Our Community of Pilgrims

For most pilgrims, the Camino is a personal journey. We walked it with a group of twenty seven and had a support staff of four who met up with us in the evenings to bring us our meals.

The training event was for new staff working in Europe, so we had a potpourri of nations represented - Slovenia, England, Spain, Portugal, France, Holland, Germany, Czech Republic, Colombia and Brazil- as well as a number of Americans, some who came over from the US and others who work internationally. Our ages ranged from fourteen to fifty two and our experience with walking varied as much as our ages. Some walk parts of the Camino every year. Others had walked for several days during other training events. But most of us were new to the experience.   

We were kind of like a church in that we didn’t choose each other as companions but we ended up becoming a community because we shared a common goal. As pilgrims our goal was reaching Santiago de Compostela, but this was only a learning environment we hoped would help us get closer to our overarching goal: living out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. 

 Marc & Eva, pilgrims extraordinaire

Even though we were a collection of independent adults, our community was not a free-for-all. A couple from Barcelona headed up the whole event and they were the prototype of contemporary leadership. I’ll write more about what I learned from them later...suffice it to say here that not only did they make sure that the logistics ran smoothly but they were model pilgrims. 

When you’re new to something, and a little intimidated by what lies ahead, its very reassuring to be surrounded by a community of fellow travelers which includes people who give you the confidence that not only will you make it but you’ll be glad you did.