"Pilgrims in a Foreign Land" - Joey Ferrell

“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,” (1 Peter 2:11)

Sometimes, a verse of the Bible hits closer to home than at other times. 1 Peter 2:11 certainly did just that for me and my wife the past few weeks! Let me explain.

I have been needing some major dental work performed for quite some time now. Unfortunately, insurance would not cover very much if any of what I needed done, so after much research, I chose to book what is called a “Dental Vacation” in Cancun. I can very thankfully say that the surgery and treatment went very well, the facility and the doctors were incredible, and I am healing now until my return trip later this year for the final work to be done. Enough about my dental work though, and let’s talk about the subject at hand.

We were accommodated on-site at the dental facility. They have some very nice studio rooms which made it very convenient to just have the work done and then go rest right in the same building. The building was near what is called “centro” in Playa del Carmen (one of the busy tourist areas of Cancun - especially at night!) With the proximity of the building, we could walk to many local stores, restaurants, attractions, and even the beach. There were plenty of places to see and we felt very safe after the first night or two.

With my treatment schedule, we had a couple of “free days” mixed in. One of these days, we chose to go to a local beach that was much more secluded with a lot less people to enjoy our day. There was a cenote (small body of water in a cave like setting) and some shallow areas to just sit and enjoy the day. It was very nice. Our second free day was the last day we were there. We chose to go down to the “centro” (5th Avenue to be specific) where they close off the area to vehicles and it is all foot traffic. We spent the better part of the afternoon and evening there.

As we walked down the center of the road, it was not uncommon at all for either a street vendor, or a worker at one of the local stores, restaurants, and so on to shout out or jump out in front of us and we would often hear much of the same lines…

“Free tequila, come get a shot, we will give you two…cigars, buy one get one free….” and so on.

Many times we would just try to ignore them and keep moving…but then there were always those that were persistent! Here is one conversation from one of those:

“Amigo, free tequila…come get some!”

“No thank you.”

“It’s free….and I will give you two!”

“It’s okay, thanks…we don’t drink.”

“Ohhh….you don’t know how to drink tequila, I will teach you!”

“no thanks! We don’t drink!”

“How about a cigar?” (I continue to smile and shake my head)

“Oh okay then…come and buy some of my jewelry then.”

I guess once you finally get the message across that you don’t drink, you don’t smoke, and I even told one that I don’t cuss - I am just straight as an arrow - they move on to something else that they think you cannot resist.

Couple this with a multiplicity of men walking up behind us and saying “hey, it’s me, I was your waiter last night, remember???” The first one got us. We didn’t realize that he was not (this was our second night in town) and we told him that we would go look at his jewelry store….after all, it was air conditioned!

Can you see how we felt like “pilgrims in a strange land?” It wasn’t because of the difference in nationality (on our part anyway - we did hear some people refer to us as Americans - I guess we are gullible maybe), or the difference in language, or even the fact that we really didn’t know where we were at and where we were going (I will add to say that if you ever visit the area, it is pretty simple to navigate once you learn the major roads and landmarks). It was because we did not fit in with the “customs” of the area, or at least what is promoted as the way to have a good time at least. We were different. We weren’t like some of the other tourists or even many of the locals there. We chose to be different…and I am glad we are!

Peter said in two verses right before our lead-in verse that we “are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you.” That is what we are called to be…different…set apart…holy…sanctified…called out! No wonder he went on to talk about being pilgrims. Maybe with some of our interactions, the light of God’s glory shined through to show some lost soul that you don’t need all of what the world wants to think they are happy…we are very happy….as Christians!

On a more positive note, it didn’t take very long for one of the other patients at the dental clinic to figure it out either. She was able to identify that we are Christians from our interactions and hopefully the example we were giving. I shared our work with her…maybe that will go much further as well!

Be a pilgrim in a foreign land….if it is across the globe….or even your own hometown. Others will see and they will want to know more!