There have been many people who
have heard that I went hitchhiking this summer and have wanted to hear about
it. So yes, in answer to the biggest question I get from anyone, I did indeed
go hitchhiking this summer and I did indeed go alone as a single girl. I spent
six and a half weeks traveling from here to the East Coast in Canada, down to
Georgia in the United States, across to California on the West Coast, up to Vancouver
and home again. I traveled a total of 18,000 kilometers, went through 10
provinces and 24 states, left with zero dollars and came back with 65; it was
the best trip of my life! I got to visit Niagara Falls, go up the CN tower in
Toronto, swim in four of the Great Lakes, sleep on the beach in Prince Edward
Island, climb a mountain in Newfoundland, take pictures along the Cabot Trail
in Nova Scotia, eat fish and chips in Halifax, be awed by the power of Peggy’s
cove, sail along the coast of Maine in a Schooner, see the Grand Canyon, visit
friends in California, walk along the beach on Vancouver Island and so incredibly
much more.
What made me decide to do such a
crazy thing? Well, some of it I can attribute to my thirst for adventure, but
to be honest there was something much deeper driving me. This deeper drive was
some of my questions about Christianity. I was raised in a Christian home and I
have been a “good Christian girl” my whole life. I have pursued God most of my
life and longed for a deep relationship with God. But there was something
holding me back. It seemed that no matter how much I tried; there was something
in Christianity and in God that I could not find. I was in my secure safe
little box my whole life I did not understand God’s love, I did not
understand intimacy with him, and I did not understand his provision. I was desperate to find that. I decided that I
wanted to put myself in a situation where I was dependent upon God every single
moment. I would be dependent first and foremost for safety, but also for food,
for rides, and for a place to sleep at night, I would also be dependent upon
him for any emotional support. I realized the risk I was taking; I understood
that I could quite easily be raped and murdered as a result of my decision, I
realized also that I could be lonely, cold, and miserable most of the trip, but
I was so desperate for finding God that I was willing to take that risk. Many
people tried to convince me otherwise, but after a year of talking to God about
it, I was convinced that this is what I was supposed to do.
God did not disappoint me. Over
the course of the six and a half weeks that I was gone, he showed me his love
again and again. I was overwhelmed so many times by the ways in which he took
care of me and gave to me. Somewhere along the road in Ontario, God started
showing me that He does not need me to be someone else; He accepts me just as I
am. My heroes in life are Todd White and Heidi Baker and I have always tried to
be like them, but God showed me clearly that he does not want another Todd
White or another Heidi Baker. If he would have wanted one, he would have
created one, but that is not want he wants. He showed me that what he wants is
for me to be me. He needs for me to be Jaclyn Van Hierden, and that’s all.
Complete with my personality, my capability, my strengths, my weaknesses, and
my failures.
He also showed me love by
provision. I had just spent a day on the beach on Prince Edward Island and I
was quite lonely. I had tried all day to meet people but the people just did
not seem to want to talk with me; I guess they were all just enjoying their own
vacation. I was traveling from the Island to get to Newfoundland and I was kind
of discouraged and lonely. Then this guy picked me up who was from Cape
Brenton. He was very friendly and bought me supper then he brought me to his
house where he and his wife let me sleep for the night. They were the friendliest
people and I had a wonderful evening with them. He dropped me off at the
Newfoundland Ferry in the morning and gave me $20.00. It was such amazing
provision at just the right time. I was overwhelmed by the way God so knew
exactly what my needs were and how to meet them.
The best time was when I was
kayaking alone for five hours down the river in New Brunswick. It was so
beautiful and calm and perfect and I felt God really showed me that I was not
accepting myself and through that I was not able to receive His acceptance of
me. I felt like I had to be perfect and if I was not then I was not good
enough. In that moment I told God that I accepted myself and that I accepted
the way that he made me. I think this was one of the most powerful moments of
my trip. It made me feel accepted, not only by me, but also by God. It gave me
the greatest sense of freedom.
Another great moment was the time
in which God got me the job on the schooner. It is kind of a long story, so I
will try to be short. Mr. Lee, an older gentleman in a 57 Red Chevy truck (my
dream vehicle) picked me up. He was the friendliest guy, told me that his
granddaughter was supposed to come along with him on this trip, but since she
couldn’t, for today I would be his granddaughter. He then started talking about
sailing and how much he loved it. I showed a lot of interest and he said, “tell
you what, I will drive you down to the dock and see if I can get you a job on
the schooner that I worked on years ago”. I got so super excited about that, but
did not truly believe it would actually happen. But is just so happened that
the schooner was leaving the next day and that they were going to be gone for a
week and that they did not mind if I came along to work. I was so excited I
literally jumped up and down and gave Mr. Lee, an almost complete stranger, a
huge hug! So within ten minutes I was set to work cleaning out the galley and
scrubbing decks. I saw all over this moment the hand of God. I remember just
standing on deck overwhelmed with the goodness of God, with the fact that He
knew that this was the best thing that he could ever have given me on this
trip, and with the verse “He will give you abundantly above and beyond all you
could ask or imagine” going through my mind. It was so far above any and all of
my expectations and that week was by far the best week of my whole trip.
There were so many other moments
of people just randomly giving me money, food, and a place to stay. One time
when someone gave me $5.00 I almost cried, I just felt so unbelievably
overwhelmed by God’s provision. I did not need the five dollars. I had enough,
but God was giving me more than enough. And I do not know of the many times in
which he protected me. One time I was stuck in Memphis Tennessee. I couldn’t
find a ride and had to walk through the entire city, this is known to be a
dangerous city. I was walking through a bad part of town, there were gangs and
I was not feeling very comfortable about it all. I just kept walking and
praying and suddenly I felt such an incredible peace from God. I did not feel
afraid at all and knew that even if anyone tried to do anything to me they
could not touch me because I was protected by God. It was a pretty amazing,
secure feeling. Another time I was in Fresno, California, a place that is also
known to be a bad place; not just for hitchhikers, but just in general a place
you do not want to be alone. I only had to wait a few minutes for a ride and
the woman who picked me up had never picked up a hitchhiker before and was
completely confused to why she stopped. I knew that was a miracle from God.
Near to the end of my trip this
one trucker picked me up. He was a Mexican guy and seriously totally was a gift
from God. He took me all the way from Redding, California to Seattle,
Washington and he showed me God’s love. He was like a father figure to me. He
treated me like his own daughter. He bought me anything I wanted and even stuff
I did not want. He was so giving and so gentle. He offered to borrow a car and
drive me from Seattle to Canada if I could not find a ride. That’s a three hour
drive one way! I cried when he left, but that time of being with him was very
powerful. Honestly I felt like God had just picked me up and showed me His love
in a very tangible way.
So honestly those are just a few
stories of how God provided for me and loved me. I could not even begin to tell
all of them. I think the most powerful thing out of all of this though is
seeing in such a tangible way God’s love and His provision. I think that
sometimes we, in our society, don’t really “need” God in the little things, such
as daily bread. And I think that because of that we fail to believe in his
provision. We need to tangibly see something in order to believe it. I want to
say that I know that God will provide for his children. Matthew 6:8 says that “your
Father knows what you need before you ask him”. That involves the basic daily
provision such as food, safety, and a place to sleep, but it also includes
provision for the big things such as freedom from addiction, repairing a shattered
relationship, healing from sickness, and restoration from a broken past. No
matter how big your problem is, our God is bigger.
