Pray for the pilgrims

With the coming of spring weather, thousands of Danes will lace up their walking shoes and explore the outdoors. Some will even discover the Lord.

Pray for a growing trend in Denmark towards pilgrimage walks—single day or multi-day hikes along specially designated trails between churches where walkers are met with encouragement to consider the Lord of the outdoors.

A new, 106-kilometer trail between nine churches has recently been opened, called Camino Haderslev Næs. On this trail and others, Elisabeth Lidell leads groups that include a mixture of churched, unchurched, saved, and seeking.

“I meet people who are used to attending church and who want to go deeper in their faith,” she said, “and people for whom church is foreign, but who are curious and open. Perhaps they haven’t been in church since they were confirmed, they’ve dabbled in Eastern religions, and in their middle age are turning back to find meaning in Christianity.”

Since 2009, Elisabeth has been giving pilgrim hikers something to think about, including study questions to ponder alone or in groups at rest stops along the way. She chats with fellow walkers in her group who care to listen. As she describes it, they’re not sitting passively in the pews, but they’re considering Scripture and prayer in a fresh way, in “the Lord’s big cathedral.”

For some, it may be the only kind of church they’ve ever experienced.

PRAY for the seekers who walk Denmark’s pilgrim trails this summer, that they would encounter a clear gospel presentation in Scripture and in creation.

PRAY for the doubters and unbelievers who find themselves walking, that God would soften their hearts and that they would find Jesus on the way.

PRAY for Elisabeth Lidell and other Christians on Denmark’s pilgrim trails, that they would draw closer to God, challenge others, and return to their lives strengthened and renewed.

PRAY that revival would spread through Denmark in its beautiful woods and meadows, and from there back to homes, churches, villages, and cities.