Crazy Stories with a Point –

Lost In … Warsaw. Wait. What?

If you are ever in a foreign country, and you decide to go for a run, but you notice that your phone is dead, well, have I got a story for you! In 2014 I was on a ministry trip in Poland, and was staying with my friends in Warsaw. It was late in the afternoon when I decided to go for a run. I asked my friend Maciek if there was a scenic place nearby and he directed me to a path that ran along a river. “It’s simple”, he told me. “Follow the path. There’s just one way in and one way out”. Sounded simple enough, as I just wanted to run about four miles. I grabbed my phone to sink my Fitbit and noticed I only had about 4% battery life, so I opted not to take it. After, all, just a simple run by the river, right? One way in and one way out. What could go wrong? Dorota, Maciej’s wife was preparing dinner and I told her I would return in about 45 minutes, and out the door I went. I found the path I was directed to easily enough and began to follow the stream. If there was a place where the path turned, I didn’t see it. Instead, I found myself following a path through a forest that came out on a different street than I entered on and I ran along that street for a bit but soon realized that I was in unfamiliar territory. Ok, no big deal, just turn around and retrace my steps. Only one problem. There were several paths exiting the forest and I didn’t know which was mine. After exploring a couple and ending up at dead ends, I was slightly suspecting that I might be a little lost. I saw two ladies down the street, and I noticed they were speaking English so I thought I would ask for directions. One of them asked me if I had a phone, after which I explained I left it behind because the battery was dying. She then asked me if I knew the address or the phone number where I was staying, to which I answered “No, its in my phone”, Feeling a little foolish, I did tell her my friend’s name, which in Poland was about as common as the American name John Smith. She then said something to her friend in Polish, which I suspect was probably something like, “This idiot American has left his phone at home and gotten lost and he doesn’t know the address or phone number where he is staying”. She then told me she thought she knew the street I needed to be on, just a block or so away. She invited me into her car, which was quite hospitable of her, and drove me a couple of blocks and asked me to exit, saying, “I think this is the street you want”, and then drove away. I looked around and saw nothing that looked remotely familiar. Now what? By this time I have been gone about 90 minutes. Back home, Dorota was telling Maciej, “I think Jeff might be lost. He said he would be gone for forty minutes and he isn’t back”, to which Maciej replied, “No he is probably off in the woods somewhere praying in tongues”. Well, he got the ‘praying in tongues’ part right! By now it was getting dark and a little chilly. I decided to walk down the highway, hoping to see something I recognized, but nothing looked familiar at all. I saw what looked like a police station and went and knocked on the door but no one answered. That’s all I have to say about that. I headed back down the highway in the direction I came from. There was a bench across the street from a Catholic Church so I decided I would sit awhile, hoping that someone was looking for me by now. Fifteen minutes later and still no rescue, I changed my plan. I noticed that the Mass had ending at the Catholic Church and thought maybe I could get directions from a priest. I entered the sanctuary in my jogging attire and approached a Priest. “Father”, I said, “I am lost… well not that kind of lost”. However, he didn’t speak English and directed me to the English-speaking Priest. He instructed me to go back about 800 meters where I would encounter the river again, only I was pretty sure it wasn’t the same river. So, no salvation in the church, hmm. At this point, I decided to find my way back to the place I exited the forest and ask God to have mercy on this poor boy and lead me through. It was dark, and I was cold and a little desperate, and by this time Maciej and friends have been worried and are out searching for me. As I was running up the street toward the forest, I heard this very still, small, voice inside of me telling me to take the street on the right. It was opposite the way I thought I should have been going, but at this point, I was willing to take the chance that it might be the Lord. It is a short street that intersects with a bigger road. As I am getting near the end of the street, I see a van coming down the road and my friends are waving at me at the window. A happier site and a more joyful reunion, I may never know. I was lost, but now I was found. Words cannot express the relief I felt. On a larger scale, I understood what it truly means to be lost, to have no resources, no language, no advocate, no way home, outside of Jesus. I am happy to be living in the state of ‘found’. So…if you are ever in a foreign country, and you decide to go for a run, and your phone is dead…well, you know what NOT to do.

Until next time, may you run with the wind at your back and your batteries fully charged! Jeff