World Walker

“And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” [Genesis 5:24]

The average pair of feet take up to 8,000 steps a day, or about 2.5 million steps a year. Over a lifetime, the average person will walk approximately 115,000 miles! But some people walk much farther. In 1970, David Kunst, with his interest in adventure sparked by the moon landing the summer before, decided to walk around the world. Accompanied by his brother John and a pack mule named Willie Makeit, the 30-year-old Dave set out from Waseca, Minnesota, on June 20. Dave and John walked to New York, flew to Portugal, and then walked all the way to Iran.

Two years into their epic journey, Afghan bandits killed John and wounded David. Nevertheless, after four months of recuperation, David resumed the walk from the site of the shooting, this time accompanied by his brother Peter. Together they crossed India. But when it came time to fly to Australia, Peter needed to return home, so Dave continued on alone. While walking across the Australian desert, his mule died. But Dave would not give up. Providentially, Jenni Samuel, an Australian school teacher, volunteered to tow the mule’s wagon with her car. So, on October 5, 1974, David Kunst walked back into Waseca, Minnesota, becoming the first person to have circled the land mass of the earth on foot. His historic 15,000-mile odyssey required four and a half years, 21 pairs of shoes, and three mules. The long walk earned Kunst an entry in the Guinness World Records and a spot on Ripley’s Believe it or Not. It also earned him a bride – the same Jenni Samuel who towed his wagon across Australia!

Walking around the world is a feat that requires a lot of soul (pardon the pun), but there is a man who accomplished a greater feat – he walked all the way to heaven! The Bible says Enoch “walked with God.” He knew God so well – through communion with Him and guided by Him so completely – that God simply took him to heaven early. While we may not be translated like Enoch, Jesus has extended an invitation to all of us to walk with Him: “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love” (John 15:9). Won’t you accept His invitation?