How long have you gone without a shower? Two days? Three? Four!?! My personal record—and I’m oddly proud of this—is five days. It would be one thing to go without a shower in regular home and office life, but my five days were while vigorously hiking the Appalachian Trail. But my feat is not all that impressive or even uncommon on the trail. Last year at Sola – Appalachian Christian Retreat we had a hiker-visitor who had gone fifteen days without a proper shower. A hiker might take advantage of a mountain stream to wash their clothes or to wash themselves, but this tends towards only the removing of some smells while others are acquired.

A project we are currently undertaking at Sola is to install a new shower (and full bathroom) in our basement just for hikers to use. Taking a shower is step number one when coming in from the trail! And almost never does it take any convincing to get a hiker to shower when one is available.

It takes a lot more convincing—and in fact it takes the work of the Holy Spirit—for a person to want to be cleansed from all their sin. But this is the message we preach, as it was said to Paul after his sight returned, “Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” (Acts 22:16) We pray that God uses our mission to convince many of this truth of the washing away of sin by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Email us [email protected] and tell us your record number of days without a shower. We’ll send the winner a free Sola bandana and a bar of soap.

– Doug, Priscilla, and Maple (a.k.a., Banzai, Hot Drinks, and Maplecakes)