de los Angeles

Puebla is a place that has always been fairly familiar in my mind. Around 7 years ago, my home church, Franconia Mennonite, developed a sister church relationship with Maranatha Mennonite, and sent the Derstine family to Puebla for support during a time of transition. The city's full name is, "Puebla de los Angeles," or "People of the Angels," from an old tale about how angels helped raise the heavy cathedral bells to their towers.

We were hosted by Juan & Aracelli, who live in between Puebla and Cholula. Juan works for the Volkswagen Company and Aracelli teaches economic engineering at the University of the Americas. Their generous hosting and beautiful house immediately made us feel right at home. Puebla felt much more pleasant than Mexico City with its more relaxed pace, a higher economic standard, and strong church community connections.

After church on Sunday, Juan and Aracelli guided us through downtown Puebla so that we could discover its cultural European style, beautiful art, and sporatic mime festivals. Late in the afternoon, we accidentally stumbled into the convention center where a huge party had just begun. After walking into the complex, we passed a few security officers and were greeted unexpectedly by the Governor of Puebla, and then offered some food and drinks from the many tables set around for guests. Someone told us that we had just missed Jimmy Carter's big speech by about 15 minutes. So what was going on? The purpose of this party was really not intended for us, as Juan and Aracelli jokingly told us, but for a group of volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, who were launching an initiative to build 150 homes in one week at two locations nearby. We looked into helping out with the project, but were told that there were already more volunteers than were needed. So we stuck around for a little while and enjoyed "our" party, taking in the excitement and culture of the Marachi bands and indigenous costumes.

We took an overnight backpacking trip on Monday and Tuesday to the small town of Rio Frio to get a breath of fresh air from the good old outdoors. We hiked up a ridge and ended up camping across the valley from the Ixta, a 17,000' snow-capped volcano. The next morning we backpacked our way through free range cattle land and sheep paths up to a 13000+' mountain. After spending a little time above the timber line at the summit, we made our way back down the canyon to return to civilization and recover our unadjusted bodies from the altitude.

On Wednesday morning we were the chapel speakers at Puebla Christian School, giving a 30 minute explanation of our trip to a group of 7-12 grade students. We challenged them to step out in faith to seek out God's calling for their lives. After chapel, we were asked to be the guest speakers for a 7th grade class on the Middle East, and spent the next hour answering a lot of good questions about the conflict, the culture, and the way this region is always in between extremes of the world.. Looking back to my experience in the Middle East two years ago, the one thing I remember the Palestinians saying louder than anything about their home is, "Please, tell the world..."

The Derstine family has now been living in Puebla for 7 years, and it is easy to see how they have adapted into the community at Puebla. We greatly enjoyed getting to know each of them, having meals together, playing Dutch Blitz, and talking about how it feels to switch between wealthy, suburban Pennsylvania and other global cultures.

In many ways Puebla reminds me of my home area in Pennsylvania, but it is also very different. Before arriving in Puebla, I really had not known the Derstines at all, but as we got to know each other, I could understand how our similar journeys helped us to relate to each other. I believe that in order to see your home for what it truly is, you need to spend some time away from it. From a foreign perspective, things start to become clear for the first time...

The concept of home becomes more complicated, yet finds more depth, when a person travels and spends time in different locations. At first you try to split your home between various places, sharing your allegience and connections. The more these experiences become a part of you, the more difficult it becomes to fully fit into any one of them, and you start to wonder if you are really somewhat homeless, or if your home is everywhere and anywhere you happen to be.

You get to know so many new and wonderful people and the hardest part about moving on is always having to let go of these relationships in faith that sometime paths will cross again, and the conversation will continue. And you start to see that possibly home is not a place, but rather a community, a group of people that together transcend physical locations through love and hospitality. When I say goodbye, am I leaving a place or a people? Can I separate them? Which will stay with me longer as distance and time passes between us?

The night that we left Puebla there was a lunar esclipse. The world came in between the sun and the moon, and everything lined up perfectly for a short while as our shadow started to cover the fading light of the moon. Driving away from the Derstine's house, I could see the beautiful sun setting over the Popo volcano to the west, and the rising moon to the east. It felt like I was stuck for a moment in the middle of the universe, leaving a family who understood what it was like to struggle to live in between Franconia and the world, and I was also once again feeling in between places, wondering where my true home actually resides.

A few hours before our bus was to leave, we found out there might not be seats available for us because of the holiday weekend and that we might have to wait at least until tomorrow to leave. I started thinking that I would enjoy a few more days in Puebla with its angels, continuing to build relationships and enjoying the comfort of friends. But as travelers, necessity requires us to move on...especially when there is a long road ahead of us and the moonlight is vanishing. We found a bus, rushed through our goodbyes, and headed off into a fading night.

Pyramids of Power

We spent last Thursday with two new found friends from the Monte Maria Church, exploring the ancient city of Teotihuacan, which is a daytrip?s distance northeast of Mexico City. Around AD 150-250, this city was at its peak as the sixth largest in the world and boasting two gigantic man-made structures, the pyramids of the sun and moon. When the Aztecs stumbled upon the shell of this nearly abandoned city in the 9th century, they named it Teotihuacan, meaning "The Place Where Men Become Gods."

Upon arriving at the site, we passed through a small crowd of vendors selling trinkets and headed up the pyramid of the sun, climbing many steep steps to reach the pinnacle and to view our suroundings. The view from the top of the pyramid provides a good perspective on the rest of the city, showing the pyramid of the moon at the other end of the Calle de Los Muertos. From this perspective, you can almost picture the ancient civilizations coming to life, the bustling commerce of the Calle, the streaming aqueducts, and the religious human sacrifices to the gods from the pyramids. And if you look even closer you can see the beginning stages of the construction of a Wal-mart less than a mile away.

A local newspaper reported the story of a lawsuit being filed against the local officials who allowed the construction of Wal-mart to be built in such close proximity to the ancient ruins. Outside of the National Institude of Anthropology and History in Mexico City, protesters lined up with banners demanding that the construction of the Walmart must be stopped imediately. As the two symbols of power compete for their presence to be shown in the ancient region, I wonder about their differences, their motivations for construction, and their effects on local people. Some historians believe that the decline of ancient Teotihuacan might have been caused by its inability to support the needs of its own people, growing so large and overcrowed that the population inevitably faded due of a lack of food resources. Maybe if the construction of the Wal-Mart had begun 1500 years ago, these two competing structures could have worked something out....

The very next day we were thrown into a small adventure that reminded of the feelings assoicated with powerless travel, and taught us a few lessons about trust, generosity, and vulnerability. We left Monte Maria on Friday, heading towards a small town called Apan, where we were to spend the night camping on a rancho owned by someone from the church. We arrived at Apan after dark and started searching for the rancho with our hand-drawn map. After guessing on the correct road, we headed down a dark, dirt driveway towards are presummed location. Suddenly a crowd of dogs came alive and a large dark object started coming towards us from the field to our left. We shouted a few "hola?s" into the darkness to make our presence known as a rancher on his horse appeared and tried to mentally determine what to do with two gringo backpackers that had just trespassed onto his property. We tried to explain who were were looking for, but were firmly and quickly asked to leave the property.

So we started walking towards the town, asking people who looked trustworthy if there was a safe place nearby to camp for the night. We ran into a family with two children and as we explained our situation, they offered to drive us to a police station where we could safely camp out for the night. We all jumped into their camionetta (minivan) and headed off to a nearby town where they were planning to visit relatives. As we drove, we talked about our trip, our current situation, and they warned us about the dangers of walking around at night with large backpacks.

The six of us arrived in Calpulalpan and went to the police station, which was a small office at the front of the governor?s palace. We were told to sleep on the left side of the office, because the drunks would find their way to the right side during the night. The place was loud and noisy, and the Lucia family saw our concern and graciously offered us their van as a better camping location. We decided that this seemed to be a safer and more restful location and took them up on the offer. The van was a little short for our height, but it seemed safe nonetheless, and we adjusted our long legs to fit the space and fell asleep around midnight. At 3 am, Eric suddenly woke up to a noise and saw someone?s hand reaching in the window toward our packs on the back seat. He sat straight up in his sleeping bag and met eyes with the thief. He quickly woke me up and we both watched the man take off sprinting down the road into the darkness. We?re still not quite sure who was more startled, Eric or the thief, and are thankful that nothing serious happened. After this incident, we didn?t sleep too well for the rest of the night.

What are the results of living a humble life through faith? It seems that many experiences from our journey in the past week have taught us lessons on the role of power in the Christian life. The power physically and symbolically shown in the pyramids has inspired prideful competition and ultimately ends in brokeness. The conquering capitolism represented by the proliferation of Wal-marts throughout Mexico threatens the leave local customs and history in ruins in the same way that the progress-driven Teotihuacan attitude did over a thousand years ago. And as we humbly try to live a contrasting attitude through our travels, we are taught about trust, grace, and community. When interactions such as those with the Lucia family occur, we start to get glimpses of why Christ instructed his followers to take nothing more than needed for the road.

We are now staying near Puebla, at Cholula, where there is a pyramid even larger than the pyramid of the sun with a church built on the top of it Visible from the surrounding communities, this church reminds of the regional conquest of Cortez and Catholism with the slaughter of 6000 Cholutecos in 1520. Cortez had a goal of building 365 churches such as this one, representing each day of the year, but for some reason his goal was never completed... The example from Nazareth seems to point to a different attitude, one where pyramids are flipped upside down, and where an upside-down kingdom provides hope to weary travelers on the road.

Diversity and Community

Sometimes learning occurs simply by keeping one's eyes open and taking everything in. In large cities such as Mexico City, this process happens at a greatly exaggerated pace. We've only been here a week, and already we've experienced almost more than we can can adequately describe.

It seems that the church, like a large city, is a place of at times overwhelming diversity. On Wednesday, we loaded our packs and headed for the Basilica de Guadalupe, an icon of Mexican religion and culture. According to local belief, the Virgin of Guadalupe first appeared to the indigenous peasant Juan Diego in December of 1531. As a result of his encounter with the virgin, an image of her was emblazened on his cloak, which is now displayed prominently at the front of the church. Because of the moving sidewalks that were recently installed in the church (seemingly to control the flow of people), we were unable to linger for long in front of the sacred cloak.

Every December, thousands of Mexicans flock to the church to commerate this holy event. Many of them even crawl the remaining miles on their knees, with streams of blood on their legs as evidence of utmost devotion and piety. Even though the place did not hold the same spiritual meaning for me, I could relate to the passionate quest of these people searching for God.

Our most recent church visit showed us a similar passion, expressed in a much different way. The Monte Maria church here in Mexico City has been growing rapidly in the past several years. Currently with an average Sunday attendence of 4,000 to 6,000 people, this congregation is all about passionate discipleship and growth. They recently built a special pool simply for doing baptismal services, complete with changing rooms and steps for leading people through. On one ocassion, 3000 people were baptized in a single day. In a city of tremedous size, this church is all about doing things big.

The family we are staying with, Robert and Bonnie Stevenson, are actively involved in the church's evangelism, and have been a wonderful blessing to us. Yesterday, they gave us a tour of the church complex and explained much of the church's ministries. During our tour, we walked into a room where around 250 women were having a prayer meeting. After Pastor Robert introduced us and shared a bit about our journey, I could literally see the women's eyes become big as they heard what we were doing. After this brief explanation, their hearts took over and they swarmed us. A loud murmur began to rise as each one of these women offered up prayers on our behalf. Many touched our hands, our feet, and poured blessings over us with their words.

After the prayer, I think every woman in that room came up to us and offered some words of encouragment or blessing as they shook our hands and gave us big motherly hugs. I was completely blown away by the love they expressed towards us. I couldn't help but once again be amazed by the blessing of the community of God around the world. Where else can one experience this sort of instant acceptance and connection with people from such different backgrounds? This style of community was modeled in the New Testament, and I believe should also be something that we strive for as a church. Even though diversity can easily create divisions, it also holds wonderful potential to bring us all together.

On another note, I'm happy to report that Dave has begun to develop the valuable skill of crocheting. Assuming his talent continues to improve, he will soon be producing quality hats, mittens, and other random articles of clothing for the colder parts of our journey. Special thanks go out to Sarah Moncayo for recognizing this potential. We stayed with Sarah and Dan for a couple days here in the city and had a wonderful time getting to know them. They are here with Partners In Hope, an organization that coordinates service/educational trips for groups coming to Mexico. It was fun to spend time with people who shared much of the same interests, and we greatly appreciated their hospitality.

This afternoon Dave and I will head in the direction of Puebla, where we will spend several days with the church there. In route, we've been connected with a local farmer who has allowed us to camp out on his ranch. We are looking forward to spending time outside of the city, and getting to see some of the beautiful Mexican countryside.

Hay dos Gringos...

After visiting the Alamo and saying goodbye to our friends at the Catholc worker house, we left San Antonio and headed south on I-35 towards Laredo. We drove into Mexico on one bridge and out on the other by mistake, and finally parked on the US side and walked across the Rio Grande with our gear.

Upon crossing into Mexico, we had to say a tough goodbye to Josh who had been with us for the first leg of the journey through the US. We realized that this goodbye was really the final goodbye to all people and places familiar, and the time had come to contunue on without the securitiy of our friends, our car, and our culture.

After picking up the necessary tourist paperwork, we bought some bread, ATMed a few pesos, and made our way through the streets to the bus station, trying our best to avoid the people who wanted cash in exchange for advice on things like, "How to avoid going to jail in Mexico by possessing a pocket knife."

We were fortunate enough to catch a direct overnight bus to Mexico City, a 14 hour ride which put us at the northern bus terminal at 8:30 in the morning. Upon arrival we made our way to the house of Victor and Ophelia Pedroza's family, and were greeted with warm hospitality and friendly faces.

Since arriving here on Friday morning, it seems that an incredible length of time has passed. Already I feel like I've been here for weeks, absorbing the busyness of the city and trying my best to communicate in Spanish. It constantly amazes me how fast our minds can adjust to new situations, and looking ahead I wonder how this will play out time and time again through many different locations and cultures. As I'm writing this I feel often catch myself inserting a Spanish word in place of an English one.

Mexico City is enormous, to say the very least. With 24+ million people, over 5 million cars, and a maxed out public transportation system, things are aways on the go. And with so many people, it seems that a large portion of each day is spent in transit, moving from one part of the city to the other. The haze that constantly hangs in the sky seems to emulate my mental state as I continually try and fail to get my bearings in this place.

We are getting to know a wonderful family, and everyone we have met has been very friendly and hospitable. I'm excited for my Spanish to improve so that I can engage in many more conversations and deepen the relationships that have begun.

On Saturday we spent most of the afternoon at the Bosque Chapultepec, walking, relaxing, writing, and avoiding teenage girls that wanted their photo taken with the two light-haired gringos. The Bosque reminded me more of a circus than a forest, with many vendor stands and street performers. The culture here is bright and colorful, and it has beeen a great experience learning the details of the routines within everyday life. During our 1-2 hour transit to the downtown area, I love watching the people sitting around me on the autobus or metro, and I wonder what story each has to tell. It sobers me to think of so many people thrown together, living in the same area, and the diversity of each person's life within this grand context.

This morning we converted the porch area outside our house into the Puebla en Tranformacion Church, tying up tarps in case of rain, setting up chairs, and hanging up banners and other decorations. The church service was friendly and informal, with a diversity of community people attending and sharing freely. We met a lot of new people after the service including a SALTer and a YWAM team. There is so much to learn from these people...

Overall, things have been going well as we begin to adjust to this traveler's lifestyle. It has been good to rest up a little during the last two days and to take the time to relax and reflect. This lifesyle conversion is not immediate, and we are learning more and more each day of ways to make this experience significant and meaningful...

We will be in the city through the middle of the week, and then will move to Puebla, Puerto Escondito, and into Guatemala in the beginning of November.

But My Mom's On the School Board!

On Monday morning at 7am, the journey began. We left Harrisonburg, VA and headed South, our general direction of travel for the next three months. It was a whirlwind of a weekend - seeing friends, saying goodbyes, and wrapping up last minute details. Despite the near-constant activity, it seemed right to spend our last few days in Harrisonburg. How appropriate that we should leave from the very place where so much of our dream originated.

Our first night was spent in Meridian, Mississippi, at the home of Elaine and Duane Maust (Nathan Maust?s parents). After a long day on the road, it was wonderful to enjoy a home-cooked meal and some warm Southern hospitality. We were all still very exhausted from the busy weekend, and wasted little time in finding our beds.

Being my first trip to Mississippi and Louisiana, the following morning I was insistent on a visit to New Orleans. So we spent a few hours exploring the French District, the Garden District, and the market. And at the recommendation of a local, we enjoyed a meal at a local restaurant specializing in Creole cuisine. New Orleans has a culture all its own, which quickly captivated me. I?m sure to return for a more lengthy visit sometime in the future.

Heading west out of New Orleans, our destination for the evening was a big question mark. We hoped to find a nice place to camp somewhere off the beaten path. Around late afternoon, Josh navigated the trusty Honda off the interstate and down towards the Gulf. Within moments we were on a small two-lane road, surrounded by sugar cane fields and swampy bayous. While stopped at a drawbridge along the Intracoastal Waterway, a local gave us directions to a Marina where we might find a place to camp.

Although not quite the marina that we expected, we got exactly what we were looking for. The owner?s parents, Butch and Dawn, quickly pointed out a small patch of grass along the bayou where we could camp. Butch assured us that since the land was owned by the school board, nobody would give us problems. And if someone did, he advised us to simply remind them that all of our mothers? are currently serving on the board (in as convincing a Southern drawl as possible!). As it turned out, the only problems we encountered during the night were with the local mosquito population.

Despite the constant hum of mosquitoes, we had a wonderful evening. The friendly marina folks sold us three pounds of fresh shrimp, which we seasoned and boiled on our camp stove. As we sat under the stars and shelled shrimp, I began to sense an amazing sense of peace and excitement about the coming year. No doubt this was the first of many nights spent under the stars in unknown surroundings. Before long, the journey will begin to feel like home.

Tonight we are spending the night at a Catholic Worker House in San Antonio. It has been fun connecting with the volunteers here and getting a feel for this enormous state known as Texas. Tomorrow Josh will drive us to Laredo, where we will cross the border and find a bus for Mexico City.

Every Good Trip Begins with Miller Time

We arrived in Virginia on Wednesday not knowing how we were going to get to Mexico this week, hoping in faith that a ride would provide us transportation south of the border. And Saturday night, we found that ride.

At a late night Reddish Knob campout , we found and convinced roadtrip enthusiast Josh Miller to drive us to Mexico. Josh was one of our roomates junior year, has been a great friend ever since. The three of us talked nearly through many nights that year over a classic dirty Chanellos pizza pie and witty conversation. Josh really knows how to handle a serious road trip with the 286,000 miles on his Honda Accord, which has conveniently had a fresh oil change, and has never been to Texas. If you want a little more information on Josh, check our Hillside suite application site from a few years back... - and don't take it too seriously...

I'm not sure we could have a more pefect way to begin this adventure. We are both incredibly thankful for Josh's eagerness to help us out, and for everyone that was praying that we would find a way south.

It has been quite a week here in Virginia...a time that reminds me of many good memories and relationships, and deep, meaningful learning. It has been a time of goodbyes, encouragement, and rejuvenated inspiration. To sum it all up, it has been surreal, but wonderfully right. The support and encouragement we have felt from family and friends has been incredible, and I think I'm starting to understand the immensity of this undertaking. It blows me away how many people are walking with us in our vision and purpose.

And tomorrow we begin into the first unfamiliar leg of this journey. We will continue south, moving from the goodbyes of the familiar into a place where we will start building new relationships and serving new friends. We are excited and ready, and are finally beginning...and after a few thousand road miles, we should reach Mexico City at 8600' sometime Thursday...

A Sort of Homecoming

We started our journey south by driving to Harrisonburg, VA on Wednesday evening, back to Eastern Mennonite University, where we both graduated this past spring. We've spent the last few days working on trip details, sorting out gear, sending a lot of emails, and enjoying quality time with good friends.

This weekend is homecoming, so there will be a lot of people around for the festivities. Our parents are coming down, taking us out ot eat a few times, and then we'll all say goodbye on Sunday.

People around EMU have been asking if there's a time when they can catch us before we leave on Sunday, so we decided that we would be in at the Common Grounds on Saturday night around 10 if anyone would like to stop on by.

Urgent Need:

We need a ride to Mexico on Sunday, and we're hoping that something still might come up. If anyone would like to take a short and exciting road trip, even just a little ways south, let us know ASAP. We would greatly appreciate it. And for our parents sakes as well, they're not quite as keen on the hitchhiking as we are...

Sunday is two days away now, and everything is feeling quite surreal. It's hard to believe this journey is beginning after so much preparation, work, and planning. But in a few days, we'll be on the road...

Retirement & Automobiles

Last Friday felt like retirement, the last day of work for an indeterminant while. I have spent the last week relaxing, working on travel details, and converting my lifestyle to that of a vagabond traveler. It feels great to finally start to feel like myself again. Working 60 hour 5 day weeks for the last four months was exhausting, and I'm not sure if I would want to go through that again, but then, look what's coming...

One of the biggest highlights of the week was selling my car on Friday. In one day the buyer contacted me, went on a test drive, decided to buy it, and did the paperwork. The car was the largest material possesion that I was still waiting to sell, and it feels incredibly liberating to be free of it. No repairs, no insurance, no hassle. Now I just need to start working out my thumb...

We are leaving for Harrisonburg, VA on Wednesday afternoon and should arrive sometime early evening. If you're in the 'burg this weekend and would like to find a time to connect, check this site in a couple of days and it will tell you where we're staying, how to reach us, and what our schedule looks like before we leave on Sunday. And, this is important, if anyone can help connect us to a ride south towards Mexico, we would be greatly appreciative.

A few people have been asking if there are ways to support our service and vision by donating finances towards this experience. We are prepared to entirely fund this trip from our own earnings, but if there are people who would like to send support, we would also like to find a way to do make this possible. One avenue is to donate using Paypal, and we have a link on the interaction page that can open that door. If someone would like to make a donation and is not comfortable with Paypal, contact us and we can work something out.

Tonight I introduced this trip at an evening service at Franconia Mennonite Church, and here's a copy of what I said. It helps explain the trip in slightly different words than the last letter I sent out.

Many of you have probably heard over the past few months that I am planning some sort of big trip for the next stage of my life. In one week from tonight, I will be leaving from Virginia on a journey that will take me around the world throughout the course of the next year. A good friend of mine from college and I have been planning this trip during the last year, and it?s exciting as we are beginning to take in the reality of starting this journey.

Having just graduated from college, many people ask me what is next?and I love to answer, ?I?m going to be traveling around the world for the next year?? As you can imagine, I get all kinds of responses. People are fascinated, curious of why someone who seemed to have his life so well sorted and planned out would be willing to embark on such a risky adventure. It?s a great conversation starter?

So let me try to answer the ?why? question briefly. I am at a crossroads in my life, in the middle of a transition between college and the world ahead, and I am seeking to find the calling that God has for my life. Throughout the past few years, the various travel opportunities that I have been fortunate enough to have experienced have had significant effects in directing the focus of my life. They have been incredible learning experiences, and have continued to show to me the parts of this life that really matter and certain themes from different experiences begin to stand out in a way that provides hope and inspiration in the midst of an often confusing world. After getting a taste of this style of learning, I am hungry for more.

One of these themes is humility. I believe that the most essential characteristic the Christian journey is to be willing at any moment, to give up our familiar life and walk in faith towards the life that God intends for us. Through humility, we must be willing to give up the security that we have built around ourselves in order to get a glimpse of the reality of kingdom of God, where the first become last, and the last become first.

In Mark 6:7-8, Jesus calls his disciples, ?He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts??

The journey I am preparing to begin is a personal experiment in living this humility. I have simplified my life, sold many of my belongings, including my car, and am ready to walk into the world in a way that is similar to the way Jesus called the disciples in the first century. It is a risky leap of faith for me, but one that I believe will be extremely rewarding.

I am excited to begin a new lifestyle that I feel greatly contrasts the perceptions of Americans in the world, who are often seen as incredibly wealthy, powerful, and politically arrogant. I hope that through my journey, I am able to be a witness to the Christian characteristics that I have seen the most hope in, and that my humble service can be used to connect with many of the needs in this world.

We are planning on traveling for at least a year, eastward around the earth, through 35-40 different countries and 5 continents. We have made connections with many local families, missionaries, and service workers to whom we have offered service and support. We are also planning on spending over two months of the year backpacking, two months bicycle touring, and a month sailing in our journey. We believe that there are many connections between a physical journey and the spiritual journey of our lives, and we believe that the travelers? lifestyle provides great learning, networking, and opportunity for conversation.

I hope that you share in my vision for this journey. We have made a website that will have journals and photos of our journey, and I invite you to walk alongside us in spirit and share in our vision. I will try to make sure that the address will get printed in a bulletin or newsletter in the next week or so. This site also explains more about our route, our purpose, and our plan for the next year. We hope that this experience will connect with many people around the globe, and that we can all learn more about walking through the life journey that God has offered us. The risks of a trip like this are real, and I also ask for your prayers and support during this time for Eric and I.

It has been said that we are not physical beings on a spiritual journey, but spiritual beings on a physical journey. Journeys remind us that we are moving with purpose towards the life that God intends for his children. We hope that our experience can help us all to continue walking humbly in that direction, towards our eternal destination.

Update

Family and Friends,

By now, many of you have probably heard about my plans for the year ahead. Starting next week, I will be embarking on a year-long trip around the world with a good friend of mine, Dave Landis. This is a journey that has been stirring in our hearts for quite some time now, and it is exciting to see it finally becoming a reality.

Throughout my life, international experiences have profoundly impacted who I am and my perspective on the world. On this trip, Dave and I are hoping to continue our quest of learning and discovery. We are looking forward to many opportunities to develop relationships and be of service to people of a variety of backgrounds. We are also excited about experiencing the challenges of traveling simply and journeying in faith.

To help communicate our vision and share this experience with you, we have created an interactive website. It can be found at http://www.vivaelviaje.com . Throughout the upcoming year, we will be posting journals and photos to document our travels. If you would like to receive an email each time our website is updated, please go to http://www.vivaelviaje.com/blogs/vivaelviaje/index.html and enter your email address on the left side of the page. (For those of you EMU people who have already received a message from Dave, you don?t need to do anything?you?re already on the list).

The road ahead will be full of unknown joys and challenges. As we embark, we trust that as we step out in faith, God will guide us and be present during each step of the journey. We invite you to keep us in your prayers, and thank you for all of your support and encouragement. Blessings as you also live the journey to which you?ve been called.

In Him,

Eric Kennel (& Dave Landis)

www.vivaelviaje.com