The story of one man’s pilgrimage(s) . . . and maybe it’ll inspire you to take your own. . . .

Ron Williams. Lost and Found along the Way: Stories for Your Faith Walk from the Camino de Santiago. 400p., $16.99, Deep River Books.

The Camino—or The Way—to Santiago is a five-hundred-mile, thirty-three-day walk across Spain’s extreme conditions to reach the beloved Cathedral of Santiago. Ron “Willie” Williams walked The Way two and a half times, a total of twelve hundred miles.  Why?  It is less about what he gains, and more about what he loses along The Way—old behaviors, unforgiveness, and a tendency to play God. Journey with Willie through the chapters of Lost and Found along The Way, as he sheds these tendencies, and in doing so finds a renewed, richer, and deeper faith.

Willie also learned to share this strengthened faith with those he met who had lost their own faith, and now he is teaching others to do the same. Lost and Found along The Way offers believers faith-sharing advice using a unique approach: the hybrid of two genres—historical fiction and personal memoir.

The first few chapters are narrative historical fiction portraying James in Acts 12:2 facing his execution along with supposed reactions from his loved ones. At the end of this narrative, we transition back to nonfiction with the discovery of James’ gravesite some eight hundred years after his martyrdom. Willie then explains how the Camino pilgrimages began along the Camino, also known as The Way.

The following chapters, and the bulk of the book, follow Willie’s own Camino journeys, presented from three unique perspectives:

1. “The Camino” contains vivid descriptions of the geography on the trail and historical background.  These descriptions incorporate the reader with the text, almost like a firsthand experience.
2. “My Camino” includes stories of the author’s gritty life experiences that surface while traveling the Camino, his personal reflective prayers, and the spiritual insights that God awakens.
3. “Our Camino” provides guidance on how the reader can dig deeper into their spiritual life and get outside their comfort zone.  These each end with true and dramatic faith walk stories that hook the reader and demonstrate God’s hand in people’s lives.

The final chapter of Lost and Found along The Way instructs fellow sojourners in how to follow Willie’s example to strengthen their own faith and share it with those who have lost their own faith—no hiking boots required.