It Is Finished... the 'walk' that is....

The walk was trecherious but Christian stayed the course and made it to the border. Despite a few delays, he made it in too weeks, and has gained so much more faith after what he encountered. I am proud to call him a friend and brother in Christ! Here is his adventures in his own words... (it's a bit long but well worth the read!)

So it all started with the question asked in a myspace survey would you walk 100 miles to spend 20 minutes with the one you love?.my answer was of course!.but when would that ever really happen? So for the next month the question swam around my head and through my heart. Well, when the idea was finished it turned out to a 350 mile trek through the bottom half of California into Mexico. Pretty far away from the initial question...huh? ;)

So it starts out that Monday morning after prayer at the church office. Was I ready and prepared for this huge adventure? Heck no!!!! I practiced walking maybe once a week with the longest walk being about 25 miles. But I figured that I wouldnt be doing this on my own strength alone anyway. I could time my walking from practicing on the treadmills at the gym. Noting that when I took a longer stride it felt like this and when I took a shorter stride it felt like that. But in doing that I was able to figure out who many miles and hour I was walking. My slow walk is 3 to 3.5 miles an hour and my fast walk is 5 miles an hour. So if you were ever asking how I came with the actual miles it was by this mile per hour calculations plus the distances stated on maps taking in other conditions and factors. My goal was to make it in 10 days. That would have been 35 miles a day which would be 3.5 miles an hour for 10 hours.


So I was off. My friend Christy wanted to walk me out to Hanford the first day as a commitment to Jesus herself. Well first day was a late start and a lot of getting used to the pack that weighed about 35 pounds (before the walk I never used a backpack). Well the first day was no more than 30 miles and I was dying! It was hot and in the country there is no real good place to rest and get water. Christy had developed blisters already and it wasnt looking very promising that I would even be able to finish. But at a certain point between fowler and Riverdale we called Christys mom to come and pick us up. I stayed the night at my good friend Lindseys parents house. I was so sore and achy. But I pressed on.
I woke up and got a little earlier start for the second day. I was sore and my hips really were bothering me. But I knew that if it would even be possible I would have to push through the pain. So I start to walk down the country roads of Riverdale and through Lemoore and find that it is not a very good idea to think that I could walk to Bakersfield due to the fact that there is nothing in the middle of Lemoore and Bakersfield. Well I walked for about 8 hours at a really slow 3 miles an hour (some times even slower than that!) It was approximately 20 miles I walked until I couldnt walk anymore. That was only 50 miles in only the first 2 days! I would never be able to make it at that rate of pain and slow walking. So I catch a ride with Christy to the coast. I think that it would be a good place to start in Pismo, but then realize that it is actually farter than I thought. So after working out the necessary miles needed to make the 350 miles I come up with Goleta.

So I slept in Christys truck and start to hit the road at about 9 am. My legs felt a little better but still hurt but at least it wasnt hot there. So I walk. I walk with only stopping to get Gatorade a few times and to maybe sit down for a few minutes to take the pressure off of my feet (which are hurting so badly). But I walk until 11 pm and I am so exhausted. There was a time when I knelt down on the bike path that I was walking on and asked God to give me a hand and send an angle or something to get me to a place that I could sleep safely. (I didnt plan on any place to sleep from then on out) I hear the still small voice tell me that it is only a little way more. So I keep on, trusting that He will provide. I finally come out of the bike path and see that I am walking through a camp ground in Ventura and there are plenty of picnic tables for me to sleep on. So I set up my sleeping bag and sleep on top of the table. The bag is warm and is feeling so good, my feet are throbbing and my legs are swollen. I went to sleep, but was constantly worried that someone would come and tell me to leave. But they didnt.

I wake up at 5 am and start to walk again. From my map it looks like I will be able to walk from Ventura to Santa Monica. But after walking for 13 hours I realize that the map is going off of the 101 freeway and I am walking on the 1 that goes along the curvy coast. So the 45 miles that it said was actually 70. I didnt even make it to Malibu! So I stop to eat dinner at a campground that is on the beach and I talk to a really nice life guard about how far it is to Malibu and Santa Monica, she tells me that it is 40 minutes in a car to Santa Monica and that there isnt much between there and Malibu. But she tells me that I can sleep on the beach behind the lifeguard house. So I do that an I sleep a lot better than on the table the night before.

I wake up the next morning at 5 am again and I use the shower that they have for the lifeguards and it feels good. The water is warm and I am clean. What a feeling. My legs and feet still hurt but after taking showers they always seem to get a little better. So I am off. My goal is to get to the other 45 miles to Santa Monica. So I leave at 5:45 and I am off, things are going pretty good and I am able to get into Malibu fairly easy and I am able to go to the starbucks to eat and charge my phone and ipod. (I was given a $100 gift card from my friend Karen (thanks again Karen it was a life saver)) so I keep on and I find out that Malibu itself is 27 miles of a coastal view! Not a sign that I want to read as im walking through. But I make it and I am about 3 miles away from Santa Monica and I am dying! My legs dont want to walk anymore and my head is questioning the whole thing too. I am broken and I want to go home. I take the bus into Santa Monica to avoid the windy and dangerous roads. I get off the bus and I walk a little way to eat a whopper at burger king. I call Christy to see if she will come and pick me up. I was beat down and really wanting to just quit. I was 175 miles into the 350 mile walk and I knew that I couldnt really go on too much longer the way that I was. So Christy said she was on her way. Now I only had to stay busy for 4 hours till she got there. I walked over to a street show on the promenade and then a guy walks up to me and asks me if I want to change the world. I dont feel like talking at this point and I am like what is he selling. But I see on his card that he handed me that he was there to ask me about God. So I got excited and opened up to him a little. It turns out the he walked to this place from Santa Barbra just like I did and even stayed at the same spot behind the lifeguard station. So I went up to their office and started to watch their Bible lectures. It was like a scene from the Matrix. I was really amazed at how God reached out and grabbed me in a time of weakness. Then the guy came and asked me if I needed a place to stay that night and I was really excited to see God working. So I told Christy to turn around and that I was going to keep going. So I continue to watch these lectures and they are eye opening. There were a few times that the guy would say a few things that were not correct but I gave him grace and figured that he just really wasnt good at talking about the Bible. So I watch these videos for a while and I get really excited about continuing the walk. I go to the apartment where they house their missionaries and I shower and sleep.


We wake up at about 7 and pray and then they took us all to a park and we looked at the Hollywood sign (not anything I would like to spend any time going out of my way to see?) and then they took us back to the office. He says that he has more video to watch before I leave and so I agree and continue to watch these videos. I ate with them and watched videos all day. I figured that it was too late to walk that day but would be able to get a good start the next day. There where a few things that I was wondering why they were hiding certain things about who came up with this information and what this nonprofit organization was. But I didnt pay much attention to why they were hiding it, just knowing that I would find out soon enough. So I find myself in the same predicament again where I didnt have enough time to continue on that day but I would definitely have enough time the next. By this time I was really finding myself confused with the whole program. I knew that they were going to sell me something or do a totally bait and switch but I wasnt sure what was really going on. I did know that they would say one thing and do another, but nothing that was too crazy. Again I gave them grace. But that night when I got back to their apartment I saw a glimpse of the side I thought they were hiding from me. They wanted to watch a movie (it was 5 girls and the guy and I). I dont watch movies too much anymore and I fall asleep during them anyway, so I was just looking for a polite way to excuse myself to go to sleep. I was texting a friend and I could feel that it wasnt ok with the lady who was apparently in charge. She tried to close my phone as I was texting. It was rude to me but I know that I was being rude to her in her eyes as well, so again I gave her grace because she wasnt American and we were playing by different standards. But that was enough for me to dismiss myself and go to bed. I went to the room and texted Christy that they were acting really weird and I was expecting for them to the switch the next day. The guy came in to see what if I was ok, I told him that I was tired and was going to sleep. I was planning on leaving in the morning and not coming back the guy came in and in his awkward way of talking and laughing out of nervousness and nerdy ness he tries to present me with a final condition of the video lecture series that after he got to the point that I was that he cut all of his hair off as an offering and said that they (who the heck is THEY?) thought that I needed to cut my sideburns. I was like oh boy.here is the switch, and I say to him.let me pray about it. And that is the way we left it. I go to sleep praying that all of the mayhem that I have stuck in my head be cleared out. Something had compromised my judgment and was affecting my ability to hear God speak to me.

So in the morning I was ready to bounce and I did not want to even find out what the switch is going to be but I dont leave for some reason. I go up and I sit with the guy and I say to him here is the deal. Obviously you are going to want me to commit to something and I am not and will not commit to anything until I go and talk it over with the people that I trust. And I am going to be leaving now nerdy guy says well you didnt get to see the final video and asks me if I want to watch it. I am thinking I am curious what the heck they are even getting all weird about and they claim to be doing everything for the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So I watch it. And the part that bothered me the most was that I couldnt find a problem with what they were saying. I spent all of that time watching video of what I thought was an interpretation of the Bible but was actually just a series of videos that set the stage for a man to come in the name of Jesus Christ but didnt truly show that same power or heart. But I was brain washed and I was not sure of what I was even thinking. So I am watching more videos and I am trying to find all things wrong with all of the things that I have been shown. I have hundreds of things that were red flagged but I still wasnt able to break out. It was a text message from my friend Karen that allowed for me to regain my true focus and direction. She asked me what she needed to pray for me. I told her that I needed revelation and affirmation. A few hours later I get a call from a good friend whom I trust. He said that God gave him a word for me and that I was in a dangerous spot and the hidden things were the spirit of the antichrist. That was all I needed to hear and I was ready to jump out. I went back with them that night and then the true colors showed. Nerdy dude said that now he could take the books out and he didnt have to hide everything anymore. Jesus is all about bringing all things into the light! Not hiding them. I was going to not run from this but walk right through it.


The next morning I was praying and dude would interrupt me. They were all in the living room getting ready for their mandatory prayer meeting. They now had out two pictures. One of the so called second coming of the messiah and one of his son. I look at them and he says this is how we really pray. I say you pray to them? and he says yes so I reply well you wont mind if I just pray my own way. He comes back with that is fine if you want to do it in the room. I was all packed up and ready to cut loose. He comes in and says that we can talk. Im like actually im going to do the talking now. I say here is the deal; you say that I need to be prayerful, yet you havent given me 5 minutes alone since I have been here. You say that it was by Gods Holy Spirit that I came to you, yet since I have been here you have been scared that I would leave and never come back. Now what I have to say is that if it is the same spirit that brought me here once it would be the same to bring me back. Now I know that you are doing what you think is right but I dont like nor did I ever like the programs approach to getting people in here. You say that this isnt about religion yet you are offering me one that claims to hold the key to true salvation. Now I am going to leave and go home and talk all of this over with my friends I trust, and im leaving right now.
He says that it is satan that will tell you to never come back. And that the not having five minutes alone is a ploy of the organization. But I should just come and go to the beach with them and have some time of worship with them. And I say im not mad at you, but I am leaving right now and if it was the Holy Spirit that led me here than it wont be any different when I leave.
His reply was but once you hear this god stops talking to you
I say I will take my chances and I walk out. Saying good bye to all of the girls that are chilling in the dark.
So I jump on the bus and go north to the end of the line, UCLA. I get off and I start to walk south. I am so confused as to how I managed to get put in that situation and allow myself to be knowingly manipulated. So I call my mentor Jon Shabaglian and I tell him that I am coming home! He asks me if I had the release from God and I say NO, but this is what happened! I tell him all of that and then he questions me on coming home still. I didnt understand, I wanted to go back home where I could trust the people to help me get back to where I was. But after I got off the phone with him I thought about why I was walking and how I was only half way there. If it was satan in the middle God would be waiting for me at the end. So I walked again. I started walking from Wilshire and Western. I walk all the way to the pch and into long beach. That is 50 miles +. But my head was straightening out. But when I got to Long Beach I was exhausted and I couldnt walk anymore. So I took the money I got out for the train to come home and got a room at an ugly motel. My inner thighs were almost raw and I was achy. I took a shower and tried to go to bed but I was scared of what I had just been witness to the days before. But after getting calls and texts from the loving family that I have back at home I rested easy and woke up fresh. I started out at 8:45 am. I was walking again and I had 125 miles to go. I had found new strength to overcome and I was walking at an unnaturally fast pace. I walked through Long Beach and through Seal Beach and Huntington and Laguna Beach right to Dana point. It was 9:40 pm and I had been walking all day with 2 short stops. I was tired, but I kept going. I saw that I could catch the last bus to San Clamente which would put me at a better place to stop. So after I got off the bus I ate at Carls Jr and then I walked where the spirit lead me. It was dark, almost to where you cant even see your hand in front of your face! I found myself in a place that I had no idea where I was and no way of getting out. But I Held onto Gods hand and trusted that he would guide me to where I needed to go. I had walked 60 miles up to the bus and I found myself not tired in the sense of exhaustion but in the needing to sleep way. I walked about another 10 miles and found myself walking through another campground and after a while I stopped and slept on top of another picnic table. How did I have the legs to walk nearly 70 miles and 15 hours of actual walking? It was only by Gods grace and strength. I was tired and ready to finish what I had set out to do.

I slept for 4 hours and I woke up and was excited to get it finished that day! I continued walking and I found that the place I slept was the only place that I could have slept. There was not another place to sleep till Oceanside, which is not possible to walk to due to the marine base there. So I found myself at a rest area 5 miles north of Oceanside. I needed to get a ride across the base. But that would mean that I would for the first time have to ask someone that I didnt know for something. I sat there for 20 minutes looking for the person that I could ask. When a 50 year old man all tatted up with a shirt that says GOT TATTOOS? on it pulled up. I thought to myself..either that is the nicest guy or a really mean one. Well I rolled the dice and won. Because he was really nice and helped me out. He asked me where I needed to be dropped off and I told him that since he was late to his deal that he could just take me to where ever he was going and I would bus it up town to the right amount of miles. (since the mission was to walk the 350 miles It would take to get from Fresno to Mexico, not necessarily walking every step there). I figured that I had to go about 55 miles and that would take about 13 hours of walking since I was not walking as fast but I would drop off the pack at my friends house that lives about 30 miles away. So I walked from the tattoo shop in national city that is not very far from Mexico, uptown to my friends and then back down. That would put me at the right mileage and time. So I walked to down town. I ate at starbucks and charged my phone for a bit. It was still early since I started at 5am. I bought an all day bus pass because I was going to take the train to down town and my friend would pick me up there. So I feel that my shorts under my pants are starting to chafe and I find it a good idea to bus it to Larrys drop the bag, fix the problem and walk 35 pounds lighter to the finish line. So I go that I bus it about 4 miles and drop the bag but I dont fix the problem and decide that it is only now about 30 miles to go and I can walk fast enough to just hurry and get it over with. Well I walk, and I walk and I walk and I walk, it seems like forever. I had planned on being done at 6pm but found that it was getting close to 6 already and I was still far away. Christy was already on her way down and my phones were dying and I needed to save the batteries. So I turned them off. And I kept walking. Never before did it hurt like this before. It took everything in me to not pull the bus pass out of my back pocket and just buss it closer to the border. But the verse he who stands firm to the END will be saved was my motivation. My whole life I quit everything when it got hard. My whole life I never put myself in situations that required much endurance. I was not born a quitter but found it an easier road to take, so I took it every time. But not anymore, God is REAL and since I know that I will never give up on Him as He will never give up on me! So I kept on. I walked past 6 oclock and I was in sight of the Tijuana hills and I was getting closer. My legs and feet were hurting again and my back was hurting now. I was so close, but I was in so much pain. I was tired of Gatorade, I was tired of my new balance 992s that are the most comfortable shoe ever made (when you dont walk 350 miles in themthank you Kimberly for buying my shoes for me they saved me!!!! Big time!) I just wanted to be home! But I had 5 more miles to go and it seemed to be a million! But I pushed on. I wasnt going to come this far to fall short of victory. So I pressed on and I made it to the train that was going to take me back uptown. But I thought to myself.I said I was going to make it to Mexico and I am still in the US. But to walk into Mexico and to get back out will be at least a mile and will take some time. But I found myself walking up and around into Mexico and around to get back into the states. I was tired! I was so dark from being in the sun for so long and I found it hard to even stand in the long line to get back in. But in those times I knew that I was in safe hands and I leaned in on Him and I was ok. I came back across the border and I found that I had taken so long to get there (going a whopping 2 miles and hour in the end) that Christy was right there waiting for me just out side of the border. Thank God for that! Cause I was freaking tired and I DID complete the mission and I did stand firm to the end. Praise God!!!!!!!!