The Meaning Behind The Name: Why Wonder Voyage?

Wonder Voyage is celebrating 25 years of connecting people with wonder this year. Our blog will be filled with stories of our staff and partners around the globe. We can’t wait to connect you with the stories that make up the heartbeat of our organization. This week, we look at the meaning behind the name Wonder Voyage.

When someone first hears the name “Wonder Voyage,” it usually leads to one of a couple of thoughts. To those of an imaginative nature, the name invokes adventure, mystery, and hidden treasure. To the more practically minded, Wonder Voyage sounds like a new-age aromatherapy session. Either way, the name Wonder Voyage stirs the heart.

The decision to name our non-profit “Wonder Voyage” deserves an explanation.

As I prepared for my first trip to Ireland in 1996, I obtained a copy of the now-bestseller How the Irish Saved Civilization. Through his charming prose, Thomas Cahill transports the reader into the Christian history of Ireland, beautifully painting a picture of God’s sovereign handiwork through these precocious and passionate Celts. I came across a particular term that caught my attention as I read.

The immram (or “wonder-voyage” in Irish) is an ancient journey-tale in which the hero faces a series of adventures. These quests become the catalyst of redemption for the hero or a people in need of deliverance. Think Homer’s Odyssey or C.S. Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. These adventures became a staple of early Irish literature. Some of the best-known immramas were tales of holy men and women who departed their beloved island. They faced great dangers for the opportunity to bring God’s Good News to foreign and often hostile people. They often set sail in their small boats, catch the wind, and pray: “Lord, take us wherever You desire.” Wherever their boat eventually landed, they laid roots.

Columcille’s Iona, off the western coast of Scotland, is a modern-day location testifying to such a journey. Pilgrimage tales like Columcille’s captivated me. These stories inspired a play I wrote for that first Ireland trip. For the next four years, the play called Immrama traveled to arts and Celtic festivals throughout Ireland, the U.S., and Canada.

In 1999, I started a travel company named Wonder Voyage Adventures. For various reasons, I decided to transition Wonder Voyage into a non-profit. A good friend who was helping us through the legalities of becoming a non-profit organization felt strongly that Missions was a more straightforward name than Adventures. In January of 2000, we incorporated as Wonder Voyage Missions.

Imagine a journey, a pilgrimage of sorts. A great adventure of extraordinary exploration into foreign cultures (the Voyage) where you encounter the face of God (the Wonder) through the eyes of strangers you will soon call friends (the Mission). The name Wonder Voyage Missions has become synonymous with matchless journeys that continue to stir the imagination of thousands.