Travelling the World to Reach One Heart – Renewal Ministries

Travelling the World to Reach One Heart – Renewal Ministries: “I’m taking a rosary walk.”

“Don’t get lost.”

“Very funny.”

I stood up stiffly from the low cot where I had been reading for hours under piles of blankets and leaned against the damp windowsill, peering through the dirty glass into a bleak Alaskan landscape. The late October light was watery and faded here in the far Northwest. For thousands of acres in every direction, the tundra stretched out gray-brown and flat, with no break except for winding rivulets and pools that divided the boggy ground into puzzle pieces. No matter how far I walked, I would never get lost as long as I could still see this haphazard Yupik village huddling on the horizon.

[caption id=attachment_3111 align=aligncenter width=640] Michelle Kazanjian holds the rosary bracelet she found in Alaska.[/caption]

My husband John and I were in Alaska for a ten-day Live Free mission, but mostly it felt like a silent retreat. I was catching up on sleep (the sun didn’t rise until almost 10 a.m.), praying a lot, and teaching myself Italian for fun. We were invited by intrepid Bishop Chad, an ex-military chaplain who hung up on Vatican City when they gave him “the call”—he thought it was a prank. But, no, it was for re