Travelling and Faith?

TROWEL & SWORD

Travelling and Faith?
What about it?

A. Hine

There is a question in our classical church visitation questions that reads:

How is pastoral care exercised for those unable to maintain regular contact with the congregation (eg. Country members, members of military service, etc)?

We don’t have too many people going into military service now days, but we do have significant young people heading abroad on the 12 month or more working holiday. For this month’s youth pages, I have asked one of our well travelled young people to share with us the ‘inner’ journey, while journeying around the globe as a young Christian and what encouragements and challenges to faith life it brings and also some ways in which we can be sure to maintain a growing relationship with Christ away from home and church.

In doing so I hope that this will better prepare young people for travel and spur ideas in churches to ways that we can better care for our young global nomads.

Jonathan Vandenberg

Travelling, the big “overseas experience”, is quickly becoming recognized as the Young Australian Dream. So many youth dream of, plan for, save for, and give up everything for their great adventure.

The overseas adventure these days comes in three basic forms, and more often than not a combination of two or all of these options.

The first of these, the tour. Often pre-booked from home, the Contiki type tour plans everything, books the accommodation, and usually travels quickly through large areas, seeing the highlights of each of the regions. All you need to do is pay your money, and show up with a large supply of energy and a pre-built tolerance for large amounts of alcohol.
The second, the backpacker. Traditionally, this type of traveller sets out from home with only their pack on their back, their heads full of excitement, ideas and plans, their arms clutched tight around their trusty travel guide. Nothing pre-booked, these plans evolved as the packer travelled, booking accommodation after arriving at a given destination, choosing their next destination only after speaking with people at wherever they might be. It has even been known for backpackers to head towards the train station, ready to move on, and only choosing their next destination after looking at the departures board and seeing which train is arriving first.

This brings with it the stress of finding accommodation, planning, and dealing with the occasional mishaps that undoubtedly cross your path. Often the biggest challenge of backpacking, this uncertainty brings to the fore all the loneliness, fear and insecurities you may be feeling. Always an occasion for lots of “arrow prayers” ie: “Please God, let there be a space here for me tonight.”

It also encompasses the challenges of finding your accommodation booking filled by someone else, forcing you to end up sleeping in a park when all the other accommodation in town is full. Or those unearthly train rides, at ridiculous hours of the night, in which you end up sleeping half the night at a random train station; potentially in some grotty tourist destination, or even in a place where the local people have never before seen a white face, praying for safety, and for energy to face the next day despite the lack of sleep.

However, it also brings the freedom to do as you wish, to plan as you want, and, if you love a place, to stay as long as you like. You have the freedom to throw caution to the wind as you swim in icy-cold mountain lakes, or roll down snow covered mountains pretending you are five again, to spend hours drinking a hot chocolate, or simply reading a book beside a beautiful river. You can stay and get to know the locals, chat to people on the side of the road, be invited back to their house for a cup of tea, and of course to make lifelong friends unexpectedly.

These days the backpacking world is far more advanced, mostly assisted by cyberspace and credit cards. The change this has wrought, along with the ever increasing popularity of backpacking, now necessitates pre-booking tickets and often accommodation for popular tourist destinations in season. However, it also makes keeping in touch far easier, with many internet cafes lining the popular travel routes, providing quick and easy access to all the latest technology.

This serves to make the personal struggle much easier. With more readily available contact with family and friends, you can ring home when the going gets tough, or send a quick email to as many people as you can fit on your mailing list. The need to rely solely on God becomes less when we can drown out our needs and failings and loneliness by contacting people, rather than by casting all our cares on Him.

Not that I’m arguing against people contact. On the contrary, contact from family and friends is often more of an encouragement than anyone at home will ever realise. It doesn’t need to be long contact, just frequent enough to let the intrepid traveller know that there are loved ones thinking of them and missing them.

The third type of travel is the work visa. The overseas work visa is for those who wish to fill up on their travelling coffers before trekking out, or, even for those who simply want the opportunity to work in a different country and enjoy a different culture.

Each of these options can be a significant challenge for the faith of a young person setting out on their own journey. A wise person recently said, “You never realize how good you’ve really got it until it’s gone.” Being brought up in a Christian home, a Christian church with Christian friends is an amazing blessing, one you appreciate more each day that you are away from home. However, it is often also a protected existence, where we are not always required to “be prepared to give an answer… for the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15).

This is a part of the big challenge that will confront you as you step out. To stand up for what you believe in, to set yourselves apart, to not get caught up in the enticing yet often destructive things of the world. Depending on where you travel, most backpackers will be offered a wide range of illegal substances on more than one occasion, and alcohol is always readily available- even in countries where its not officially legal. To be in the world, but not of it is often a harder challenge than you realise.

Because there are no rules, there is freedom to do what you like. Because Aussies have a reputation overseas for being daring, there is freedom to push the boundaries further than you normally would. Because there is no one to hold you accountable, it’s far easier to lose the “once wont hurt” argument.

Probably the most difficult time of my travelling days was when my ‘travel buddy’ went “off the rails” doing things they would never have done at home, and would not dream of doing now, for all the reasons outlined above. My faith had been challenged in a big way to live what I believed in, but I was isolated in my excitement to share the gospel from my travel buddy, who didn’t want to hear of it. Thankfully my buddy was also personally challenged about 6months later, and came to share the excitement of the gospel.

The second most difficult time was travelling through a third world country with a buddy who would pull a “Jekyll and Hyde,” and who I was never quite sure if I could talk to. Thankfully, this served to strengthen my relationship with God, as He was the only one I could rely on it that situation.

Situations like this are also great because it allows God a chance to get inside your world, especially if it’s a world that is too busily packed with the excitement of adventure. Let Him get to grips with what keeps you ticking, be honest with yourself about where you really stand with God and how close you let Him get.

There are other ways to counteract bad situations ruining your travels. Find a good church. If you are basing yourself in a particular region, speak to people who have been there before, have a look on the internet, discover what churches and resources are available. The most helpful tip is to find a contact person who can bring you along to their church, introduce you to people, and establish a circle of friends.

Personal Bible studies are essential to developing your own personal faith journey. Taking time out in the busy world of travel to do this is not always easy, but it is rewarding. Often the most difficult to achieve on planned tours, where every moment is jam packed with things to do, and people to interact with, it is important to take time out to develop your own relationship with God.

Make a commitment to be accountable to someone at home, or to the person you are travelling with. Keep contact with home. Home is great for providing everyday encouragement and support, without even realising that they are doing so. Journal your personal journey, along with your physical one. It’s a great way to see how far you actually have travelled.

Tips for parents:

Spend time one on one with your child before they leave. Take them to a Christian book shop and maybe choose a devotional book/ travel bible together, show them how important you consider it that they continue to develop their walk with Christ.

Keep open lines of communication. Get excited for your child, this is their big adventure, the chance they have been waiting for, the culmination of years of dreams. Research with them what they plan to do, find information, be involved. For example, the last time I travelled, I was trying to tie together some confusing train timetable information. When I asked my dad for advice he got so wrapped up in the excitement of piecing it all together, he ended up starting to plan his own trip! Even if you are scared for them, discuss your concerns but encourage them to broaden their horizons.

Be aware that life is different in other countries. For example, in England, it’s nothing to spend 3-4 nights a week at the pub with friends. Over here that would be considered by many as a direct entry ticket for AA membership, over there it is very much the norm. It doesn’t mean that your children are drinking themselves into oblivion, it simply means they are protecting themselves from the evil English weather outside and spending time with friends in a warm environment.

On one of my travelling experiences, my travel buddy had parents who wanted their child to continue living inside the guidelines they would have set down while at home. Rather than constraining him, this only served to make him rebel. He cut off the lines of communication and then promptly went out, indulging in many of the things he knew his parents would disapprove of, and very nearly landing himself in major disaster.

Keep regular contact and updates. So many times in my years away, I would ring home or friends and ask the inevitable, “So, what’s new…” So often I received the answer “Oh, nothing” I would hear the major bits of information but not the day to day workings of everyday life. When I finally came home I found that EVERYTHING had changed, just so slowly that people at home didn’t realize.

And, to “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions,” Eph 6:18, holds more importance than any of us can ever realize.

Remember Ps 139, my favorite travelling psalm, especially the comforting words of verse 9.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn
If I settle on the far side of the sea
Even there your hand will guide me
Your right hand will hold me fast.

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