September 28, 2021
UNFAMILIAR PATHS
Linda Allen
Volunteer, Florida
I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them. I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do. I will not forsake them. Isaiah 42:16
The year was 2001 and our nation was rocked to its core. On September 11, a terrorist group hijacked four airliners. Two planes took down the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and a third hit the Pentagon. A fourth plane went down in a field in Pennsylvania. No one knew what would happen next. Where might they attack next? What airplane was safe? Was our country at war?
The uncertainty we felt was palpable even as we went about our normal activities here at home. But I had volunteered to go to Malawi with MMM, and I was to board a plane in Chicago in a few short weeks. Tom Logan came to me and said, “Go home and talk to Paul [my husband] about whether to continue on. We don’t know what is going to happen. When we get to Malawi, I can’t promise I can get you home.” What to do?
Four dear ones helped me make up my mind. Jim Nussbaumer, volunteer from Colorado said, “We have a job to do and we need to do it!” Yes. Rev. Suzanne Vargo Gorhau, Nebraska, told me, “We must overcome evil with good.” So true. Pastor Dan Whitfield preached a sermon on the rich, young ruler Jesus told to give it all up. And Dan remarked, “You know, we give it all up in the end anyway.” Wow. And then husband Paul said in his quiet, wise way, “What I think is...if you’re going to Malawi, you need to get your stuff packed.” And I did.
I’d never flown before. Never been out of the continental USA. Didn’t know where I’d use the bathroom in Malawi. Or what I’d eat. Or where I’d sleep. I didn’t know if I could do the work. Or if I could converse with folks. I stepped onto an unfamiliar path fully trusting in God and God’s children—my companions— both American and Malawian. I had a truly amazing experience, and returned to Malawi three more times.
Application Question: Every day is an unfamiliar path—how can I trust even more?
Prayer: Dear God. Help me to trust you implicitly and to step boldly onto unfamiliar paths, here, there—wherever you lead. Amen.
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