Called To Help People Make New Friends and Walk

It was at Hammonasset State Park in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic when I first felt God’s calling placed upon my heart. My daily walks became windows into the lives of other walkers doing their best to navigate the health crisis and aloneness that piggybacked on the pandemic. Having lost my husband to cancer when I was 35, I knew how lonely “aloneness” could be. Now countless people were experiencing the same. I felt compelled to help bring people back together.

As Jesus’s walk to the cross marked both a significant ending and a monumental beginning, I decided to create an app that would do the same for people, by way of ending loneliness and introducing new friends who loved to walk and talk together. The app is called ZNEEX and it launched during Christmas week of 2022. That was not planned. It just simply worked out that way. I considered it a blessing, as well as further confirmation from God that I was supposed to do this.

ZNEEX is designed to make it easy for people to connect with new friends who they could walk with, predominantly locally and outdoors but also virtually and nationally as well. I wanted to remove the barriers personal and societal realities imposed when it came to meeting new people. There are all kinds of reasons someone might want that connection, including a new move to the area, a sudden life transition or just plain shyness. Certainly, there are many reasons why someone might be alone, but there should be an easy solution. ZNEEX was created to be that solution.

Beyond introducing new friends to each other to set up walks together, the app introduces users to other users’ favorite walking spots across the nation. It also integrates all of the bells and whistles a walking app needs, then goes beyond this to even match users who prefer to invite their dogs to walk along, too. It counts calories and steps, reminds users to hydrate and prevents users from ever missing a walk.

The app is available in the Google Play Store and was just approved by the App Store, so it should be available for iPhone soon. iPhone users are signing up on the waiting list at the ZNEEX site (zneexfriendship.com) in the interim.

As summer will drive people to spend more time outdoors, helping people find new friends to walk with will make those sunny days seem even brighter. Sometimes, callings reveal themselves in the most unique of ways. I believe God used my hands and heart to fashion this app to help bring His flock back together.

WELLINGTON is a popular blogger, TED speaker, author and awardwinning children’s television creator. She is the mother of five children and a member of St. John Church in Old Saybrook.