RAYMOND – If you think you’ve got it rough – maybe the economy has snared you or your back is aching on account of the colder weather – head to Christ Chapel in Raymond on Saturday night for a pep talk from someone who knows true suffering.

Bill Irwin, a blind man from Sebec who hiked the famous Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine in 1990, will share his inspirational story of overcoming huge obstacles.

Irwin will speak at the tree-shrouded chapel located on Northern Pines Road off Route 85 in Raymond as soon as the monthly community supper has ended, said organizer Bob LeClerc. The dinner, which is usually held Friday nights, is happening on Saturday night and starts at 4:30 p.m. and runs until 6 p.m. Irwin will also deliver the sermon at the Chapel’s 10 a.m. Sunday service on Oct 3.

“It’s the perfect place for Bill. The Chapel is in the woods, all glassed-in, just beautiful,” LeClerc said.

Irwin, originally from the South as evidenced by his accent, came to national awareness while hiking through Tennessee on his northward trek on the 2,100-mile long Appalachian Trail. It was there that ABC News reporter Al Dale visited Irwin on the trail to document his adventure for World News Tonight.

Ever since then, Irwin has been in the public eye, even 20 years on now, for doing something no one had done, and no one has since done: hiking blind the entire trail. His adventure – which was only possible with God’s help, he’s quick to point out – will be the basis for his talk and slide show at Christ Chapel.

“It was a spiritual mission. I felt called to do it. If I hadn’t been called to do it, I doubt I could have done it,” Irwin said in an interview last week.

The Appalachian Trail is no walk in the woods, as Bill Bryson’s famous book title proclaims. It’s fraught with ledges, rushing rivers, roots and jagged rocks, both big and small, which can trip up the best of sighted hikers, not to mention the weather that can enhance the trail’s many dangers. Hiking, pitching camp, finding water and making it safely to re-supply points were gargantuan daily challenges for Irwin.

“Our job is to show people how to be encouraged and not give up their battle in times that it seems hopeless. There’s so much apathy in the world today. I use the Appalachian Trail as a metaphor for life,” Irwin said.

Irwin also admits he couldn’t have done it without his seeing-eye dog, Orient. Orient was a German Shepherd who was by Irwin’s constant side for the eight months it took him to complete the journey. Orient would stay between steep drop-offs and Irwin, follow the 2-inch-by-6-inch white trail markers, and, most importantly, find water for his blind master.

“A thirsty dog will find water, one way or another, and he always did. It was a drought in Pennsylvania, but he managed to find us water,” Irwin remembers, saying he learned “trust, love and devotion” from Orient.

Asked to describe his Trail experience in one word, Irwin said, “It was miraculous. Without miracles, I never would have made it.”

Life after completing the famed trail has been just as miraculous for Irwin. He’s met presidents, sat under Mother Teresa’s teaching, played TV’s Jeopardy! game show, appeared on talk shows and written a best-selling book on his experience: “Blind Courage.”

He also hasn’t lost his gumption for hiking. He’s completed the Long Trail in Vermont, and significant stretches of the Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail, America’s two other great long-distance trails.

And Irwin’s post-trail feeling of being able to accomplish anything he sets his mind to? It hasn’t worn off. This fall, he’s setting a new roof on his house in Sebec, a home he and his wife have built mostly by themselves.

“I still feel like I can do anything if God wants me to do it,” Irwin said, “If he doesn’t call me to do it, well, that’s a different story. But if it’s a call from God, I know nothing will bother me.”

Bill Irwin, the only blind person to complete the Appalachian Trail, will share his inspiring story at a free community dinner on Saturday at Christ Chapel in Raymond. (Courtesy photo)

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