Seminarianís cross-country trip was her ode to Jesusí example Posted 9/29/00 by John Gessner Staff Writer In Aberdeen, Wash., Judy Howard met a woman named Tuesday (with a cat named Wednesday) who brought her in from the rain. In the Cascade Mountains, Howard met a man named John who wasnít an angel but miraculously produced the oranges for which sheíd been praying. In a tiny Tennessee church, Howard set down her heavy backpack and was amazed when the 15 parishioners gave the collection plate all to her. Howard was walking with Jesus and whomever he put in her path. Itís not an ordinary way to earn a master of divinity degree. In 1998 and 1999, Howard, an Apple Valley native and lifelong member of Faith Covenant Church in Burnsville, walked more than 4,000 miles across the United States, starting in Grayland Beach, Wash., and finishing in Key Biscayne, Fla. The yearlong walk fulfilled her internship requirement at North Park Seminary in Chicago, from which she will graduate in December. Howard will speak about her journey Saturday, Oct. 14 at 9:30 a.m. at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville. The speech is the fall kick-off of the churchís Womens Ministries program. ìIt was so simple,î Howard said of her self-designed internship, which was approved by her seminary professors and her home church in Burnsville. ìI think Iím just kind of a simple person. ... Jesus was pretty simple. He walked along roads meeting people where they were at so they didnít have to go on in life without hope.î A 1988 Apple Valley High school graduate with a degree in political science and sociology from North Park University in Chicago, Howard was in a post-college funk when she decided to enter seminary. Sheíd held ìabout 28 jobsî since finishing high school, including a missionary stint with Merge Ministries in San Juan, Texas, and an inner-city teaching gig in Chicago with Central Baptist Services. Eager to profess her faith but reluctant to confine it to a church setting, Howard was working for a Christian publishing house in Chicago when she decided to re-embrace the church and enter seminary in 1996. ìI donít think Jesus hung around in the four walls of a church and asked people to make appointments,î the newly married 30-year-old said from her Chicago-area home. ìWhen it came time to do my internship, I didnít feel I fit the model for internships because I didnít want to be a pastor,î Howard said. So she hatched the idea of a cross-country walk and announced it to her boyfriend-turned-husband one day over pizza. ìI wrote a petition with three goals ó that I wanted to learn what it was like to walk with Jesus, that I wanted to learn to walk with whoever he put in my path, and that I wanted to walk to churches and say we need to learn to be with Jesus and whoever he walks with,î Howard said. She started her journey May 11, 1998, with little fanfare, an 80-pound backpack and $400 in cash. Before long she was being tailed and preceded by word-of-mouth and best wishes from churchgoers along the way, who helped her and invited her to speak to their congregations. ìI would be sitting at somebodyís table on a Saturday night and they would say, ëCan I call my pastor and see if you can talk tomorrow in church?í And I would end up preaching on a Sunday morning,î Howard said. Her bankroll was never an issue. Money went out, and money came back in, said Howard, who recalled meeting a troubled stranger outside a store one day in south Georgia. ìI felt compelled to ask her if she was making rent that month,î Howard said. ìI donít know why. She said, ëNo, Iím $40 short.í I said, ëIím going to give you $40 and another 20 for groceries.í î Though she still doesnít plan to become a pastor, Howard has through her groundbreaking walk earned a following within the Evangelical Covenant Church and other denominations. She remembers, cherishes and speaks about the walk ó never asking for a stipend. ìI had tendonitis in both my feet and continue to,î Howard said. ìThere are some long-term things I will struggle with, probably some arthritis in my knees. But I wouldnít trade it for anything. ... ìI think I did a lot of grieving when I got done. I continue to really miss the walk, the simplicity of what it is, that I will get up in the morning and say, ëGod, I will go wherever you want me to go.í When we get back into our destination- and pace-crazy world, itís not as simple.î ©Thisweek Newspapers