What makes a trip a pilgrimage? According to a quick web search, “A trip becomes a pilgrimage through its purpose and the pilgrim’s mindset, involving a journey to a special, often sacred, place with a deep intention for spiritual growth, personal transformation, or a profound connection to a faith or idea, setting it apart from a tourist trip by a focus on internal discovery and a willingness to embrace the unknown.”
Let’s break this down:
- “A trip becomes a pilgrimage through its purpose and the pilgrim’s mindset…”
- Our five pilgrims spent one year completing visioning work, learning about their spiritual gifts, contemplating their values and learning about Jesus’ Way of Love. They spent another year learning about conflict resolution, racial healing, inequities based on the apartheid system in South Africa and in the USA, and restorative justice.
- Our leaders, John Bellaimey, Lynnell Mickelson, Erik Jacobson and Acacia Johnstone worked with the youth each week to guide them on their journey to understand the purpose and mindset needed for a pilgrimage. What a group of adults to work through this for two years with our youth!
- “…involving a journey to a special, often sacred, place with a deep intention for spiritual growth, personal transformation, or a profound connection to a faith or idea…”
- There are few places in the world that offer a more powerful or recent example of a nation dealing with conflict resolution, racial healing, forgiveness and deep social inequities than South Africa. Only 31 years have passed since the end of apartheid, and the realities of a country once torn apart by racial hatred remain visible. Yet, remarkably, South Africa did not dissolve into civil war. Through the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and through years of collaboration, compromise, and courage, the nation began the long and difficult process of rebuilding.
- While South Africa is far from fully healed and racial injustice remains evident, there is also unmistakable progress in stories of healing, resilience, faith and hope that shine through in communities across the country. Everywhere you turn, there are glimmers of truth, reconciliation, and the enduring human spirit. South Africans are deeply spiritual and rely on their faith to guide them.
- Highlights for the pilgrims on this pilgrimage that led to “spiritual growth, personal transformation, or a propound connection to a faith or idea” include:
- Our stay and tour of Soweto, one of the townships where Black South Africans were forcibly relocated during apartheid.
- Dinner and storytelling with Antoinette Sithole, sister of Hector Pieterson, whose courage and grace offered a living example of forgiveness, remembrance, and reconciliation.
- Meaningful connections with people in South Africa and Lesotho, where we played, learned, and shared life with children, youth, and adults in the communities we visited.
- Stories from our guides—Black, white, and colored— who shared personal reflections on life under apartheid and how each community persevered through faith, forgiveness, and human connection.
- A “Flavors of Freedom” food tour of Cape Town, where we learned how communities used food to resist oppression, preserve culture, and celebrate identity.
- Nightly group reflections, offering sacred time to process our experiences, share insights, and support one another in faith and understanding.
- The prayers and encouragement from our St. John’s community, which accompanied and strengthened us throughout our journey.
- And finally, “…setting it apart from a tourist trip by a focus on internal discovery and a willingness to embrace the unknown.”
- Only two of our pilgrims had ever traveled abroad before—let alone to Africa. Yet they fully embraced a journey that required over 27 hours of travel and immersion into a culture entirely new to them.
- They approached every experience with grace, openness, and a remarkable positivity rarely seen in groups traveling halfway around the world.
- Understanding that this was a true pilgrimage, they came ready to listen, learn, and grow. They seized every opportunity and were engaged and joyful. Their willingness to be fully present made this an undeniably meaningful and successful pilgrimage.
Please come hear the 2025 Pilgrims share about their pilgrimage to South Africa and Lesotho this Sunday, 10/12, from 9 – 9:45am in the Parish Hall. Nursery is available and all are welcome!
