I thought that I was just going to visit 4 communities on my tour. My reasoning was that I should go deep rather than wide.  I also thought that because I am going by bus, my expenses would be lower.  But when a group of friends gifted me $250 out of the blue, my horizons widened.  I also did not hear from a community I wanted to visit, so I started doing research to find other possibilities.  Wow! Did I find some great ones.

So I contacted about four other communities plus I re-contacted the one that didn’t get back to me when they said they would. The one I didn’t hear from, Third Way, said my message slipped through the cracks so I was relieved to hear that I would hear a final decision tonight. I expect something positive because she said things were pretty laid back in the summer.

I wrote Jonathan Hartgrove who conspires with Shane Claiborne to encourage intentional communities and authentic Christian living.  I just discovered he lives in a small urban community called Rutba House.  I really did not expect a quick response, but within hours he asked me for my blog url and when I wanted to visit. I forgot to include those essential details, but he didn’t hold it against me:)

I also decided I might want to stay longer at Plow Creek Community, the sister community of Reba Place Fellowship.  I was just going to go for a day visit, but all of sudden I just felt a yearning to spend more time there. I just sent them an email a few hours ago. 

The amazing thing about my itinerary is that even though I am changing some things around, geographically things are fitting.  The distance between places will be smaller, which means perhaps I can get rides instead of having to take the bus.  I am still trying to figure out if I should get bus tickets ahead of time to save money–but the way things are shaping up, I think I might just be trusting for a lot of my provision.  I want to have enough to pay for my food and lodging to support the communities I am visiting. 

Trust me…I won’t be hitchhiking like I did when I was in my late teens and early twenties.  But I know I will find a way. And maybe I will have enough money to freely take buses.