Three Missionaries...

Three missionaries walk into the woods…how many come out?

On Wednesday after evening prayer, a group of volunteers decided that we would walk to town from the retreat center just as a chance to get out and explore a little since we’ve spent a good amount of time in panels and conversations. The group consensus was originally to seek out the local Steak and Shake restaurant in Erlanger, and grab a quick bite to eat and enjoy the summer weather. Somehow, most of our group ended up at the Waffle House (they had Southern Pecan Pie…it was delicious!) and we splintered into two groups according to when we were done eating (again…Southern Pecan Pie….it was delicious!).

I headed back in the second group with Katrina, who is headed to Savannah and Mike, who is headed to Philadelphia. Now, it’s dark, we’re all new to Kentucky, and we know we need to get back to the retreat center by 11 PM unless we want to get locked out. Mike (this guy is funny) tells us about a great shortcut that he found earlier in the day where you can cut across campus and through the woods on this path and it will cut at *least* a mile off of our journey….sure, why not?

Mike tells us that we have to walk down a road completely opposite of the retreat center until we come to an abandoned log cabin, and that this magical path is directly behind said cabin. So, after playing chicken across a dark Kentuckian highway in Erlanger (which, by the way, is the Friendship City) we start our trek down this road in search for the log cabin that is now our destination point.

So, log cabin found. Mike insists that there is a path here…so we slowly venture towards the woods.

Katrina: Are you sure there’s a path?

Mike: Yeah, I was here this afternoon.

Jamie: I don’t see a path

Katrina: What’s that?

Jamie: Umm, that’s definitely water. I am not swimming back to Marydale!

Mike: No, there was a path here this afternoon.

Katrina: Um, I don’t think I want to wander through the woods in the dark with no path.

Jamie: Yeah, maybe we should just turn back.

Katrina: I hear banjo music!

Jamie: So, three missionaries walk into the woods…

Katrina: This is like the beginning of every horror movie ever made!

So, we decided that it would be in the best interests if Mercy Volunteer Corps didn’t have to call people and tell them we went missing in the middle of the Kentucky darkness and we headed back the way we had came. We were about five miles out by the time we trudged our way back to the common room at the retreat center, and the earlier group was spread out over the couches surprised it had took us so long to get back.

Lessons learned:

Bushes in Kentucky have eyes….walk fast.

Don’t take directions from Mike, especially about abandoned log cabins and mythical paths through the woods that may or may not have banjos (according to Katrina)

That pie….that Southern Pecan Pie….was so worth it!