JOURNEYING WITH A PURPOSE OR TOURING AS A TOURIST?

Friday, September 17, 2010

JOURNEYING WITH A PURPOSE OR TOURING AS A TOURIST

Hello. It has been a long while since I have updated this blog. So much has
happened and I am realizing it would have been much easier to do quick
blogs a couple of times a week rather than allowing things to get
backlogged. So many things have happened since the last update.

I am blogging to share my journey. I am not a tourist who just goes out
and does what everyone else does like sightseeing, visiting museums or
doing what all the travel guide books recommend doing. Rather, each
time I go on these extended trips, usually lasting several weeks or
months, there has always been a strong sense of destiny and purpose into
something where I can 'see' over time that I may be part of a bigger
story. God's Story? His Story? (his-tory). I love reading biographies
of people. Their stories inspire me. After a few hours I am able to
catch a glimpse of an overview of one person's life that lasts 50 or 60
years. One of my desires is that I will live a life that is worth
reading about, that others will be encouraged from it and will desire to
seek and discover God.

Most tourists generally are on a very limited time - perhaps one or two weeks - and then they need to return back home for work or their budget only allows them to be gone for so
long. They may have a pretty planned and fixed itinerary and a travel
return date. This is not my case. My journeys are pretty open ended and
very flexible - as a seeker, a faith traveler and a follower of the God
of the Bible, I have come to trust in Him for His guidance and to look
for His activity.

I seem to have been given a role to network and encourage others who have a similar passion to get to discover, know and experience (the real) God through cross-cultural travel and
adventure. My life is like a spiritual pilgrim, on a journey desiring
to understand the purpose and life and if/how God is part of this and
truly real. Throughout history there have been and continue to be
spiritual pilgrims and spiritual seekers, ones who sense there has got
to be something more in life than just the physical - working, eating,
raising a family, paying bills, surviving, etc.

So here are a few examples from the past two months here in Europe of what this pilgrimage life of mine looks like. Honestly, it seems like I have been here a lot longer, life has been so 'full'.

Please first review my previous blog posts on this European Journey of 2010.

*LAKES DISTRICT UK -

**Meeting a young couple backpacking while we were on a day hike from
our hostel - Just a quick casual greeting to them as fellow hikers. A
couple of days later when we relocated to another hostel in the region,
this couple happened to be staying there. We shared a meal together and
connected, and then discovered they were heading over towards another
part of the area, the same area we were booked to stay at in a couple of
days. We arranged to meet each other again then and were able to build
on our relationship with each other and share some of our
God-experiences with them.



**At the same hostel, we connected with a group of 6 Germans and also shared a meal together. Late in the evening four of them and our group of four piled into their van and we drove up to some of the passes in the area and just had plain fun and enjoyed some of nature and the sunset. On the way driving back, a couple in our group were singing some songs. My friend C said she knew one song in German, which happened to be a
Christian chorus and sang it. One of the German girls said she knew
the song as she happened to be part of a church youth group in
Germany. This opened things up for us to share more about our faith in God as
Christians then and the next morning. We still had some Backpacker New
Testaments with us (New Testaments from the Bible especially designed
with some extra inserts in it to help backpacker travelers to learn
about God) which C was able to pass on to two of the German girls

The morning we parted paths, we said our farewells. The Germans were to
start driving north that day towards Scotland while we were moving on to
the next hostel. As a group of four, we initially had two small cars
between the four of us but one of them had broken down a few days before
and was still sitting at the mechanics in another town. As a result, C
and R packed the car and took all of our gear over to the next hostel
we were booked in and G and I hiked 4 km from Grasmere to Ambleside,
where we were to then connect with C and R.

Shortly after G and I arrived in Ambleside and were walking around, we heard someone call
out to us from the road - it was the Germans in their van! They
happened to be driving by us at that very moment! It had been several
hours since we had said our goodbyes to them at Grasmere and we had no
idea of what their plans were for that day except to start driving north
but here they were south! Later when C and R came to pick G and I up
from Ambleside, we discovered that after the Germans had left us, they
also ran into C and R in another area!

**FRANCE - see July 16, 2010 Posting First - Signs of God's Spirit Leading
It has been two months since the July posting and in it I shared how G and
I had discovered that we had a mutual contact whom I have initialled as
A. When G and I first arrived in the UK we had no clear idea of when
we were to leave the country and where to head to next. After the New
Wine Christian conference (see Wonderful Week blog posting) we actually
had to stop back in London and stay with my friends with whom we stayed
with when we first arrived on July 21. As a result of that 2 day
stopover, we were asked to consider if we would be available to 'nanny'
for mom and the three children for a week on a holiday trip....over the
coming days while we were in Lake District, G and I decided we would
commit to the nanny offer and a couple of weeks later were in Normandy,
France, staying in a country house in a tiny village in the countryside.




We were not that great in forward planning and were very limited in
internet access - only able to connect briefly at MacDonald's
restaurants which in France all seem to offer free wifi. As our time
grew to an end and after exploring bus/train/hitchiking/rideshare
options to travel, we wound up renting a car for a week which gave us time to explore some parts of France as we drove in across the country to the Germany border. We decided to visit our mutual friend A and
things were arranged to do so. This was in early September.



A. arranged for us to stay with her fiance in his apartment and we were in the city for four days. As we reconnected with A. we heard how God was beginning to lead and guide her into some 'travel' ahead, and how she was beginning to sell off her possessions in preparation to go on an extended 'journey'. As she shared with us, we discovered that she had about 2 weeks ago, while google searching on the internet, had come across an article about some Christian hippies trying to help 'hippy'
travelers on their journey in finding God. She mentioned the name of
the group and asked us if we knew anything about them! Had We? YES!
Both G and I know the key people involved with it - I have known them
for a few years and I actually met with them personally in my hometown a
couple of weeks before heading over to the UK as they are connected
with a church I have been part of. G met them earlier this year while
leading a group of travelers in India, as these people base themselves
there for half of the year. I networked G to them at that time. So,
all this was all very remarkable, connecting with A. at this time. It
will be interesting to see what happens as A. steps forward in faith in
God and begins her journey.



**WHAT IS NEXT? SCANDINAVIA!
There is so much more to share. I am currently in Central Europe, and have
been here since leaving France, and about to move off again. I've been
visiting contacts who have set up a Christian hostel and retreat
guesthouse to help people on their spiritual journey toward and with
God. I've been in touch with them for over five years, but finally have
met them face to face. However, this story will have to be written up
later.

For now, going back a couple of months again (Wonderful Week blog). Prior to leaving for the UK and doing a bit of research for
the trip, I discovered that a Christian leaders conference for those
living in northern Europe was being planned in Scandinavia with an
international Christian organization that I have been part of off and on
for 20 years. I felt that this might be a good time to connect and
network with leaders from the organization with respect to 'faith
travels'.

At the New Wine Conference I first discovered that my friend C was planning on being part of a small team from her church in the UK heading to the same Scandinavian country where the leaders
conference is scheduled and on similar dates!! Also, as a result of
being 'international' Christian leaders, G and I were invited the one
day to attend a meeting at the conference for such leaders. Though
there were only about a half dozen of us present, one of the ladies
there happened to be the New Wine administrator within the same country
and living in the city which is closest to where the conference is being
held.

Fast forward about 7 weeks and a bit - while on the bus from France to where I am now in Central Europe - the lady seated besideme - had just been to that same country just recently - and I at that
time was still seeking God if I should really head up to the conference in Scandinavia! It does happen that the nearest international airport to where I am has a direct flight to the city where I need to get to in Scandinavia and to make it from there to the conference.

So, things are booked and this is where I head to next. It has been 25
years since I have been in this Scandinavian country, where I began my
first backpacker journey and worked for a summer in my profession. I
wonder what God has planned as I head this way in Faith.