I first saw Luca sitting in a field at the top of a hill, overlooking a town. We greeted each other and wishes one another “buen camino” – good way.
I stopped in the town for a breakfast break at a little general store and I saw Luca again.
Later in the day, there were a few trees and 8 people had sat down for a rest in the shade and Luca was there.
2km before getting into town last night, once again there was Luca. He was taking a rest on a concrete bench and I sat with him. I learned he was from Italy. He owns a coffee roasting business. Luca currently has been traveling for business and pleasure for two weeks. He had some business in Jordan.
A few years ago, Luca biked some of El Camino and he wanted to stop in Spain and walk for a few days.
When I speak with people and they speak English decently, I have been able to be very open when they ask me what I do. I tell them that I go around the world telling people about Jesus and sharing His love. Luca was intrigued and had many questions about what that looks like. He wanted to know how I am able to financially do this and I told him, I work in the States and save up money, people and churches support me and Jehovah Jireh provides.
Just as Luca began to tell me about his family, a pilgrim from Japan walked up. Luca insisted that he sit and take rest for a moment. As Luca was leaving, he gave me a a booklet of prayers from Mother Teresa – in Italian, his business cards and a 50 Euro donation.
That was so unexpected! What a blessing and encouragement, Luca was.
Once I reached town, there were several albergues to choose from. Luca was just being shown to his room when I checked in. We chatted some more during the evening and this morning he had some notes of encouragement for me. We wished each other well, as he was walking back to the city to catch his flight tomorrow, back to Italy.
I encourage you to check out his website: www.caffenewyork.it. See what his coffee is all about.
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