Lisa is walking around the country sharing the gospel.

Meet Lisa.

On April 30, 2007, Lisa left her home in Kent, Ohio with 5$ in her pocket.  Since, she has walked through 35 states that she hasn’t been to and Maine makes her 47th state total.  She only has to visit Rhode Island to round out the lower 48.

Rainbow Umbrella. 

I met Lisa as I was walking out of Bath, Maine.  All day I had been having a hard time finding good hitchhiking spots and had been walking a lot.  As I was scanning for potential spots, I notice a woman ahead of me wearing a hiking backpack, carrying an umbrella, and also has a full duffel bag in her hand.  She is not moving fast.  A fellow traveler, I think, yet think it odd that she has so much stuff.  I easily overtake her.

“Are you walking across the country too?”  Her face is alight.  “I have never met another one!”

My New Partner.

Lisa does not put out her thumb.  She is not a hitchhiker.  She prays.  She walks along and prays someone will pick her up.  If they don’t, she just walks.  Lisa is on a faith walk.  She has faith God will take care of her and provide all she needs.  

Taken Care of.

Lisa doesn’t have a sleeping bag nor a tent.  She has so much luggage because she is writing a book about her trip and she has a twelve inch thick notebook in her pack.  She has carrying small books about Jesus Christ that she shares with people.  She gives me one.  

Sharing the Gospel.

Lisa tells a lot of stories from her travels.  She rode with a Grand Master from the KKK and she recants a story about how she evangelized him, maybe leading to him leaving the KKK.  Lisa slept in a cemetary one rainy night, yet left without being wet at all.  An angry and fierce dog once bounded her way with his teeth bared looking to get a hunk of Lisa, yet as he got close he stopped in his tracks.  ”Like he had seen an angel!” Lisa tells the tale with wide eyes that are very blue.  

Lisa is headed to the most Eastern Point in the USA.

 Her Mission.

As we eat dinner in Rockland, Maine, I ask her if she has a story that I could share with the folks that read my website.  She then tells a tale of playing Bingo with senior citizens in Missouri.  After one of the games, a woman with white hair asks to pray with Lisa.  This woman then seems to change halfway through their pray and begins to talk directly to Lisa. “Blessed is the man that puts his trust in the Lord, salvation is his Gift, and Heaven is his Reward.”  She says this is the message that Lisa must spread to the world and soon she will go to Europe and do the same.  Lisa says, the white haired woman then looks as if she comes too.  Lisa shakes her head to demonstrate.  “She couldn’t remember anything she had told me.”  The woman had been a vessel for the Lord.

So Happy Together…

Lisa is headed my way, although farther.  She is trying to get to the most eastern tip of the USA.  We decide to travel together for the day and I convince her that we can get rides easier if we stick our thumbs out.  She is in!  Although she is skeptical that the two of us can get a ride.  She doesn’t put her thumb out, but sure enough in 15 minutes, Don pulls over.

Our journey begins…

Tommorrow, I will tell the tale of leaving Portland, Maine and the rest of my day with Lisa on the way to Rockland, Maine.

Create Our World.

Ben

Tags: adventure travel blog, Benjamin Jenks, create our world, hitchhiking, roadtrip around the USA
Categories: Hitchin Stories., People.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 10th, 2009 at 5:00 am and is filed under Hitchin Stories., People.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.