To be sitting in a park with no agenda surrounded by people and talking to no one is rare.
To be sitting in the “living room” of a hostel engaging in conversations with people from all around world is rare.
And to find myself hiking 130-some miles through the northern parts of Spain is rare. (To be honest, even the idea of me hiking through a European country on a mission’s trip is pretty rare.)
But lately as I find myself in these rare moments of observation, purposefully taking in all that is around me and scribbling what I can down in my journal with a pen, the LoRd has been nudging lately that “There is more”.
To backtrack just a bit, before starting the Camino de Santiago we were encouraged to pray into what the LoRd had for us throughout the 10 days of hiking we set off to do. The only thing He kept bringing to mind was “revelation”. Having no idea what this might include, I left it at that and proceeded on in faith with the journey.
Now for those of you who, like me before January of this year, have no clue what the Camino is, let me explain. The Camino de Santiago or the Way of Santiago is a thru-hike (a long-distance trail hiked from end-to-end within one hiking season) or a network of pilgrim routes throughout Europe come together meeting at St. James’ burial site in Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. Thousands of people do this every year but everyone for different reasons. Some are looking to unplug for 30-ish days or are celebrating retirement or finishing school. Some just found out they have cancer and want to make the most out of the little time they’ve been given to live. Some simply want to see more of Spain and love the pilgrims’ lifestyle while others are searching for religious reasons and wanting answers. I met people hiking for all of these reasons, but a common denominator was that everyone was desiring something more.
In just one afternoon I had conversations with an Irish firefighter who figured a month away hiking would better be spent on the Camino than a beer holiday with his friends, a German police detective who needed time away from the demands of work, two South Korean men who met on the trip that wanted to explore more of the world and take a break from music production, a group of young girls from Spain on vacation with their families, and another Asian man who simply wandered downstairs to start laundry but sat down in curiosity of what we were doing. Little did we know at first that he was a new believer doubting whether or not that the LoRd was soon calling him to missions in Africa! Coincidence is the language of heaven is it not!? While I could sit for a while and go into further details about these conversations or the many had along the way, (which we can totally do at a later time if you’re interested), I’d like go further into the LoRd’s more for me.
Whether you’ve followed my journey for years or a just a few short months, you should know that for many years, Africa was heavy on my heart. More than it being heavy on my heart, it was pretty much all I thought or cared about from most of 2007-2016. Ever since learning about an almost 30 year civil war and the effects that it had on the people of Uganda, specifically the children who were forced to fight, I was consumed with research and desires of getting involved in a deeper way. In 2010 I had the chance to go on a mission’s trip to South Africa and Zambia, but it wasn’t until 2016 that the LoRd widely opened up the door and allowed me to go to central Africa where my heart had been for so long! I was sent for an internship being given the freedom to evaluate the lasting effects of the war, the current needs of the society, interview men and women affected in deep and disturbing ways, and eventually take the program model of the organization I partnered with to create something similar for young boys.
While I hoped this would just be the start and eventually I’d get involved further in South Sudan where the issues continued, the LoRd shut the door and asked me to let go of the iron-grip hold I had on Africa and lay it back in His hands. In the beginning stages of letting all of those plans and dreams go, I sensed He was asking me to open up my heart to the nations. The process was hard. It was painful. It took everything in me to let it all go and step out in faith. In fact, I believe that going through all of this was what made me hesitant to step out for the World Race in the first place. Committing so much of my time and efforts, thoughts and dreams to Africa only to be asked to let it go was HARD. Of course I’ve been skeptical and slow to jump into other places. But He has been faithful through it all and is showing me His more, for me.
Remember that afternoon I told you about? With all the conversations? Those conversations happened amongst people of all other languages and cultures. A group of French women were in the kitchen while a group of Brazilian women were doing laundry and a few Asian men were stretching in the free space. A few Americans were researching their next moves while man from Denmark was journaling next to two South African women were just coming in to start their hike the next day. In a moment of silence between conversations and while all this was going on around me, the LoRd whispered “there is more”. I’m starting to realize more and more that while asking me to open up my heart to the nations, He is showing me His heart for them! Though that step of obedience in letting go of Africa was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, I’m realizing the beauty of the surrender. God’s heart isn’t just for one part of the world, it’s for the nations.
Thanks to all of you who have walked with me and continue to walk through this journey with me. This blog post isn’t full of completion… I get that. But I am continually in the process of seeing His heart for more. I am in the middle of seeing other nations, experiencing other cultures, learning and hearing other languages, etc. I have no idea what all He means in saying “there is more” or why He’s chosen to expose so much of this world to me, but I’m excited by the fact that He continues to reveal more of Himself to me and that there is so much more to learn. Thank you for your patience, for you encouragement, and for your prayers. It’s much more fun doing this together:)
