In the BWIM office, we have been calling this: “Lauren Week.” If you follow BWIM on Facebook, you will understand why. Every day this week, our page has featured quotes from Five Hundred Miles: Reflections on Calling and Pilgrimage, a book by Lauren Brewer Bass, a book that BWIM “commissioned” her to write, a book that BWIM is proud to be providing for college women who are discerning a call to ministry, a book that is as fun to read as it is inspirational.
Hopefully by now (Thursday morning), you have read a good number of “Lauren quotes,” and you are curious as to who this Lauren is . . . so let me introduce you to her.
Lauren Brewer Bass is a graduate of Logsdon Seminary, a gifted writer and thinker, and the most adventurous person I know. Following graduation from Logsdon, Lauren took a sabbatical (what a good idea), and during those months of rest and renewal, she made a pilgrimage, walking five hundred miles in Spain on the Camino de Santiago trail. Her book tells the story of that pilgrimage. Her book also tells the story of how her life unfolded once she returned to the states. For several years, she lived and worked in Denver, Colorado, serving in a variety of roles with non-profit organizations. She married her childhood sweetheart, David, and she accepted an assignment from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to serve as field personnel. A few weeks ago, Lauren and David boarded a plane and flew to Cambodia, where they are beginning a new pilgrimage, living out their callings, partnering with Cambodian Christians as together they share the gospel.
In the five years that I have known Lauren, she has been a source of inspiration and joy for me. Talking to her makes me almost want to walk five hundred miles in Spain! Reading her stories and “hearing” about the lessons she learned along the way has helped me rethink and reimagine my own calling. This “not-yet-thirty-year-old pilgrim” has become my teacher, my guide as I keep hearing, keep listening, keep seeking to follow God’s calling.
I hope you will get a copy of Five Hundred Miles and read it, and I HOPE you will share with us your “Reflections on Calling and Pilgrimage!”
You can order Five Hundred Miles by clicking here.