Summer Saunterings

mostly musings on hospitality.

The quiet is where I dwell most naturally. I am not the voice of your friend, your pastor, a writer- My voice is most clearly heard in the place where no one else speaks for me.

Do you trust yourself to hear My voice? What holds you back, the fear of misinterpreting? That you’ll have to blindly follow Me?

What if that’s the very essence of faith, knowing that I am with you even in the places where I seem the most silent?

Do you trust Me to be there then?

What if those are the moments I’m the closest to you- the most tangible?

Commune with Me in the quiet. I’m here. Are you listening?

June 21, 2023. Somewhere north of Eidsvoll, Norway.

I returned back to Tirana on July 15th with a nasty case of Strep Throat.

After spending Bastille Day festivities feverish and fatigued from a hostel bunk room in Lyon, I decided it was best to cut my travels short and recover from my own bed in Tirana. Nothing beats a night in your own room after 25 nights slept on everything from Norwegian farms and a bathroom floor to a YWAM base and a cousin’s couch. I think it was a taste of what Jesus says in Matthew 8:20- “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head”.

Exploring Norway on foot was ideal- I might be biased, but it might be the best way to experience it without breaking the bank. I was drawn to the relative unpopularity of The Way of St Olav- it’s been on the rise with hikers since its reorganization in 2013, but to this day only around 1000 people finish it a year. The afternoon I arrived in Oslo I started my journey on the Way of St. Olav towards my final destination of Grimerud, a small village on Lake Myøsa and home to the YWAM base that sent an outreach group to Tirana this January. The Grimerud base is 1 kilometer off of the Way and seemed like a great opportunity to get a taste of a new pilgrim trail and visit with some of the best Christian youth Norway has to offer.

St Olav’s Way turns out to be just idyllic- a quiet path through the hills, lakes, farms and valleys of Gudbrandsdalen. Pilgrims paths have brought this renewed sensitivity to my spiritual life. Both my time on the Camino and St. Olav’s Way have been these beautiful moments of retreat with God that have been so unique and personal- being drawn into the wilderness long enough to reacquaint myself with the Creator who walked with our ancestors in the Garden.

I camped for the most part with a few nights in pilegrimsheberges, homes on the trail that will house and provide food for pilgrims on the Way. Herkestad Gård is the farm that Bente calls home. A Danish woman in her 60s, Bente lives alone in an almost 200 year old home she renovated herself. She has two horses, Pippino and Elaine. Bente fed me dinner and breakfast under a towering Oak tree that overlooked Lake Myøsa, sharing stories while admiring a beautiful evening under the Nordic sun still hanging above the horizon.

Meeting Bente might have been my highlight from my time on the trail. Her hospitality didn’t just provide a bed for a tired body, but wonderful food and true refreshment for a tired spirit. Often when I meet nonbelievers I like to try and guess what God-given gift is just waiting to be supercharged for the advancement of the Kingdom, and Bente’s is without a doubt hospitality. Watching Bente so graciously open her home stirred a conviction and opened my eyes a little wider to just how much potential hospitality has to be a strategic mission field. I wonder if us as image bearers of God, our refuge, the God who lies us in green pastures, who restores our soul, have some small gift of the Spirit that has an affinity for uniquely Christian hospitality. Is that something we can provide for those who are wandering the earth looking for some deeper understanding? Weary souls trying to take matters into their own hands, trying to solve their own problems?

Bente and I talked about her perspective of spirituality through the lens of anthroposophy, and I laid out the simple gospel message with hopes the Holy Spirit might be working in the areas of her heart still calling for a loving Father and Friend. Please be in prayer for Bente.

The second half of my trip on the YWAM base proved to be just as deeply refreshing coming off of 90 kilometers on the trail. As overwhelming as it was to go from a solo-hike to being surrounded by over 80 other believers in their twenty-somethings, what a wonderful family we have in the global church! Building relationships with individuals based on nothing more than a common faith in Christ is something I still get excited about. It’s such a good reminder of just how tangible and present God can be, the ease with which believers can connect because of who we know God to be for all of us.

There’s a lot more I’m still debriefing, and being back in Tirana has provided more space to chew on a lot of life packed in to a very short period of time. Back to the slow pace, and oh so grateful for it.

While my new role at GDQ starts in August, most of my work hours over the summer have been tied to teacher recruitment for the 2023-24 academic year and reconnecting with supporters on the long-term work I’m doing with GDQ. If you would like to connect, my Calendly link is still active and I’d love to chat with you on all things life.

I also want to announce I’m in the process of organizing a recruitment trip for GDQ to the States mid October-November. If you know of any connections in Christian Higher Ed in Midwest/Northeastern United States, I’d be grateful for any leads. I’ll be in the Chicagoland area, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia (potentially Michigan). More details to follow!

Peace to you all.

Aaron