Back in August, three Australian mates – Andrew Carnell, his cousin Dave Carnell, and their friend Andrew Sav – walked out of the Queensland town of Cairns on a mission to raise awareness of the 2,000 or so language groups around the world which don’t currently have the Bible in their own tongue. Having arrived at their final destination, the New South Wales-Queensland border town of Stanthorpe, last week after spending more than than 80 days walking 2,000 kilometres, two of the walkers – Andrew Carnell, known as ‘Carnsey’, and Andrew Sav, known as ‘Sav’, reflect on the walk’s ups and downs and the lessons they drew from it. They spoke with DAVID ADAMS…
Back in August, three Australian mates – Andrew Carnell, his cousin Dave Carnell, and their friend Andrew Sav – walked out of the Queensland town of Cairns on a mission to raise awareness of the 2,000 or so language groups around the world which don’t currently have the Bible in their own tongue. Having arrived at their final destination, the New South Wales-Queensland border town of Stanthorpe, last week after spending more than than 80 days walking 2,000 kilometres, two of the walkers – Andrew Carnell, known as ‘Carnsey’, and Andrew Sav, known as ‘Sav’, reflect on the walk’s ups and downs and the lessons they drew from it.
What was the best moment on the walk?
Carnsey – “I would have to say the finish. It was awesome walking with over 100 people who represented all those who had followed and supported us. I guess it was also a picture of those who had got behind the cause also.
“Throughout the walk it was really encouraging to see how many people got behind what we were doing. I also loved hearing stories of what people had done after hearing about the walk.
“We heard of a Sunday school class in Ireland that adopted a people groups, a prayer meeting that started in a ladies workplace and another church who presented our updates each week at church. These are people we didn’t have direct contact with but it just showed me that there was a ripple effect that was going out continuing to raise awareness for this need.”
Sav – “I was never really sure that I could walk the 2000 kilometres, but when we reached the 1500 mark it suddenly struck me that I could do it. That was an awesome moment. But of course nothing compares to the thrill of walking up to the finish line…and feeling the tears come with the relief of it all being over.”
THE END OF THE ROAD: The celebrations commence as the three walkers arrived in Stanthorpe.
“There was one day that was sooo long. We walked 30 kilometres along the noisy Bruce Highway without seeing a house, a property driveway, a cow or even a billboard. And there was no-where even to sit. We just had to keep walking. That was a boring and hard day.”
– Sav
What was the hardest kilometre?
Carnsey – “If I had to chose one kilometre, it would be walking up the steep range near St Lawrence. It came right at the end of our walk and I was actually carrying about 18 kilograms of gear – tent, sleeping bags, food and so on. Thankfully it was quite cool and the view more than made up for the effort to get to the top. Generally I found the last two to three weeks the hardest mentally. By this stage I was very tired – not just physically but also mentally and emotionally. That was the toughest period.”
Sav – “There was one day that was sooo long. We walked 30 kilometres along the noisy Bruce Highway without seeing a house, a property driveway, a cow or even a billboard. And there was no-where even to sit. We just had to keep walking. That was a boring and hard day.”
Do you feel you achieved what you set out to – ie. do you feel there is now greater awareness of the 2000 or so people groups without a native language Bible?
Carnsey – “By God’s grace, I think we have. I have been surprised to hear the number of people who have followed us. Actually, it has only been since I have returned and started to speak to people face-to-face that I have realised how engaged people were. After watching a report on the news one night I thought to myself, ‘When does Bible translation ever make it onto a secular news report?’ Through printed media, radio and TV we had a range of audiences. It is hard to measure but I have no doubt we achieved this goal.
“The great thing is that it doesn’t necessarily stop now. People still talk about the three crazy guys, they are still wearing our 2000 Walk shirts and we are looking at making a documentary. These are all going to continue to raise awareness of the need. However, it is not only here in Australia though. I think there has been interest overseas as well. People from over 120 countries have clicked on our website. My prayer is that there might be continued momentum and that maybe people from other countries might hold a similar event to raise awareness. If that was to happen I would be ecstatic.”
Sav – “By definition, it is difficult to measure ‘awareness’. However, everyday we are hearing about someone else in some corner of the world who has heard about the need for Bible Translation and started telling others too. We have, of course, been able to measure the hits on our website – over 10,000 different visitors have come onto our site, from 124 different countries. That gives some indication of how widely this message has gone out.”
Is this something you’re going to continue to work to raise awareness about?
Carnsey – “Personally I am want to continue to advocate and work towards getting the Gospel to people who have never had a chance to hear it. I will always be passionate about getting the Bible to people in their mother tongue. I think it is a great injustice and that Christians today have not only a responsibility but are privileged to be able to do it. As I mentioned I am hoping and praying that our walk may spark interest and action in others around the world to hold a similar event to raise awareness.”
Sav – “The three of us joined together to do this 2000 Walk, not on request of any organisation or institution, but because we were each personally challenged about the ‘Bibleless’ people of the world, and because we believe that this is a message that needs to go out. We are personally behind it, and passionate about it, and just because this 2000 Walk has finished our personal commitment to talking about the Bibleless people in the world doesn’t come to an end.”
What was the response from those you met along the way toward the issue?
Carnsey – “Generally people were very honest and said ‘I had no idea’. Translation and the Bibleless were not issues that people had not necessarily heard a lot about. Responses ranged from people who said they were shocked or totally upset on one hand to others who said they were really encouraged to see what was being done around the world in translation. While there is still a lot to do it is also encouraging to see what is currently being done to reach the Bibleless people of the world.”
Sav – “The response tended to be two-fold. Firstly, most people were shocked. One man said ‘Upset’. He was upset that he had been a Christian for so long and had never heard that millions of people in the world couldn’t read the Bible because it hadn’t been translated in their languages. However, most people are also surprised to see just how many languages do have the Bible translated – over 450! That in itself is staggering. No other book in the history of mankind even comes close to that.”
“In hindsight I would have liked to have more opportunities to rest. It wasn’t just the walking – on top of the physical walk we were looking after the logistics of our meetings and accommodation…This all took its toll mentally also and it was difficult to find time to rest and relax away from it all.”
– Carnsey
In terms of the walking itself, did the training you put in beforehand pay off?
Carnsey – “Yeah, I think it did. We really had no idea how we would go day in day out walking. We had only ever done two long walks consecutively. To do that over a period of 81 days was still an unknown. While it was still tiring our bodies actually got used to doing 30 kilometres a day. It was exhausting and our feet hurt and there were times we were desperate for a rest day but with perseverance and just putting one foot in front of the other it was OK.”
Sav – “I would not have liked to step out without having prepared over several months. Even then, walking up to six days consecutively was tough. We had never trained walking so many days one after the other.”
Would you say the walk was tougher physically or mentally?
Carnsey – “I would have to say mentally and emotionally. In hindsight I would have liked to have more opportunities to rest. It wasn’t just the walking – on top of the physical walk we were looking after the logistics of our meetings and accommodation, we presented our message nearly 50 times if we include schools, (we were) emailing/blogging and continually engaging with new people. This all took its toll mentally also and it was difficult to find time to rest and relax away from it all.”
Sav – “I think both were tough. On a physical level I had very sore feet for a number of weeks which made walking hard and also made it hard to sleep at night. That was tough. But the relentless nature of it all was tough mentally – walking 30 kilometres, taking a meeting, talking to people, working on blogs, walking, meeting, people, blogs, walking, meeting, people, blogs…”
In terms of physical issues you encountered, what were they and how did you handle them?
Carnsey – “On the first day we had to deal with the heat. Despite drinking lots of water I found myself having heat exhaustion that night and being sick. That wasn’t the best start! However, after that the weather was brilliant. We couldn’t believe the cool weather we had. Blisters were something we had to deal with every now and then. We were able to manage them well though using metho and plaster. I guess we just got used to dealing with them when they came along and it wasn’t a big deal. Chafing was combated with special cream when it rose its ugly head. Sav had some problems with the muscles in his feet getting really hard and cramping which kept him from sleeping. This was probably the biggest physical challenge. He went to see a podiatrist but unfortunately he wasn’t very compassionate and told him that he could expect to have such problems if he was going to walk 2000 kilometres. The only advice he gave was to stop and rest.”
Sav – “I was able to bandage up blisters, which helped, but there wasn’t too much I could do about the sore feet. I did go to a podiatrist in Rockhampton who simply told me I needed to walk less. Well, we had all these kilometres and meetings set in place so ‘walking less’ wasn’t an option. I just kept walking. On our first days of the walk a child in Babinda told us, by way of encouragement, ‘If you get blisters, just keep walking’. So I did.”
Was there ever a stage when you thought you simply couldn’t go any further and how did you overcome that?
Carnsey – “No, not really. I think we knew we just had to keep in going. There were so many people following us. So many people supporting and encouraging us that it was never really an option. There were times we were very tired. Times we were definitely not enthusiastic but I don’t think we have thought about giving up. I think the encouragement and support we had through the internet and also from our hosts was what got us through. The people who hosted us were so kind and generous and so willing to help. Their support was humbling really and we met so many special people that actually inspired and encouraged us along the way.”
Sav – “One day my feet were so sore, and I started out limping. Making 30 kilometres that day seemed impossible. I prayed and asked God to help me make 500 metres. Then another 500 metres. And I couldn’t believe that I finished the kilometres for the day. But it was tough.”
“The word that kept coming to mind was ‘plod’. Before I left home my sons gave me a Bible verse printed out. It was Philippians 3: 13-14, and in that verse it says, ‘I press on toward the goal…’ To me that talks of plodding. Plodding towards what God had called me to do.”
– Sav
What role did your faith play in keeping you walking?
Carnsey – “I think the fact that we knew it was a cause that is important to God. We knew that God was in it from the beginning and could see Him at work as we went along. I think one of the biggest lessons I will take out of the walk is about perseverance. When we persevere and persist even though it is not easy we can achieve great things for God. He wants us to be faithful and look to Him.
“God was most definitely looking after us and going before us. The cool weather we experienced was something we were so thankful for. Apart from this again i think it was the Christians that we met along the way. We experienced God’s love and provision through them. It was amazing to experience the bond that comes from being a part of the Christian family. Many of these people were strangers to us before we met them but they were so generous to us.”
Sav – “The word that kept coming to mind was ‘plod’. Before I left home my sons gave me a Bible verse printed out. It was Philippians 3: 13-14, and in that verse it says, ‘I press on toward the goal…’ To me that talks of plodding. Plodding towards what God had called me to do. And I knew that He had called me to do this Walk – so I just kept plodding.”
What was the first thing you did when completed the walk?
Carnsey – “I think I said ‘It is done’ about five times in the first minute after finishing. I just couldn’t believe that it was complete and this walk that had been such a huge part of my life over the past year had just ended. I think I am still processing what we have achieved and what God is and will do through it. It is still just a blur. I loved the fact that we could share that moment with so many people that had followed us. Really at that point as I looked around and saw all the people that had joined us I saw the TEAM element of the whole event. Hugging and thanking so many people that had joined us and invested so much of their time and energy into the 2000 Walk and sharing the moment with them was special.”
Sav – “I slept – it was so good to wake up in my own bed. And I had an afternoon sleep every day for four days aswell – I was so sleep deprived that it took some catching up. But another thing I loved doing was getting a baby turtle for my boys and helping them set up an aquarium for him. It was so good to be with my wife and children again.”
Would you say the walk has changed you in any way? If so, how?
Carnsey – “There are a couple of lessons I have learnt:
“1. We are capable of achieving what seems impossible – at first I didn’t think that it was possible to do this event. I wrote the idea off but I have been challenged to remember that God has bigger ideas than us and is much more capable. Team work comes into this also…when people get together behind a cause and work together it is amazing what God can do.
“2. The importance of perseverance and persistence – One step doesn’t seem really significant at all. Six hours walking only gets you 30 kilometres but if you do that day in day out for 81 days you can achieve something that initially I thought was impossible. The power of persistence and perseverance have been clearly illustrated to me through this walk.”
Sav – “I think it has shown me that I can achieve perhaps more than I thought. It has shown me that I can just keep going, one step at a time. I don’t know what life has in store for me – illness, financial difficulties and so on – but I think I will be better equipped to face those difficulties one day at a time and just keep plodding.”
“In some ways I think my ignorance in not knowing what was ahead was a good thing! As a whole I loved this experience. I will remember it with great thankfulness for what God has done, for the people I met and worked with and for the stories that have come from it.”
– Carnsey
Is a walk of this length something you’d ever consider doing again?
Carnsey – “At this stage – and maybe it is too soon to answer – I would have to say ‘No!’ However, if I there was such an event that was going to raise awareness of this cause and benefit the 250 million Bibleless people of the world I think I would consider it. In some ways I think my ignorance in not knowing what was ahead was a good thing! As a whole I loved this experience. I will remember it with great thankfulness for what God has done, for the people I met and worked with and for the stories that have come from it. I am sure I will hear more stories in the future as well. While right now I couldn’t imagine doing it again no doubt if the circumstances were right I would consider it. I just might need a few years to recover before thinking about it!”
Sav – “When I got to the end of the walk someone asked me how I felt, and through the tears of relief I spontaneously said, ‘I’m never ever going to do this again’. But I think that if I sense the Lord calling me once more to get up and do something like this, I’ll probably be even more ‘ready’ than before, given the experience that this 2000 Walk has given me and how it has built my faith.”
~ www.the2000walk.com.
