Soon, I (and 34 others) will begin our pilgrimage in Spain, with about half of us walking 100 miles of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela and the other half visiting UTO Grant sites around the north of the country. This week, we are all scurrying to line up everything to ensure that our lives continue at home while we’re gone, choosing and re-choosing what we’re going to pack for the trip, and excitedly imagining where we’ll be a week from now. Though my head is spinning while I try to check everything off my list this week, there is a giddy bubble of excitement in the back of my mind about the spiritual and physical adventure that’s finally about to happen after months of planning.

I am very excited to see some of Spain, which I’ve not visited before. I love to travel and have not gotten to do as much as I’d like, so I’m eager to see the beautiful cities on our itinerary – Madrid, Salamanca, Ávila, León, and Astorga – and get a small taste of what life is like in Spain. But I’m especially excited about traveling with spiritual intention – the intention to focus with gratitude on God’s work through the Reformed Episcopal Church of Spain and UTO’s participation in that work – with a group of similarly focused travelers. We obviously hope to have a lot of fun on the way, but I never want to lose sight of the fact that this is a pilgrimage and that we are seeking God as we go. We will see many beautiful places and enjoy exotic foods, but we will also share prayer times together and celebrate God’s faithfulness in our lives and the lives of grant recipients in Spain.

I ask your prayers for all the pilgrims on this journey of gratitude and celebration of the Reformed Church of Spain and UTO’s long history of support for its work. All of you who’ve put money into your Blue Boxes have helped with these projects, and I hope you’ll check in with our progress on Facebook so you too can give thanks for the work of the Church in Spain and perhaps have a pilgrimage of your own from wherever you may be.