In  2015 our ministry traveled on a Marian Journey. On a Marian journey, a person travels to holy places where the Blessed Mother has appeared. The purpose of the trip was to draw us closer to Jesus through the apparitions of Mary. For those of you who doubt Mary and the saints, allow me to share this holy experience.

We had visited France and Spain, but this story is about Spain. This was a fourteen-day trip, and on the second day, I lost  my wallet or it was stolen from me. Either way I did not have any income whatsoever, and two credit cards, American money and Euros were all gone. I had to depend on the kindness of others and mostly God to get through the trip. Mike could not wire me money because our trip was based on one-night stays. I thank God that our passports were collected on the morning of the missing wallet incident. Father Leonard was the chaplain for the trip, and he lent me a one-hundred-dollar bill. The irony was that I could not cash in the bill because of counterfeit $100 bills being circulated; only a bank would take the bill and due to our time frame, banks were closed .

We visited Our Lady of the Pillar, in  Zaragoza, Spain. This is the first known apparition of the Blessed Mother.  After Pentecost, the 12 Disciples dispersed to preach the Gospel to the world. St. James the Great  journey’s took him to the Iberian Peninsula, which is modern day Spain/Portugal. St. James was discouraged that pagans were not responding to his message, so as he sat at the edge of the Ebro River, modern day Zaragoza, Mary appeared to him to offer encouragement. (Mary was still alive and living in Jerusalem.) Mary told St. James not to worry, because the people to whom he preached would be converted. Mary appeared to St. James atop a pillar of jasper carried by angels, Mary handed St. James a small wooden statue of herself holding the Christ Child. The date was October 12 in the year 40 AD, and  the Blessed Mother asked that a church be built on that spot in her honor. In Mary’s words:

“This place is to be my house and the image and column shall be the title and altar of the temple that you shall build…and the people of this land will honor greatly my Son Jesus.”

St. James was about to give up his mission when he was greatly alleviated by the Blessed Mother. St. James built the small chapel as the Blessed Mother requested; it is known as Our Lady of the Pillar, and is the first known Marian shrine. The original chapel was replaced by beautiful basilica which was erected in the 17 Century. The original statue of Mary with the Christ Child is housed there, and pilgrims from all over the world come to venerate the gift that Mary left St. James.

There is a strong connection between the  discovery of the  Americas and the Blessed Mother. Christoper Columbus had a great devotion to the Mother of God. Columbus named one of his ships the Santa Maria. On Columbus’ first voyage to the Americas, his crew suffered from the grueling, uncharted waters, and after two months, they wanted to turn back. Christopher Columbus told them that if they did not see any land by the Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar, October twelfth, he would turn back. On October 12 they landed by God’s providence.  As Columbus set foot on the new land, he claimed it in the Name of Jesus Christ. He named it ” San Salvador” (Holy Savior). San Salvador is known by the same name today.

Part of the Marian journey was to visit Avila, Spain, home to St. Teresa of Avila. St Avila is one of my favorite saints. She had a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother. After losing her mother at 13 years, she begged the Blessed Mother to become her mother. She was a mystic, with prolific spiritual writings that are still used today. She was the first woman to be elevated to Doctor of the Church  in 1970 by Pope Paul VI. One of her most famous writings is The Interior Castle.

Let nothing disturb you.

Let nothing make you afraid.
All things are passing.
God alone never changes.
Patience gains all things.
If you have God you will want for nothing.
God alone suffices.

We visited the monastery where she lived, and  the second level was converted  into a museum. As we walked around, I came to a  document with folded creases, but as I  intensely stared at it, I noticed a face of a woman. I thought it odd, but just I was about to asked, other team members about this, Robert’s and Linda’s eyes were already fixated on the same image. Our tour guide ran out screaming to inform the nuns, and a big commotion followed. We believe that an image of St. Teresa of Avila appeared to us.  It was a holy encounter.

My neighbor was having a gathering, and she had invited a gentleman that travels the country with a statue of the Blessed Mother. She had asked me to say a few words because of my journeys to the Holy Land. As I started to share, a strange man rudely interrupted me, saying, “We didn’t come to hear about your expensive travels; it takes a lot of money to go there.” I politely made my talk short and sat back down.

I know that there are always contrary sentiments expressed like that of the rude stranger. These convictions come from well meaning friends and family, who saying, “She’s going again, why do they keep doing this, and couldn’t they use the money to help other families in need here at home?”

After 19 hours of travel, including the bus ride from Tel Aviv, we arrived at our hotel at 6:00 A.M. We are not tourists, we are missionaries, and we rest for three hours. Our first stop was Bethlehem At the Church of Nativity, where we go to pray. On Holy Thursday we visited St. Peter’s Of Gallicantu, where I prayed for my nephew Mario. From there we visited the Upper Room, did our foot washing, and continued with our prayers.

On Good Friday, it rained while we carried the Cross down the Via Dolorosa. Though it was a gentle  rain, it was cold. At the first station the police barricaded our group for over half an hour. Bad weather conditions never detour us, but we were pretty soaked. I could see the stage blood of Jesus mix with the rain beneath me. As we proceeded, my steps met with numerous muddy potholes that soaked my feet, as I was in sandals. After Jesus fell the first time, right before he met his mother at the Fourth Station, I fell on my knees next to him in agony. The thing is that I am in my sixties and need assistance in getting up, so thank God for caring strangers.

We meet many people, and when I have eye contact with a crying stranger, I know that God’s work has been done.

I met a young lady from Florida named Amanda, and she wanted to be part of the pageant. The Israeli army blocked our  procession three times, holding us back,  so whenever we encountered this, we sang the “Divine Mercy” song. Amanda, a true millennial,  was searching for the words to the song on her phone. I told l her the song only has one verse, “For the Sake of His Sorrowful Passion Have Mercy on Us and on the whole World.” As the hundreds and of flashing cameras went off, we knew that seeds were being planted. Because it was televised all over the world, we know that souls were and are being touched. We are never mentioned by name, nor are recognized for the work we do; we would not have it any other way, because we do it for Jesus.

After the drama, we met at a popular restaurant, because for years we have patronized this place, and the management has allowed our Jesus (Jim) to clean up. We encountered a dilemma because of the holiday as no taxis were allowed near the Lion’s Gate, so Jane, a team member, had to hike up to the 1st Station and arrange for transportation for our group leader Joanne, as she is wheelchair bond. A shop owner offered to get her to a taxi station.

On Saturday we visited the Western Wall, so many prayer requests on the ground, because the Wall was so stuffed with petitions. I prayed for all the requests and left them in Jesus’s care. All prayer requests left at the Western Wall, are lovingly picked-up and buried in a sacred place by the Jewish caretakers. The Jews consider them as sacred documents like the Torah.

On Easter Sunday we traveled north to Mt. Tabor. This is one of my favorite sites. We were blessed to be participate in a Mass. I had gone to confession at the Church of Nativity, so it was a special blessing for me.

We are back home, tired but spiritually stimulated. Thank you Edna for helping Joanne, Linda, our team leader in Fresno, Jane, the organizer of the trip, Carol, the strength of the team, Leggitt, the powerful intercessor, Pat, our singer, Robert E. and Pastor Eduardo both from Tecate, Mexico, and to Jim, our Jesus and rocket scientist, and Joanne our 83 year old leader, who started the drama over 35 years ago. Next year Jerusalem!

We were three that were invited guests of Pastor Kim in Seoul, South Korea. I had never visited this country, so I was excited about this new missionary adventure. Our hosts, Pastor Kim and his wife, were most gracious in receiving us. This trip was grueling, with daily meetings that would last late into the evenings. We stayed in a hotel that was in an industrial area in Seoul. The trip was in 2005, but our Korean friends made sure we had all the modern amenities. Our rooms were equipped with Internet and a computer, which I used to keep in touch with family and friends back home.

From the schedule, I knew that the days were jam-packed with meetings and prayer sessions, so I would get up early to walk around the vicinity of our hotel. I’d carefully check the surroundings and mentally make notes of landmarks so that I could find my way back to the hotel. One problem was that I stuck out like sore thumb and got unusual stares. People would greet me with a bow and I’d follow suit. I really had no idea of the culture, nor had I done any studies of the religious demographics of Seoul. I did this walking for two days until the   head our of the ministry, Joanne, found out about this practice and gave me a stern warning about Americans getting kidnapped.

Our hosts brought us breakfast each morning, and it was enough to feed a large family. We had fruit and breads and our hosts would stick around to make sure we ate. Our communication consisted of nodding heads in agreement and being cordial. We felt obligated to eat more than enough so as to not offend our hosts. On days that we ministered late, pizza was delivered to our room, individual medium size accompanied with regular Coke. Even though I used the hotel stairs for exerscise I still packed on five pounds.

Other than Pastor Kim, and his assistant Sara, no one spoke enough English to communicate with us, and when they were not around, it was smiles and saying yes over and over again.

Our outreach was ecumenical to Christians who were eager to hear the Word of God. We were there to support our ministry leader, as she was the person the Koreans wanted as their special guest.

We would meet in odd buildings, climbing winding staircases. At the front door was a sea of shoes, and we were handed slippers to wear and piled our shoes with those of the rest of the congregants. These people were precious and wanted to learn more about the Lord, so  they lined up for prayer after every meeting. It was a powerful time because they were hungry for the Word. We would rise early, get ready, and go to a new location with new believers. This would be an arduous routine everyday, so it was only by the grace of God that we were refreshed for the the next assignment.

As we were introduced to other bigger churches there were more interpreters available, so we helped with praying. This was thirteen years ago, and Joanne was already in a wheelchair due to arthritis in both knees, so she really felt the fatigue.

On our rides from one meeting to another I would look out the window from the back seat of  the car and see the massive high-rise apartment buildings, where most Koreans  live. We’d pass lush parks with rivers flowing through them; this is how I saw Seoul.

The message to the Koreans was always to encourage them to remain steadfast, as many of them were new converts. All new believer must learn to depend on God in all circumstances.

Once we drove for about an hour to minister to pastors, the room was filled with about 200 preachers with their wives. Joanne was on fire when she ministered to them, and many received prophetic words of encouragement. God used us in an supernatural way because we never understood a word of Korean and many of the people of Seoul did not speak English, but we were connected spiritually in the language of God.

We took a one day off to drive to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) to pray for the peace of North and South Korea. The drive was beautiful, with farms most of the way, and out of nowhere, lone  five story apartments for the farm workers. The higher altitude terrain was a dense forests of evergreens, and the stoic summer air gave a hint of sweet pine.

When we arrived, we headed toward the bridge, where you could stand and see both countries. We prayed on the bridge with our hands extended toward North Korea. The South Koreans are always in fear of war with their neighbors, and over the years this fear has only escalated.

I never  got acclimated to the food, because  it was way too spicy for my palate. On one special evening some of the pastors treated us to a fancy Korean restaurant. At the entrance were all the shoes of the patrons, including women’s designer shoes. The food was fine until the spices met my taste buds and the battle of putting on a gracious face while coughing and downing in a gallon of water to say “too hot! Too hot!” brought loud laughs from our hosts.

According to the Pew Research Center the percentage of Christians in South Korea has increased from 1% in 1990 to 29% currently. I praise God that we were used to bring the Word of God to our friends in South Korea.

We met up with Pastor Kim several years later in Istanbul, where he planted a new church and we ministered with him. We are still in contact with Pastor Kim, who was recently in the United States to finish a degree in Divinity.

Isaiah 55:10-11 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)