Travels of a New Christian


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One’s True Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage 1Not Where I Want to Be

As I start this post early in the morning this past Saturday, on the eleventh of May, I should be sitting in my reclining chair on a high-speed train to Pamplona, where I will board the 4:00pm bus for Roncesvalles, a monastery town on the western slope of the Pyrenees Mountains.  Instead I am sitting in my home office in Naples, Florida; hobbled by bandages wrapping my right arm and leg.

The tenth of May, was my take-off date for Spain, and a pilgrimage to the bones of St. James.  It was to be the beginning of my walk on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.  I was to fly to Philadelphia in the afternoon and catch another flight to Madrid early that evening.  By 8:25am, the next morning, I would land in Madrid, Spain, where my goal was to get to the Puerta de Atocha Train Station quick enough to catch the train to Pamplona. From there Roncesvalles and then over the Pyrenees to St. Jean Pied de Port in France; my starting point for the Camino pilgrimage.  None of this was to be – at least not yet – in my “compostela”(constellation).  My stuffed backpack was set out on the dining room table, my collapsible walking sticks nearby, euros were crammed into an envelope along with a charge card or two, and I wasn’t around to carry any of it.  No. for me, the tenth of May was my day to be lying in a hospital bed at the Kendall Regional Hospital Burn Unit.  The night before had brought me much adventure, a lot of pain, a few revelations, a large dose of peace-of-mind, and a certainty of purpose in life as God has set out before me. Continue Reading →


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My Road to the Catholic Faith

PraiseGod-300x225

“Without individuals, nothing happens; without institutions, nothing survives.”  Talleyrand

This quote cracked some eggs in my budding life as a new Christian and missionary. (As a side, it is of some humor to me that this quote came from the mouth of a man of royal background, priestly inclination, a diplomat at heart, a Prime Minister of France, a womanizer, a voluptuary, and the “lame devil”.)

By Who’s Authority

My first three years at New Hope Ministries were spent in praise & worship of a God whose call finally overcame all of the obstacles I had placed between us.  During that time a theological education became the order of process to shape my faith, and the challenging world of missionary and evangelical efforts became my realization of what real faith produces; work.  In this process I slowly discovered that I was increasingly on an entrepreneurial path – more of a voluntary association with New Hope Ministries, or a sodality as the Catholic Church would call it – rather than in union with the church; a union where the Pastor and church administration was clearly involved, and any volunteer role was clearly defined as secondary and not primary to the mission’s survival.  In truth, though, my church engaged little through its own efforts to pursue mission and evangelical work that had to be reached by walking out the doors of the church.  “Efforts” were the enterprise of individuals and small groups that defined needs, initiated plans, and executed activities independent of, but with the sanction from the church administration.  If I, or some other volunteer, did not do “it”, “it” would not get done.  In a word, I found this “depressing” and somehow lacking in what my theological education was shouting at me. Continue Reading →


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The Willing Tree – Our Mission to Puntarenas

Tree in Meadow 2

I’ve discussed much the importance of witnessing, as I feel it is the backbone of Christianity.  God has created us as a social creature; meant to live and love as a community.  Witnessing is that simple and most elegant order of communication that brings us together as one body in Christ.  Throughout my first two years of being a new Christian, I have tasked myself to seeking the liberty of witnessing my faith to others.  Each of us are unique and so it is that we find our own expression of witnessing as we are most comfortable, but it is mandatory that we seek God’s comfort and not our own as our inclined demeanors can bring us quite short of our true potential to witness.  We should always seek that potential and never be content with the easy.

As I matured in my Christian faith, it began to become a reality that God was calling me to more than my easy witness; that stretch of my hand first, then my arm.  God wanted more from me; to show me His power within me and His desire that I use His measure as He has allotted it, not as I might choose to use it.  He wanted me to reach out with both arms, and so I knew this growth needed to be sought.

Kathryn & I have been most fortunate that our growth in Christ had been greatly funded by a few small, lay ministries that were in our church.  One such is Patricia Hilliard Ministries.  Patricia is one of God’s encouragers; as a friend, a Life Coach, a speaker and teacher, and as a fearless missionary.  We have both benefited from those gifts within her, and through her encouragement we have grown as God has intended us to do so.

In July 2011, we found that growth opportunity to reach out with both arms to witness through an evangelical mission trip to Puntarenas, Costa Rica; one Patricia had developed in association with Cal Montenegro of Shepherd Network.  This trip would take twelve missionaries into the neighborhoods of a port city on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, with the purpose of witnessing God’s Word in our lives and exhorting the citizens of this city to consistently seek out Christ in their lives.  It would be a four-day, non-stop push into multiple local churches, a hospital, an orphanage, a prison, both a men’s and women’s conferences, and finally to an open-air church on the top of a mountain.  Morning, afternoon, and evening became appointments on our calendar. Continue Reading →


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Landscape & Laundry

L&L Snapshot 1 EditI found myself this recent Easter Vigil in my pew, going through the final rite of coming into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.  For Kathryn and I, this has been a journey that has taken four years to accomplish, and we cannot express the rest we now have in our Lord God.  And during that evening’s Mass, a few verses of Paul’s epistle to the Romans was read – Romans 6:3-11.  In those verses I was reunited with a single verse that has meant so much to me.

Romans 6:5

For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His.

Perhaps a year ago, I came across a short video, directed by Geza M. Toth, for KEDD Animation Studio.  At that time I was profoundly struck by the film for both its surreality, and by an intense spiritual message that I discerned was being told behind the scenes.  Now, I have no idea what Mr. Toth was attempting to project in his film, but I certainly sensed a meaning that needed to be coaxed from the darkness of the film.

The video resided in my mind for several months without interpretation on my part, as I could not quite bring what was of the spiritual in the film into a focus that we, in the physical, could use to some good purpose.  And then one day the focus was simply handed to me; as a cautionary poem of man’s inability to discern that path that is so well lit by God’s grace, and a love so infinite and constant that He would suffer and die on a cross for us all; through Jesus Christ.

I sat, He wrote.  I hope you enjoy my adaptation of a brilliant piece of work by Mr. Toth, and find some contemplation that might strengthen your covenant with God.

God Bless – Reese


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El Camino de Santiago de Compostela

Matthew 4:4

But He answered, “It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”"

Peregrino 2

Well, I really am getting down to the final few weeks before I leave on the pilgrimage of the Way of St. James (El Camino de Santiago de Compostela).  My ticket is dated April 3, 2013; four days after I become Catholic at the Easter Vigil at St. Peter the Apostle Church, Naples, Florida.  I thought I would use this post to bring my readers up to speed on what this is all about, and why I am doing this pilgrimage, and I shall.  What I must add though is a recent turn of events.

My parents have been trying to sell their apartment for the past year, so they can move into a retirement community.  They had no luck during that time to either sell their apartment or find a residence they liked, and it came to a point where they just decided to live out their remaining years where they are.  The road was clear for me to go on this pilgrimage, and I bought my ticket.  A couple of days later – you guessed it – they received an offer for their home, and found a new home at their preferred community; all in the same day.  If that’s not God working in their lives, I don’t know what is.  So here I am; aching a bit that my plans are postponed, but delighted that I am still around to get them both moved.  Again, God’s hand all over this one, as I had originally planned to walk in March/April, and I would have been gone by the time they received their offer to sell.

So let’s talk the Camino…. Continue Reading →


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Purpose & Purity – The Obligation to Christ’s Church

Sunday ServiceThis past week, and for the reason of talking about aspects of Catholic faith, I ventured a fact about the Catholic doctrine on sin to a Charismatic friend of mine.  I noted to her that the Catholic Church obligates us to attend Sunday Mass.  Should we not do so, it is considered a mortal sin and we must exclude ourselves from receiving the Eucharist until we have confessed to this negligence and sin.

Now my friend, like many Christians, has to work hard to give respect to the Catholic Church. After several small skirmishes between us over the matter of doctrine and practice, I found myself delivering a strong rebuttal on the common respect due Catholicism.  I had learned at New Hope Ministries that Catholicism is more than frowned upon by many practicing Christians; as if it were some cave of lepers from the time of Jesus.  So I was not surprised when what I received back for my offering was a look of disapproval and a dodge from discourse. Continue Reading →


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Your Call to Service

I had started another post some days back and had gotten a few pages into it.  I thought it sensible to progress my journey, as a new Christian, into the events of my education at the New Hope School of Ministries, and perhaps I shall return to that someday.  What became quite evident though was that the Holy Spirit knew all too well what needed to be said.  After a lot of mental doubt and the mysterious disappearance of the word file from my hard drive this past morning, I knew that nagging thought in the back of my mind needed to become an expression of my heart instead.  And so here I go.

Operation Shoebox – Guatemala – December 2009

Pastor Dwight, Kathryn, I, and a new friend, Dollea Herron, stepped through the doors of the La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City, and into a bright sun and the kind presence and care of Dany Mejia, director of operations for this mission trip.  Dany was a past student at the Living Water Teaching school in Xela, as well as a once-small child who benefited profoundly from just such a mission trip as we were about to embark upon. December was here and a crisp wind marked the coming of cold evenings and warm afternoons for the next week.

Making Tortellias
At the Breakfast Table
The Restaurant
Two Children on the Road
We Have Arrived!

Along with some forty other volunteer missionaries, we stayed the night at a local motel before taking the four-hour bus ride into the central highlands of Guatemala.  Quetzaltenango, or Xela, is a bustling and dirty city, and our destination spread out across a plateau; surrounded entirely by a mountain ridge replete with active volcanoes that belched smoke on a routine basis.  The bus ride was a venture back into a time of the Mayan culture, and quite surreal as we found ourselves surrounded both by a world of simple ways and means and a modern society embracing all that is material.  Donkeys and motorcycles were parked side-by-side at the traveler’s restaurant where we ate breakfast that morning, and a wonderful breakfast it was.  The tortillas were handmade before our eyes by a young woman stationed at a wood-fired comal. The food was ‘typica’: a few salsas, tortillas, mashed beans, scrambled eggs, and fresh-squeezed juices, as well as a cafe dark and intense. Continue Reading →

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