YWAM Main Page

August 1997 Main Index 
 
 

August 1997 news:

YWAM Ministries: 

Mercy Ships International  

University of the Nations

A SOLO PILGRIMAGE to mark the nation's rich Christian heritage came to the end after a 40-day journey of almost 700 miles, last month. 

        David Pott arrived at the historic St Augustine's Cross, Kent - site of the landing of the missionary saint sent by Pope Gregory 
to evangelize the English - on July 18. He had set out from the 
Scottish island of Iona - from where St Columba brought Christianity to Scotland  - in June. 

        Pott, aged 51, made the trek to celebrate the joint 1,400 
anniversaries of Augustine's arrival in Britain and Columba's death, and to pray for revival. 

        "By following the same routes of these early Celtic missionaries, I was praying that there might once again be a similar missionary thrust in the nation - one that actually spread overseas, too," he said. 

        Carrying a banner depicting a flying wild goose - the ancient 
Celtic Christian symbol of the Holy Spirit - Pott walked for up 
to ten hours each day, along a route that led him to several 
significant pilgrimage sites, including Lindisfarne, Durham and 
Canterbury. He stopped along the way to speak about his marathon at several schools and churches. 

        Facing all kinds of  weather from torrential rain and cold 
winds to baking heat, he also talked to other walkers he met as 
he traveled footpaths and minor roads. "It was a good 
opportunity for evangelism; many people wanted to know what I 
was doing, and I was able to talk with them and offer to pray 
for some of them. I had some special encounters with people," he 
said. 

        "I also learnt a great deal about the importance of solitude, 
which is so important in the context of today's over-busy society. To value solitude with God is also, paradoxically, a way out of loneliness," he said of his journey, which he called Peregrinatio '97 - from the Latin root for "pilgrim". 

        Former head teacher of a Youth With A Mission-run primary 
school in south-east London, Pott now helps lead the Fountain 
Gate Community, which offers hospitality, retreats and training 
for people interested to learn more about Celtic spirituality. 

        A veteran of previous prayer journeys - he led a group along 
the length of the Thames River last year - Pott plans to lead pilgrim prayer groups to historic Christian sites around the country, in the future. 
 

YWAM Press & Media Services