On Saturday April 10th we were instructed to be out at the flag pole on campus at 5am. We were told we were going on a cross walk, going to be dropped off at least 2 hours from campus, with no money, no food, no phones, and no watches. Basically just water and our bibles. So we got into the van and were told to put our blindfolds on, and off we went with a six foot cross in the van with us. On my team was Luke, Hannah, Julia, and Nicole. We sat in the car in silence waiting to be dropped off in anticipation of what this weekend was going to be like. We had to be back to campus by Sunday night at 8pm or we had to call to get a ride back. Finally we were dropped off in the middle of no where by a lake, at what we think was 7:30am on Saturday. All we could do at this point was rely on the Lord to get us back to campus and provide for us everything we needed. SO we prayed about which direction to start going and headed out left.......
Then we headed out North on 71, in hopes of finding a bathroom. Eventually we saw a sign that said New London-Spicer, so we now at least new a generalized area of where we were and we knew we were still in Minnesota. After about 2 or so hours of walking we came across a gas station and used the bathroom. We found out there that we were more west of the school, so we found out we were heading in the wrong direction. We shared the gospel with the attendant at the gas station, but he was very closed to it. So we went outside to gather ourselves and pray about what to do next. We all felt very sure that we had to back track the 2 hours we just walked and head south on 71 to hopefully get to a road that would take us east. So we headed down the road. We walked for a little while and saw some guys in clean up crew on the side of the road and shared the gospel with them, they were receptive but they had to get back to work. So after walking for about an hour or more we decided to sit down and take a break on the side of the road.
As we were sitting there a car pulled up, and we were kind of shocked. We were like are they really stopping to talk to us! We started talking with Nikki and told her what we were doing and she offered to take us back to her house and make us some lunch. (On a side note, before the trip Suzanne, our mentor, asked us to write out some expectations we have for the weekend. Things we want to see the Lord provide, and we could think outside of the box. Like asking for specific food, or to see someone healed.) While we were in Nikki's car on the way to her house she asked us if we would be okay with Hamburgers for lunch (hamburgers one of the things I had asked God to provide for us on the trip, and I was just talking about it before we got picked up). We all laughed and gladly excepted the food! Julia had wanted to be able to pet a cat, and there was a cat at their house. At this point it was around 12, so we had been walking since 7:30 that morning. Nikki and her wonderful family fed us an amazing lunch and not only that put packed us up for some food for the road for later! And they gave us a map so we now knew exactly where we were. We had been dropped off just over a 100 miles from campus! Nikki then offered to drive us to highway 12 in Wilmar the road we were going to have to follow basically all the way back to campus. We were so much blessed by this family!
So now that we knew we were heading in the right direction we headed out, the next town Kandiyohi was about 6 miles away. That length took us a while to walk, we were getting pretty tired at this point, but we kept pushing and persevering! Once we finally made it to Kandiyohi we had to use the bathroom but the only gas station there was closed so we were just kinda trying to figure out our next step. When someone stopped and gave us 20 dollars, and then they left we were very blessed by that! Then we continued down the road probably about a half hour. When another car stopped to ask us what we were doing, they were Vickie and Gerry. They offered to take us the next 20 miles, as well as stop at a gas station so we could use the bathroom and they also bought us whatever we wanted in snacks and drinks! And then gave us some money for the rest of our journey. We were so blessed by them and what they did for us! They dropped us off just outside of Litchfield, we were making some serious progress by this point! We thanked Jackie and Gerry ad headed out again.
By this point in the trip we were absolutely blown away by the Lord's faithfulness and how he had been providing everything we needed as we went, we were not hungry and he was giving us the strength we needed to keep going. Although by this point we were getting exhausted, but it was only like 4 in the evening and we still had 4 hours of traveling time. So we kept going, Julia had said a little earlier that she wanted dairy queen, and the first building we came across in Litchfield was a dairy queen. So we sat down for a bit and had some ice cream with the money we had been given! We didn't sit long, and we were up and going again. As we were walking down the street a couple stopped us, Jeremiah and Natalie, to ask us what we were doing. We told them and they offered to take us the next 20 miles but they were on their motorcycle so they said they would drive to their house and get their truck if we wanted to walk up to the gas station and meet them there. So we gladly accepted that offer and headed off. As we were walking though a car that had given us 20 dollars earlier in the day stopped back and told us she now had more room in her car, and asked if she could give us a ride. We told her that we had just gotten one but that she could drive us to the gas station. So she did and in the process we shared the gospel with her, because we found out she was not a Christian. She seemed very open and receptive. Then we waited at the gas station for the other couple. And they pulled up and we headed out in the back of their pick up (which was something Nicole wanted on the trip). They took us to just outside Dassel, we were so thankful for the ride and the great conversations we had on the way!
So we headed out for the next town, which as far as we could tell was Cokato. Which was 6 miles away, and again we were still exhausted and it was about a little after 5pm at this point. We had till 8 to find somewhere to stay. After walking for about a half hour, I really really had to go to the bathroom. But there was nothing in sight, I prayed for a porter potty! But there was nothing so I finally gave in and went to the bathroom up over some train tracks. And off we went again, we were getting even more exhausted by this point. But we kept going on the Lord's strength alone! We came across a school just outside of Cokato, and saw some porter potty's I just laughed, God answered my prayer but just a little later than I had wanted! lol! We kept going and finally made it into Cokato. At this point it was after 7pm and we were running out of time. We had to find a place to stay. As we were walking a man, Steve, came up to us on his bicycle. Asked us what we were doing and we told him. He then offered for us to stay at his house, and not only that but we had to go to church with them in the morning and not only that we had to finish his sermon in the morning. He was a pastor, and the funny thing was that it was on all of our expectations to be able to stay with a family and to be able to go to church in the morning. And Luke's expectation was to be able to preach at a church on Sunday. So right there the Lord had come through on a lot of levels! We were so blessed! So that night we stayed with Steve, his wife Toni and their son Jon. They were absolutely amazing and gave us more than we could have asked for! Luke preached at 2 services on evangelism. He did a fantastic job! But it came to a point where we had to get back on the road again. We were all sad about leaving because we had had a great time with that family! But they offered to drive us the next 20 miles. SO off went at about 1:30 in the afternoon on Sunday, knowing at this point that we are probably about half way back to campus. So Jon dropped us off 20 miles away, and we parted ways.
As we were getting out of the car when Jon dropped us off, a car pulled up behind us and asked if we needed a ride. We were all very shocked like wait how did yo know that we were barely out of the other car. It turned out that Mark had been at church that morning, and decided to come and find us to give us a ride 20 miles. We were so blessed and gladly accepted the offer! Mark took us to Minnetonka. At this point we were pretty much figuring we were less than 20 miles away from campus. So we started walking through Minnetonka, we probably walked a good 5 miles. Before someone stopped us and asked us what we were doing. He ended up giving is some popcorn and a banana and kept going. But we then say him again a little ways up and this time he offered us a ride. Peter then drove us the rest of the way back to campus, just before 4pm!
We walked a total of 25 or more miles throughout the weekend, and were blessed with rides the rest of the way. It was so amazing to see how the Lord came through on so many levels for us on this trip. I know I learned a lot on this trip that I will never forget! The Lord's strength is truly the only thing we need to rely on, and we need to completely trust in him to provide. Even when we have nothing, he will come through! I know I will definitely be applying that to my financial situation as the next school year comes up, he will provide what is needed when it is needed! The Lord is faithful every second of the day, there is no doubt about it!! This cross walk changed me in a lot of ways! It was challenging on a lot of levels, but oh so very worth it!
Thank you so much to all of you who helped us along our journey! You all taught us more than you could ever know! We were blessed by you all so much!!
~Andria
