My journals began as just simple e-mails home to describe for my family what I had done during the week or weekend. It has now evolved to not just an outline of what I have done, but to word-pictures of what I have seen, thought, and felt in the new places I visited. And through word-of-mouth, thanks mainly to my wife’s efforts, I send these journals not just to a dozen or so family and friends, but to nearly 80 family, friends, and co-workers.
What follows is a brief summary of some of the moments that left an impact on me:
• Contemplating a blown out sneaker while exercising, then seeing a shoeless man sleeping on the beach in Rio de Janeiro
• Swarmed by begging children in Cameroon
• An English speaking Christian fundamentalist sitting in a Catholic mass in a French-speaking West African country
• Having dinner with a friend from church who happens to be in Lima, Peru for one night the same time you are.
• Driving through a beautiful mountain valley in Puerto Rico before realizing you made a wrong turn, haven’t a clue where you are, and not sure you will ever find the same spot again.
• Watching people post written prayer requests in a cathedral in Lima along with a photograph so God will see their face and hear their prayers.
• Washing your dishes with hot water in an air-conditioned apartment in Lagos, while watching a woman across the street washing her dishes in the backyard in a rain barrel.
These are some of the memories I have written home about. I encourage you to experience the culture when you travel. And capture those experiences and memories in the way that will best stay with you. I think that it is when you are touched, whether you call it spiritual or emotional, and you take note of that moment that the experience becomes a part of you.
1 comment:
Alan thank you for stumbling across my blog. I really appreciate your input on my Holy Spirit thoughts.
I hope you will make Stoned-Campbell a frequent haunt in your cyber travels.
Shalom,
Bobby Valentine
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