Amenal is our final stop before Santiago! Over the flat 14 miles we walk with the Higgins family from Oregon. It’s here that I learn that Ron, the father and patriarch of the family, offers business consulting to entrepreneurs in Kenya as part of his ministry.

It’s a long walking day of 17.4 miles from Palas de Rei to Arzua, but at least it’s downhill. I meet two women friends along the way from Hong Kong who frequently travel together and go on hikes. They mention some amazing nature hikes in Hong Kong.

We’ve now walked 87 miles going back six days when our Camino de Santiago started in Ponferrada to our current town of Palas de Rei. We are so close to Santiago now with overnight stops in Arzua and Amenal, 17.4 miles and 14.4 miles, respectively before walking our final stretch into Santiago.

We say good-bye to the beautiful river town of Portomarin through rows of trees on a dirt road. Some of the memorable moments include visiting a blind man stamping pilgrim passports in an old chapel, a rose grafted into a Christmas tree.

Ah, we move on more crowded roads today from Sarria to Portomarin. “Crowded” is relative as this isn’t like Times Square or Kalakaua Avenue, but still less contemplative time. As we’re now past the half-way mark of our camino, I’m feeling nostalgic.

This week we continue to walk downhill from Triacastela to Sarria. This is an important segment to enjoy the last of the truly solitary contemplative times on our camino as the road becomes crowded starting in Sarria.

This week we walk downhill (yay!) from O’Cebreiro to Triacastela. It is here that we read James 2: 1-13. Do not show favoritism. (v. 1-4)

This week we walk from Villafranca del Bierzo uphill to the steepest elevation on our camino to O’Cebreiro, a village on the top of the Galician mountains. It is here that we read James 1: 19-27. Be a good listener. Be slow to anger. (v. 19)

“I need more faith.” Sometimes this is the cry of our heart when we struggle to make sense of our world. As we begin to walk from Ponferrada to Villafranca del Bierzo, James 1: 1-18 gives us seven ways to strengthen our faith:

We begin a new 11-week series called the “James Camino”. It’s based on a significant God-led time in my life when I traveled the Camino de Santiago in 2016. I sought to hear God’s voice and embarked on a time of solitude and prayer as I walked 127 miles from Ponferrada, Spain to Santiago de Compostela.