What is all this travelling like?

Sometimes I don’t think a lot about travelling.  I just get into the groove, plan, get it done, and move on.

But I have been reminded by some people along the way that we’re not exactly doing what "everyone else" is doing.  (For example, one man figured I must be writing a book when he found out we were travelling from Mexico City to Canada!)

So for all of you who have been wondering, I thought I’d tell you what travelling is like.  I’ve been thinking about it, rolling adjectives around in my head, and I’ve come up with an answer.

Travelling is gruelling.

Yep, that’s the word.  It’s truly gruelling.  I’m not saying that just because we’ve been travelling for a while and I’m getting tired.  It was gruelling from the start, and it’s still gruelling.

Gruelling:  extremely tiring and demanding
Origin:  mid 19th century: from the verb gruel ‘exhaust, punish’, from an old phrase get one’s gruel ‘receive one’s punishment’
– Oxford Dictionary

Now, that being said, I have learnt that you can have pain and difficulty, and still enjoy yourself.  After all, I have pain every day, but I’m still pretty happy.

And I can’t ignore the kindness of the many people we’ve visited.  People have been so hospitable, and I’ve enjoyed getting together with them all.  And I look forward to seeing many more people – I love it!

And no, it hasn’t escaped my attention that we’ve privileged to travel, and see things that many people will never see, and do things that many people will never do.

Maybe I should write a book. 😉

However, it’s still gruelling.  And it would have been a whole lot easier to stay home in Mexico City.

So why in the world do we do it?  Why are we here?

We’re here (at the moment in Saskatchewan) because we believe that the job of reaching the world for Christ is a team effort.  We believe that the many people that pray for the Church in Mexico ought to hear from us about how things are going.  We believe that the many people who give toward this ministry financially need to hear a report about what’s happening.  We believe there are others who may want to come short term or long term to be involved, and they need to learn more.  We believe that we need to be accountable to the Church here, and get in front of them so that they can ask hard questions face to face.

So here we are.  Gruelling it may be, but we’re still glad we’re here.  And we’re going to keep going, not because it’s what we would choose if we wanted to be comfortable, but because getting people together and building relationships is one of the means God uses to build His kingdom.

And we want to glorify God in His Church for all that He has done and will do.

And so … onward!