Phoenix pastor finishes hiking excursion two years after being crushed by boulder

AZ Family (November 21, 2022) by David Caltabiano

A Phoenix pastor has finished the Arizona Trail, a hike that spans across Arizona and from the Utah to Mexico Border two years after a boulder crushed him during the same hike in the Tonto National Forest.

His daughter finished the journey in 2020, but he didn’t complete it until Monday morning. The trip raised funds for the victims of Warren Jeffs’ polygamist cult.

Dream City Church’s Pastor Luke Barnett finished the hike at the same boulder that changed his life. “Just to see the magnitude of that boulder and how it was hanging on from that little rock from sliding on the plane, just sobering how close we were to death and then being alive to talk about it and have a great story,” said Pastor Barnett.

The hike raised $2.8 million for Warren Jeffs’ victims. “We did something that really helped people, think of the young moms in Colorado City all the money that was raised to help them. Those are things that last forever really, when you help people,” said Pastor Barnett.

Pastor Barnett said the 2-year journey of trials and tribulations only to finish what he started fills him with gratitude. “We just need to take every single drop of life like a sponge and wring everything we can out of it because we are not promised tomorrow, we are only promised today.”

 

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