jose, Calif., where they
joined the prayer-walk ministries and have lived for 40 years.
Hanush-Garrett is a home-schooled high school junior. She has
spent the last three summers doing missions work with Teen Missions
International that have taken her to Germany where she worked on a
project at a youth camp; Malawi, Africa, where she worked on a
building project at an orphanage; and, to Uganda, Africa, helping to
build a dormitory for a Bible school. Her goal is to become a nurse
and return to Africa to work with AIDS-infected homeless.
