Just days away from completing her 48 day solo-journey along the ancient Camino pilgrimage Jo-Anne began to develop an injured leg, and physicians advised her to stop walking. She was hundreds of kilometers into her hike from the border of France, over the Pyrenees mountains, and all the way through Spain, nearing the end at the town of Santiago de Compostela.  Jo-Anne could almost see the finish. This was when she limped into a hostel needing rest and we sat down to hear her story.

Jo-Anne was born in New Zealand and grew up on a dairy farm. Her parents divorced at an early age, and eventually remarried. As with most divorces, these years were exceptionally hard for Jo-Anne but she found hope through an unlikely source… a Christian youth camp. Having always thought Christians were boring and dull people she was surprised to find these ones full of life and joy! She was so taken by their lives that she too decided she wanted to live like them and thus follow Jesus with her whole heart.

This was the beginning of a life of adventure where she would come to meet her husband and travel around the world wherever God led them. Still deeply in love with each other decades later a sudden and unexpected event forced Jo-Anne’s life to flip upside down and she found herself alone on the Camino in Spain looking for answers.

Join us as we learn about Jo-Anne’s inspiring life of faith, overcoming loss and deep grief, her purpose in walking the Camino, and what she’s learned along the way.