Walk on - southern Mexico

Trumpets in the street, Tequilla in the milk bar & 40 people jammed on to the back of a ute - this is southern Mexico! Nikki & I crossed the border three days ago & are heading north piece by piece, through the suprisingly green, mountainous & humid countryside. I picked Nikki up from the airport in Guatemala City (by foot) & after a final recouperating stay with the Franciscan's (and Fr Gerard) we were off towards the border. To get back to the 'walking path' we needed to take a bus for some distance & with out a doubt it was the most harrowing piece of driving I've ever seen in my life! The bus driver screamed through tight corners, over-took semi-trailers while vehicles were coming the other way, forcing them onto the gravel edging (well, apart form the one guy who had nowhere to go & simply locked up completely as we just squeezed through) & got tired of the slow moving traffic at one point & drove across the median strip onto the opposite side of the freeway & simply dodged the oncoming traffic for a kilometre! Guatemalan buses - don't do it. I am very happy to be walking again. Mexico is slightly more developed than the previous countries but there is substantial angst towards anyone from the USA. I'm not from the USA, but Nikki & I look like we could be & so our walking has been accompanied by many blairing car horns, verbal abuse & unwelcoming stares. There's still a lot of poverty here & it still eats at me as I walk that this is all optional; that the poverty (in its many guises) exists because we allow it to. I'm not preaching, just writing done my musings. I guess the big question on a day-to-day basis is how to be part of a solution & not continue to be part of the cause. It's been great having Nikki alongside for the past hundred odd kilometres as we talk, pray, sing, enjoy the views & try to figure out the road signs. I'll stop typing here & let Nikki introduce herself further!
Hello hello everyone! Just to put you all in the picture, I have been traveling & working in the UK and Europe for the past 2 years & after being back home over Christmas & finding out Sam had flown overseas on this big mission to Unify the churches, its steeples and all its peoples, I thought, well thats a hugemungus task he has taken on. So for the last 6 months I have been reading the blogs & keeping in contact with the adventures & adversities of Sam´s journey & really feeling a pull & attraction to the conscience & reasons behind the walk. So, as I was able to, booked flights to land me in the path of Sams walk & met up with him 6 days ago.
Walking with Sam has been interesting. Im sure already i'm driving him crazy with my deafness & his need to repeat himself all the time. But I cant help but laugh that on his second attempt to get his message across another whopper of a truck comes harrowing past at a million miles an hour & Sam is silently mouthing his exasperated point of conversation! A smile goes a long way! And such is what we have found with the Mexicans...they are all suspecting & stand-offish until we make the first wave or nod, smile & say ´hola!´. They become more animated when they know we aren´t on the hunt...(our walking sticks look pretty threatening!)
On the bus ride (mentioned above) that belongs in MovieWorld & rated ´XYZ´, ´only for people with low blood pressure´, Sam was so wide-eyed with amazment that I thought his eyeballs were going to pop out! It was absolutely horribly wrong though, my learned instincts telling me that accidents happen with this craze & egotistic manner of driving. But we alighted in one piece.
Walking has been challenging but amazing. Sunrises, sunsets, storms & intense, humid heat. Im stoked to be here, joining forces, praying & working for Unity, getting out of the tourist/traveller mode of making assumptions of the people we encounter & into a mission-focussed, Jesus-inspired passing on of love & unity. ´Its all the little things...´
God bless, Sam & Nikki
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy." Matt 5:7

Hospitalised in Guatemala City

Yeah, yeah, I know, about time something interesting happened. My week started poorly with an unpleasant encounter with a burley Evangelical Minister who reacted to my jounrey by getting me in a vise-like grip & forcing me onto my knees while he prayed for me. I thought he was going to crush my skull. I'm still at a loss as to what was going through his head at the time but once I was released form his powerful grip I was very quick to hit the road the again. Probably shouldn't have. Would've been wiser to find a quite spot & just sit there. Somehow a few days later, and I'm not sure how or when, I managed to pick up a strain of salmonella poisoning that, over the course of a few hours, drained ever once of energy from me until I couldn't move another inch. Unfortunately that point of 'Oh, oh, I'm in trouble here' came as I entered a public toilet. I was floored & couldn't make my way back out. The public toilets here are staffed & thankfully they came to my aid & propped me up on a chair. They called an ambulance for me & as my condition worsened (I was rugged up shivering in a tropical country) the crowd began to gather. After 2 hours I was still sitting there unable to move & in agony. Some armed soldiers checked in to make sure everything was ok but I must have past out because one moment they were there & then they'd disappeared. The ambulance arrived 5 hours after the call was placed (I hadn't been shot or stabbed so I'd been placed down the list) & they very slowly walked me down the stairs, through a crowd of about 50 people (I said hi) & into the mini-van ambulance. We raced through the then peak-hour traffic, siren wailing & horn tooting, to the St John Of God Hospital. By this stage I was no longer freezing cold but beginning to develop a fever (38.5 degrees & blood pressure of 80/50). They diagnosed the salmonella poisoning & suspected it was causing a Typhoid fever. They hooked me up to a drip & began to pump a couple of litres of anti-biotics & fluids into me. I felt like death on a stick. They held me overnight & continued to administer 'stuff' through the drip. The emergency ward was full of student doctors who I'm adimant had just stepped off the set of some medical comedy. They enjoyed their work more than most of us enjoy a footy match. I saw two interns arm wrestling next to the patient they were preparing for emergency surgery, one had just received a funny sms & was doing the rounds showing all the doctors (much to their amusement), one of the male inturns was trying to find a date for a female inturn by asking all the patients if they liked her & then they started passing my size 16 boots around for a laugh. I was at least laughing on the inside. By 8am the following day they discharged me & so very gingerly I walked down the street & checked into a hotel where I've been recouperating since. I'm no longer 'death on a stick', just a stick, so I'm eating plenty! The challenge to be united in love (please see last blog entry) is still eating at me massively. In an attmept to put it into action I bought some food for two homeless guys sitting not too far from where I was staying. It was getting late & the temperature had dropped singnificantly to the point where the two guys were 'cuddling' each other for warmth. I sat down next to them & handed over the food. They got stuck into it & one of them introduced himself & we started to chat. I asked him if he had anywhere to stay & said he had no home but there was a shelter down the road where he could stay for (the equivalent of) $5. It didn't come easily but I handed over the money for them to stay the night in the hostel. Then the most incredible thing happened. The guy I'd given the money to wouldn't give the other bloke his share & they began to fight right there in front of me. I watched, wide-eyed, for a few seconds & then snapped back into reality & gave them a thunderous, "Hey!" they both snapped to attention & he reluctantly handed over part of the money. I couldn't beleive it, one moment they were cuddling each other for warmth & then they're fighting like dogs. Mother Teresa pointed out years ago while visiting New York that the greatest poverty isn't a lack of money, clothes or shelter, but love. It was hard enough for me to prize the money from my wallet for them, but the challenge of making a deposit, not into their bank accounts, but into their hearts is somewhat more of a challenge. More prayer.
In very exciting news, on Monday morning after 6months of trekking it alone, I will be joined on this journey by another Australian who has sold up to walk the world & pray for unity. I'm tired of carrying my back-pack anyway :-) Please log in next week to meet... Niki Harris.
God bless you and please pray on!
Samuel.
ps: The tap outside my hotel room was dripping the other night & keeping me awake so I tip-toed outside in the dark & gave it a twist to tighten it up. The whole thing came off & there was water flying everywhere with incredible force. I fumbled in the dark & with the water pressure to get the stupid thing back on but eventually did, minus a small drip. Idiot.

Dominicans, Mother Teresa & Michael More...

G'day from northern El Salvador! I walked for the first couple of days in El Salvador but my leg became worse over time until I was almost hopping down the highway. It was too painful to even move so I've rested it for the remainder of this week & made my way between towns by any means possible. This week I've had a shake up of why I'm walking & what unity really is thanks to a Dominican priest in San Salvador. The night before arriving in San Salvador I saw an interview with film-maker Michael More who commented on his latest film exposing the disgrace of the USA's Health Care system. He noted that when he arrives at the 'Pearly Gates' he expects to be asked by Jesus if he feed him when he was hungry, clothed him when he was naked & nursed him when he was sick; That as a Christian it is his responsibility to stand up for those who cannot stand for themselves. It struck me on two counts, firstly because I didn't realise this side of Michael More existed & secondly because it struck me that there was a connection of sorts between Unity & loving your neighbour, but I didn't at that point realise how strong that connection was! I have held from the very beginning of this walk that Unity is important but not the most important aspect of our faith but that, as Michael Moore observed, loving our brothers & sisters is. When I arrived in San Salvador I vistited a few churches but ended my day with an offer of hospitality at a Dominican Parish in the CBD. I initially spoke with a German missionary priest who was straight down the line in saying that he didn't care too much for inter-denominational unity when there was such disunity within the christian world socially. The rich & the poor are not united. All around me in San Salvador I could see evidence of division, from the bullet holes in the church doors where 21 people were masacred, to the hundreds of homeless men, women & children outside the church, to the reports of the on average 12 murders per day in this small country. The priests words ate at me for the next 24 hours & I then happened to read a series of quotes from Mother Teresa who expressed a similar line of thought to that of Michael More. Incredibly, Mother Teresa also had her own little play on what would be asked at the 'Pearly Gates' quoting, "Jesus will not ask you how much you have done, but rather how much love have you put into what you have done." It was as if my eyes were being opened to the grand picture of unity & I've since begun to see unity in a very different light. Unity is theologically, philosophically and socially - completely. Unity is Love. And love is not just a feeling but rather an action. Perhaps those of you reading this have already been praying for unity on a social level as well, but if not, please consider this element of unity as you do pray. I'm personally beginning to wonder if I'll ever make it back home now - there's too much work to do :-) Who's in?
Before I log off, a very big thank you to all those who have helped me out financially after the various set backs - The path is open now to simply focus back on prayer so thank you very much!

NEXT WEEK: I know there are many people reading these blogs who I've never met and I often get questions about the walk passed on to me via email so next week I thought I'd do a Q&A. So, whether I know you or not, it you'd like to leave a question in the comments section or drop an email to samuel.clear@ymt.com.au I'll try to answer as many as I can next week!

Until then though, please keep praying & inviting others to pray as well.
God bless, Sam.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Matt 25: 34-36

Swindlers, Stalkers, Sickness & Strees Fractures

As the heading suggests, it's been a big week. Thank the Lord it's Sunday. This week I crossed from Nicaragua into Honduras & just 3hrs ago crossed into El Salvador! I have a stress fracture in my left leg sustained during a 40km walk in Nicaragua with two massive blisters causing me to limp & hence add undue stress to my leg. I've had something in each country that has stopped me in some way from completing the crossing on foot in its entirity so this time I was determinded to just offer the pain up for unity & complete the remaining 150km - very slowly. By the time I made it to the border (5 days later) my leg was badly swollen so I rested through the whole of Honduras where the mission took on a new look of 'RideTheBus4one'. I still stopped in each town along the way & was afforded more time to spend travelling from church to church inviting people to pray for unity. I met some great people & enjoyed the rest. In the end I had no choice but to take the bus because at the border I also got food poisoning & spent the night sitting on the floor embracing the toilet. That was a few days ago & I still have a headache from it. So, lots of painful walking followed by lots of painful bus travel while drinking litres of fluid trying to re-hydrate! I was also swindled twice in two days. Firstly, after an evening meeting with a Padre my leg was seizing up so I took a tricyle taxi back to my hotel. The taxi-rider overcharged me 5 times the going rate ($30 instead of $6) but I didn't realise this until inside the hotel. I quickly hobbled back outside to find a heap of other tricyle taxi riders laughing at me. One called out, "Hey my friend, where do you want to go? For $30 I'll take you anywhere!" They all roared with laughter. All of a sudden I forgot about my leg & marched my way back through the town until 'my man' happened to ride up alongside me on a push-bike this time. I didn't recognise him at first but then he made the mistake of commenting about our trip to the hotel. I stopped and smiled at him, "Hello. Did you steal from me?" I placed my hand firmly on his shoulder and he very promptly reefed the $30 out of his pocket & gave it back to me. I took back $20, gave him $10 & said goodnight. He rode off very quickly. The other time was with the money exchangers at the border. The Money Exchanger under exchanged by a hefty 30%, which I discovered over lunch while talking to a local about the value of the currency. This time I grabbed a police officer & we both went back to the money exchangers & though we couldn't find him, an honest man stepped forward & said that it was his friend & that he'd give me the money owed & seek out his friend for the difference later. So, on I walked. In Honduras I was woken in the middle of the night with a dark shadowy figure standing over me running his hand up and down my body! That is a scarey thing to wake up to. I flinched as I woke & the figure retracted from my bed & stood a few metres away from me. I had no idea what to do so I just pretended to still be asleep. After a few minutes he finally left the room. Feeling more than just a little uneasy I got out of bed & wondered what on earth I could do. I prayed & asked for some help & as I stood near my door I heard him come out of his room again & come up to my door once more. I stood there looking at my door as he slowly opened it up. It was like something from a horror movie. As the door opened up I flicked the light on & vigorously 'scruffed' him by the shirt & pushed him back out away from my room. I was staying in a missionary hostel & across the way was a chapel so as he tried to run I fastened my grip on him, opened up the chapel door & flung him inside. I dragged him right up the front & threw him onto his knees. He pleaded, "No, no, Jesus is here!" I agreed & replied, "Correct & he's the only one who has permission to be in my room at any time. Goodnight." As I left the chapel (picking up the chairs I'd knocked down in dragging him in) I heard him begin to start praying. I hope he spent a while there. I found a way to secure my door shut & back to bed I went. As I wrote at the start, Thank the Lord it's Sunday. This has been a long entry but I can't go without sharing a very embarrassing moment in a rural town in northern Nicaragua. Residing at the country store I finished off my tub of yoghurt & tossed, basketball style, the tub into the bin nearby. My perfect shot was meet with looks of shock & dismay from the locals there that confused to me to say the least. I couldn't work out why they reacted as they did so I inspected the rubbish bin to discover I had unwittingly 'three-pointed' my yoghurt tub into the towns supply of dried corn kernels. I quickly apologised & retrieved the tub but as I stood up the cross around my neck hooked on the side of the bin and literally 'popped' the figure of Jesus off the cross! This was met with even more looks of shock & dismay form the locals. I retrived the figure of Jesus from the corn & discovered it actually had little nails in the back of it so I had the embarrassing task of then nailing the figure of Jesus back onto the cross... I then found the real rubbish bin for the yoghurt tub a bid a quick farewell. Always place your rubbsih in the bin. There were in fact other incredible moments over the past week but I don't have enough space to write about all of them. Basically though, God is taking care of me & though my path is riddled with opposition I'm still enjoying the journey. Please pray on & if you haven't already, please feel welcome to sign the online prayer list simply as a way of encouraging everyone else to pray. God bless, Sam.
"I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church." Col 1:24

From northern Nicaragua with a smile

I have boots. I first began making inquiries about a replacement pair of boots while crossing Venezuela & that was nearly 3months ago! Of course, I had to fight until the end to actually get them on my feet. They were late arriving in Managua after the plane they were on was grounded in San Jose & then upon arrival Customs siezed them (??). It took another 2days but I now have them & very thankful for that! I like northern Nicaruagua. I've met many people who greet me with a smile & I've been kindly treated by the many churches here, as well as the everyday folk I meet on the side of the road. Slowly but surely more & more people are praying for unity. Managua city was a scarey place where at one point I thought I was about to get 'done over' again but I was very thankful to be able to continue on the journey (and get out of there). But enough of the chit chat, I finally have my boots so in celebration I'd like to be a little less serious & post my top ten ways to be united...
SAM'S TOP 10 - Ways to be United
1. Don't be disunified
2. Superglue yourself to another person of faith & ask them to continue the chain
3. Spread a rumour that the 1st 1000 people to be united will receive $500 from Microsoft who are tracking your conversations & thoughts from Bill Gates' very own personal computer
4. Say, "There's no place like Unity" & tap your heals together 3 times
5. Ask Bush, Blair & Howard to unite us under 'Operation Unity Now'
6. Insist on having a McUnity day at your local McDonalds to raise awareness
7. Wait for Shrek IV, it's on his 'to do' list
8. Write to Oprah & insist that this blog be her 'Book of the Week'
9. Nominate representatives from each church on to the next series of 'Survivor' to be held in Tasmania - They'll all fall in love & won't want to leave each other... awww (www.wydtas.org.au)
10. Set your alarm for 4:01 as a reminder to pray for Unity & pray away!!!

Next week, my top ten way's to write a blog entry without writing much sepcifically at all... I'm well & still rolling on! Please keep me in your prayers & particularly unity. God bless, Samo.
"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness & compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit & purpose." Philippians 2:1-2