16. Sep 2025

Lake Valcha - Želenzná Ruda

Photo 1: Early this morning I greeted these two bulls as I passed by, and then they came over to the fence to get a better look at me.

Photo 2: The path towards the hills...

There was a cool wind for most of the day, but no rain. The wind dried off the wet grass in the early morning for which I was grateful, so my socks would not get wet when I walked on grassy paths.

Photo 3: Yesterday I prayed that if possible I would like to have at least one more good talk with a person who had an open heart before I left the Czech Republic. It was time for my lunch break when I finished my first of three climbs for the day. Originally I thought I would go down into the valley to have lunch where there would be more protection from the wind. But then the warm sund broke through. I turned around and saw a picnic table under a shelter, but where the sunlight was still shining in. I decided to have my lunch there. Shortly thereafter Michaela came by. I greeted her with the standard "Dobrý den". She responded with "Dobrý den" and then said something else in Czech. I told her that I speak English. She said that she spoke English as well and had lived in London for several years. We started talking about my journey. Then she asked if I had walked the whole distance by myself. "No", I answered, "Jesus walks with me." That started a conversation about what it means to walk with Jesus. She then took her first step to walk with Jesus by saying yes to him in a prayer that we prayed together. Michaela had gone by that same spot earlier in the morning and had even sat on that picnic bench where I was sitting. She decided then at noon to take some old bread to a farmer that had pigs and passed by that bench once again. She was surprised to see someone sitting there... "as if you had just appeared from heaven", she said. It was a God-appointment.

Photos 4+5: It remained cool and windy, but I enjoyed the walk through the mountains to the Czeck border town of Želenzná Ruda.