Katlyn and I don’t travel much, and we certainly don’t travel internationally very often. My bucket list trip to hike Machu Picchu in Peru was going to be intense hiking and also put us out of our comfort zone on the travel front. Thankfully, we also were going to spend time with Albino and Sandy Rodriguez, RCA Missionaries in Cusco, Peru before the epic hike. After a delay in customs and barely making our connection between Lima and Cusco, we had some relief in arriving at our destination, yet here we were out of our element. It’s after midnight, in a different country in a different hemisphere from home, we don’t have more than basic language skills and don’t know the exact address of where we are going. When we arrived at the airport, there was a sea of people offering to be our taxi driver, and in the back of my mind I could still see the scary billboard in Lima that said, “Don’t take unsafe taxis.” …though it didn’t offer advice on how to verify the safe ones… Yet I am a tall person even in the United States, so in Peru I’m a verifiable giant. Over the crowd of taxi driver options, I could see Albino and Sandy patiently waiting for us in the back row past all the commotion. The feeling of relief that washes over you when you know that of all the voices clamoring for your attention, offering to take you where you need to go (whether they know where you’re going or not) and you see the steady, familiar presence of those you truly trust and can rely on. That is a strong feeling. If you dial that up to 1,000, that is what following the Holy Spirit is like. The Spirit’s leading is the voice you can trust, both foreign and familiar. God not only can lead you where you need to go but longs to direct your paths and destinations. It doesn’t mean nothing bad will ever happen to you. Even with the Rodriguez family, we could’ve had a flat tire or gotten in a fender bender, though thankfully we didn’t. Following the Holy Spirit will lead us out of our comfort zone from time to time, yet we are secure and directed by that still small voice, the presence of Christ, that will never leave us or forsake us. On Pentecost Sunday, we remember the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. Tongues of fire descended upon them, and they were able to speak in other languages. It wasn’t so they could show off their linguistic skills, it was so that the Gospel of Jesus Christ could be heard accurately in the bustle of the busy city. At the end of the book of Job we find that Job got to be the intercessor for his friends. He was vindicated by God for speaking the truth, his unhelpful ‘friends’ were chastised, and told to offer a sacrifice and have Job pray for them. Job had to pray for them! He was chosen by God to be an intercessor. We, of course, have the delight of living on the other side of Pentecost. Christ is our Great Intercessor. We don’t have to search out for the Job’s of the world anointed to intercess between heaven and earth, we have the Holy Spirit’s presence within our hearts to call on Christ’s Holy name at any time. I hope we don’t take lightly or for granted what a big deal that truly is for us as believers today. - Pastor Steven