MY JOURNEY WITH THE STRANGER - E. E. KENNEDY

 Would the story have any effect on “Sergei?”

I wrote WALK WITH A STRANGER around 1990, when our family was living in the tiny town of Eastland, Texas. I was a stay-at-home mom, part-time substitute teacher and had aspirations to write. Countless false starts were discarded in my efforts to emulate my idol, Agatha Christie. The Internet was in its infancy then, so I consulted the Abilene, TX paper for word of writer-related activities, which is where I learned that the Abilene Writers’ Guild was sponsoring a short story contest.

I entered WALK WITH A STRANGER, a short story I had written from the point of view of the men on the walk to Emmaus (in the Bible.) How would we have felt, my friend and I, having watched the agonizing and cruel death of the One we had thought was divine? The story came together well, and I entered it into the contest. To my surprise, it won first prize in the religious category!

It was a small victory, but encouraging for a writer, and in subsequent years, I produced several Christian novellas with romantic overtones that were actually published and eventually, the “Christian-friendly” Miss Prentice mysteries, set in my home town in Northern New York State.

I founded the NC Scribes quite by accident. I wanted to promote my mysteries to some retired folks (they have more time for reading) and offered to speak about writing mysteries at the local Senior Center. The director agreed, but only if I would make it a 4-week course.

As I expected, the material in my speech ran out before the four weeks did, but those attending seemed to enjoy it. At the end of the third week, somebody said, “Would it be okay for some of us to bring stuff we’ve written to read aloud?” I gladly approved. Thus, the writing group was formed. We now meet weekly on Zoom, where we read our “stuff” aloud and suggest and encourage. We’ve become like a family. Many of us are published, and there are 56 stories our members wrote that are published by Chicken Soup for the Soul. Our anthology, 9/11, THAT BEAUTIFUL, BROKEN DAY, was awarded a silver medal by the Military Writers of America.

We’re always happy when one of our members publishes, and when my friend Nancy Panko began work on her third children’s picture book, an idea popped into my head. Wouldn’t WALK WITH A STRANGER be a good picture book, too? I prayed about it. Would this glorify You, Lord? There seemed to be a green light every time I asked.

I consulted my friend’s publisher, Light Messages. I would like it, I told them, to be a kind of gift book that would touch young people as well as adults. A retelling of a thrilling story from the Bible that I had only learned about as an adult.

Light Messages loved the story and arranged a deal where I would pay a modest amount and they would provide the illustrations and help me publish the book myself on Amazon. After all the various difficulties I had had spearheading the 9/11 book for NC Scribes on Amazon, I was grateful for any help I could get!

We began work in March, 2022. I divided the story into pages and wrote descriptions of what I wanted on each page. Gradually, the black-and-white sketches arrived via email. Initially, I wasn’t quite satisfied with the clothes the characters wore. I did some research and passed along what I learned. Because the publisher was the go-between, it was difficult to feel I was communicating clearly with the artist(s), but the black-and-white sketches were improving. Then there was a pause.

Several months passed, and when I inquired about the delay, I learned that the artist(s) had been stricken with Covid. I could certainly sympathize. My husband and I had just gotten over a mild case a month before. So, I said a prayer for them and waited. Time passed. I tried to be patient.

Finally, in late November, the color pictures began arriving in my email. The publisher explained to me that the artist had had a rough time. And added the astonishing fact that he (or they, I never learned if there was more than one) was based in Siberia!

Well, my goodness! I couldn’t begin to imagine what it was like to suffer from Covid in that frozen country! We had recently watched a documentary about it on TV. I grew up in NYS, on the Canadian border, but I’d never experienced cold like they have in Siberia. I redoubled my prayers for the unnamed artist(s). Eventually all the illustrations arrived and the book was ready to go to KDP.

But I couldn’t stop thinking: did “Sergei” (as I named him in my head) understand the story and the message of the book we were working on? Had he perhaps learned about Jesus as a child in a country that I had heard was hostile to the Gospel? Would this project just be another job, or would it have an effect that would nourish his soul?

I know I will never meet him, but I hope that the story of Cleopas and his friend would affect him in a positive way and that “Sergei” might begin his own “walk” to find Jesus for himself.

This is the hope I have for all the readers of the book, and isn’t it just like the Lord to arrange for His message to be shared, before the book was even finished?

E. E. Kennedy

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