Walkabout

Since I have not completely explained what we are doing other than telling you about hot chocolate, I'll do that. We basically mass produce hot chocolate. We then transfer it into insulated canisters that go inside insulated backpacks with a dispensing arm attached-it is very cool. I'll try to have some pictures up soon. (I said try.) We head out like pack mules and offer free hot chocolate, (and sometimes water or coffee). We then give out around 800 cups in a four hour period. The work isn't hard, but the weight of the backpack wears on your knees and back. It is, however, worth its weight in gold as a conversation piece.

One such conversation was with Jamie. I met him on Sunday when he stopped for some hot chocolate. He is from Adelaide, Australia and is in his sixth month of a walkabout. A walkabout is an Australian term for a journey of discovery, self or otherwise. That may not be the most accurate definition, but that is what it basically is to me. We had a good conversation about various things for about 45 minutes and he got a refill and went to find his hostel.

I was kind of surprised when he was back again today ready for more hot chocolate. I took the opportunity after a short while to ask him what he was looking for on his walkabout. He said he just wants to see all of the different places and cultures before he narrows down to the main thing he thinks he is supposed to find. I used that as an invitation to ask him what his spiritual thoughts were and he said he grew up in the Anglican Church.

We had a light discussion of the various approaches the Anglican, Catholic, and Protestant churches take on spiritual concepts and I the shifted the conversation towards Jesus. I used the More than Gold pin and the symbolic colors to describe what Jesus had done.

I told him about the temple veil being torn from top to bottom after Jesus died on the cross and we now had direct access to God. This point was important because he had stated he didn't think the approach of needing to see a priest to communicate was God was right. And Jamie is right.

Now at some point in our conversation, Jamie sat down a bag. I had really paid no attention to it or its contents, but then an odd thing happened. When I was talking about the temple veil being torn, with no rhyme or reason, the bag fell over and the heavy bottle of alcohol rang like a bell against the sidewalk. I think it was one of those simple, overlooked moments that God used to say to Jamie, that He is what he needs to be seeking. The look on Jamie's face at the sound of the bottle falling was not embarrassment over the revelation of what was in the bag, but one of shock as if the ringing bell was a wakeup call.

I shared my own spiritual walkabout with Jamie and he appreciated the use of the Aussie concept and said he would stop by on Wednesday to get a copy of the book of John. Please pray that God will do an amazing work in Jamie's life and let him know without a doubt that God loves him and wants a relationship with him.

Again without being present, it is hard to describe how conversations go in certain directions and you find yourself wondering why we talked about certain things-feel free to ask about anything that doesn't make sense. I wish we could share all the encounters we are having as they are many.

We have a day off tomorrow (thank you More than Gold) and we are going to Whistler for the Women’s luge finals. We're looking forward to the opportunites we'll have while on the transportation to the mountain.

I'll let you know about it!