**Walking through a Faraway Land (Ladakh, 2006)**

Greetings, beloved brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel and the Saviour of the Gentiles. Messiah is COMING! It was true in the Garden of Eden. It was true at Mount Sinai. It was true when the Angel Gabriel appeared to both Joseph and Mary in Nazareth. It was true for the Early Church, and it remains true today. There is an appropriate question begged by this great truth, the same question inscribed across the horizontal cedar plank of the cross that we have carried on foot more than 8,000 miles across the country:

are you ready?

Our ministry could use your prayers … for wisdom, for financial provision, for what the churches of Macedonia gave to help the Apostle Paul’s missions ministry before they gave of their finances: “their own selves” (I Corinthians 8:5). More about that later …

Much has already happened in 2025, our 23rd consecutive year of Great Commission ministry and consistent Gospel testimony. The same message we preached in 2003 as I rode a bicycle across America is the same message we preached in 2023 on a long walk across America. It’s the same message we have preached in forty-six foreign countries and it will be the same message next month in #47. The promise of Hebrews 6:10 offers great comfort. Let it also comfort you in your service to our King:

“For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”

No genuine Great Commission work is in vain!

2025

Since the start of this new year, we have been blessed to preach locally and in Washington, DC on Inauguration Day. It was bitter cold that day. We have been blessed to labor with some of our pro-life brethren who were pardoned by President Trump for their unjust and unlawful prosecution by the Biden DOJ. We have been blessed to lift up a voice for the unborn outside some of the local abortion mills. And, I have been blessed to continue walking with the cross, sounding the same alarm I sounded to those who crossed my path from Cape Hatteras, NC, to Humboldt Lagoons State Park in California. Perhaps #TheLongWalkUSA should remain an ongoing work. After all, the United States is and remains one of the world’s largest mission fields. Sadly, it wouldn’t be so if we weren’t such an irresponsible and worldly church.

THE BREADTH OF IT, a post from last month, explains these ongoing “breadth” walking routes. Thus far, and by God’s amazing grace, I’ve walked threescore miles of spur, breaking off #TheLongWalkUSA main route. Along these 60 miles, we’ve enjoyed 86 Gospel encounters and have given away 4 copies of God’s Word. In Gaston County, my SAG crew even got arrested while sitting in the support vehicle and doing nothing but waiting for me in place they had every right to safely park. Thankfully, the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) is fighting for Bethany and Carter Phillips in this matter, free of charge.

My friends, if you are laboring faithfully and out in the open with the Gospel and the Word of God, persecution in America is real. If you are a Bible-believing Christian in America, you can be attacked for doing nothing more than walking with a cross! You can be threatened with arrest for merely holding a cross. You can be arrested for defending your family from an unprovoked attack! And, you can be arrested for sitting in a parked vehicle and patiently waiting for a walking preacher, simply because a busybody makes an anonymous phone call to 911 about a “suspicious vehicle.” You might chuckle, but we know: we’ve lived it. Notwithstanding, as Samuel Lam, a persecuted Chinese house church pastor used to say: “No persecution, no growth.” An elderly Brother Lam went home to be with the Lord just a few months ago, having run his race well. The Apostle Paul says it this way:

“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (II Timothy 3:12).

What a privilege to taste ever so slightly here in America what our persecuted brethren around the world—places like China, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Tibet, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bhutan, Israel (all places our ministry has labored)—taste every day without legal recourse! These are the true heroes of the faith. These are the seasoned teachers. We here in America are the elementary students in need of some school of hard knocks.

Thankfully, I had a body-camera rolling on January 11th when I walked up on the SAG vehicle with my cross (a lesson learned from Montana). For our protection, I uploaded it later that day to counter the lies of the local police department. Interestingly, a well-known police auditing channel (Lackluster) picked up the footage (unbeknownst to me and not by any action on my part) and posted about the incident. That video post has garnished more than 218,000 views and brought much attention to the well-known police corruption in nearby Gaston County. Several days later, our ministry received this message from an unknown person:

“Hello Sir, I watched your video and I was appalled at how the Police treated you. It is apparent that in this day and age the police are taught to sidestep and trample rights instead of upholding them, or at least using some common sense and compassion. I live in Gastonia and we do have an issue with the ridiculous overreach. Hopefully this will turn into something good for you, sir.”

Amen. The Lord knows how to make everything beautiful in His time. Ecclesiastes 3:11 is indeed the Old Testament counterpart to the New Testament promise found in Romans 8:28. Notwithstanding, such things are merely a symptom of a much bigger problem in America, a spiritual problem. I recently had the privilege to address this in an article I authored for a Montana newspaper. I pray you’ll find it an edifying read:

It’s amazing. Madison County, Montana, has a sister county in my backyard, and I never even knew. Because of this police auditing video, the story got the attention of a Christian attorney with the ACLJ, and they are representing Carter & Bethany in what they themselves see as an egregious violation of a Christian’s 4th Amendment protections. Praise the Lord. They have a court date on March 11th. Perhaps it goes without saying, but as in Montana: NO PLEAS, NO DEALS, TO THE END. The will of the Lord be done. In the meantime, we are continuing the work of the ministry. If interested, here is the link to that Lackluster Channel Video. Please forgive the profanity in the title. Believe it or not, such are the exact words that came out of the mouth of one of the officers on the scene:

thailand

PLEASE PRAY FOR Brother Eric Trent and my daughter Charlotte. They will be leaving for Thailand on February 20th to labor with some faithful brethren in village evangelism, orphanage ministry, and local church discipleship. Eric will be teaching local church brethren on the proper handling and study of the Word of God and concerning the biblical structure of the local church. Charlotte will be helping to minister to orphans with some Christian sisters her age. Perhaps the most amazing part of this opportunity is that it was born out of the hate crime done upon us in Montana. What men meant for evil actually brought these brethren into our path, and now we get to labor with them in far-off lands with a unity of purpose (Ecclesiastes 3:11; Romans 8:28). It reminds me of another hate crime, up in the Yukon Territory in 2009, that resulted in the same kind of thing. NOT THE FIRST TIME is another encouraging read. To this day, I’m still friends with Brother Bruno Benoni.

That fact is, I’m so blessed by my middle daughter Charlotte’s desire to go on this journey. She works hard, just turned 17, and recently used her savings to buy a car. In the midst of all this, she asked her mom and me if she could seize this missions opportunity. Eric, Charlotte, another North Carolina brother, and two of his children fly out of Charlotte next week. It will be a long journey to Chiang Mai, where they will rendezvous with additional fellow-laborers, and then several hours north into a village area not far from the Burmese border. Please pray for much fruit in this labor and for the Lord’s provision along the way. This is a big step of faith for me and Jamie, but we are confident it is of God. I’m reminded of a testimony by the late Keith Green at a live concert, just before singing his song I Pledge My Head to Heaven:

“You know why I wrote this song, because it was easy for me to give up my life. But to think of my wife and my children who I love more than anything on the earth, to see them have to live in a different culture, or to see them have to be persecuted, or my wife beaten, or my son killed, was too much for me. And then the Lord had me put them on the altar, like He had Abraham put Isaac on the altar. Ah, the thing that Isaac is famous for, being offered up by his father … “

Hallelujah! Have you placed your children on the altar for the Lord’s service? Have you pledged your wife, your husband, your children to heaven for the Gospel?

back to the west coast

Friends, I really wanted to go back to Israel this spring, but it seems the Lord has closed that door. I’m bummed but have learned the hard way over the years not to try to kick down a closed door. Notwithstanding, and coinciding with Eric and Charlotte’s departure, I’ll be hitting the road for a month of college campus preaching and fishing for Israelis working the kiosks of West Coast shopping malls.

I’ll get warmed up next week in Mississippi with some of the brethren recently pardoned by President Trump (i.e. from the unjust persecution they suffered at the hands of the Biden DOJ) and then hope to be in California by February 24th to yoke up with Brother Shawn Holes, a faithful servant our local church has supported as a missionary to America’s college campuses for many years. We have planned a busy week of campus preaching in California’s Central Valley. I love getting on the West Coast campuses. There are lots of students from lots of different backgrounds, and out there, you never have to worry about your free speech rights being violated in the public forum by “good ole boys” with a badge who don’t know the law or the Constitution. A man’s 2nd Amendment rights might be trampled in California, but not his free speech. As a preacher, I naturally value open-air sermons from the Word of God much more than an open-carry or concealed-carry firearm. If I can’t have both, I’ll always choose the First over the Second.

***Preaching with Brother Shawn Holes on West Coast Campuses back in 2012***

As for the Israeli-shopping-mall-kiosk phenomenon, it has largely died out here in America since COVID. It’s a shame, for our nationwide shopping mall circuits used to yield a lot of fruit (see THE WORD MADE FLESH). Back in 2016, we drove to Alaska and back, combing 37 American and Canadian shopping malls. We found Israelis in 19 of those malls and freely distributed 52 copies of the Hebrew Scriptures. Those were good times. As recently as 2020, we combed 41 shopping malls along two nationwide circuits and were able to distribute 42 copies of the Hebrew Scriptures to lost sheep from the House of Israel. Then the COVID drama came, and the phenomenon died … but not completely. They can still be found in the big shopping malls near West Coast cities, as we discovered last summer along the last leg of #TheLongWalkUSA. I’ll be doing a bit of a scavenger hunt up the West Coast in March, armed with gift bags containing Hebrew-English Tanakhim (Old Testaments) and Hebrew-English New Testaments, along with a pair of socks bearing the national azure color of the flag of Israel. Thanks to MKSocks for donating these toward this work. FPGM continues to maintain a sizable supply of Hebrew Scriptures donated by The Society for the Distribution of the Hebrew Scriptures some years ago. They came on a pallet via ship from London, and we need to get them out into the hands of Jewish people. If you would like to assist us in this distribution, please message me. I am happy to ship, FREE OF CHARGE, a box of really nice Hebrew-English Old Testaments (10 per box) and/or a box of Hebrew-English New Testaments (24 per box). All we ask in return is that these be FREELY distributed to Jewish people.

***Shopping Mall Fishing for Israelis (2016)***

After making my way up the West Coast, perhaps doing some spur walks with the cross off #TheLongWalkUSA main route out there, I’ll be heading to Montana. On March 15, we’ll be conducting a free all-day self-defense seminar for ladies in Madison County, much like what transpired at the NFAA Easton Archery Center in Yankton, South Dakota last summer. There, we had 40 ladies attend, and it was a great opportunity to communicate the Gospel. Some folks in Madison County with a great indoor space are hosting this event, just a few miles from where the infamous hate crime occurred. The Lord really does have a sense of humor. Bethany and one of my NC Aikido students will be helping me. It should be a good time and a good opportunity to preach the Gospel. For years, we have utilized such platforms for a bridge to the Word of God. I simply call these bridges TOOLS (this post from ten years ago explains). Interestingly, I posted it on the eve of a February departure for Israel, what the Lord isn’t allowing me to do this time around. Please pray for the Montana Seminar. Madison County is a dark place that needs the Gospel. Yes, there are very dark corners in America.

***We had a nice turnout at the Ladies’ Self-Defense Seminar in Yankton, SD last summer.***

team yeshua big sky (2025)

Here’s a little FPGM history … Because the Gospel is “to the Jew first” (Romans 1:16), our Great Commission focus officially expanded in 2014 to include the droves of Israeli backpackers who visit Nepal, India, and the South American continent every year. Part of our strategy for reaching these involved volunteer summer teams we dubbed TEAM YESHUA (i.e. Hebrew for “Jesus”). During the summers of 2015 and 2016, we conducted teams in Ladakh (far NW India), and in 2017 and 2019, the teams were based in Huaraz, Peru. Through Team Yeshua, we saw many seeds planted and watered, even amongst fledgling and persecuted churches struggling to exist in far corners of the world. Moreover, volunteers helped us distribute many free copies of God’s Word to Israeli backpackers and Gentiles from more than 50 different nations. Since, it has also been a joy to watch many of these former team members go on to serve the Lord and actually use what they learned during their time. Eric & Mindy Trent served on our very first team. In fact, they met for the first time boarding a plane to India. They now serve as full-time missionaries with FPGM and are expecting their fourth child in June. Another young lady from our second team is married to an Israeli believer. They have a family of their own and serve the LORD in Israel today. Several others have since traveled to other foreign places on their own, including Israel, and have been active in sharing the Gospel with both Jew and Gentile. One couple from our 2019 team actually helped this ministry WALK across the United States, carrying a cross and sharing the Gospel all along the way. You might know them as Bethany & Carter Phillips :)

I say all this because the Lord is leading us to revive this work that yielded so much fruit from 2015 to 2019, fruit that remains to this day. We need volunteers (see I Corinthians 8:5 cited above), preferably 5-7 young people (16 years old and up) who love Jesus and want a taste of Great Commission missions in some of the world’s remote, spiritually dark corners. Aside from the campus preaching, mall fishing, cross-walking, and self-defense seminar: This upcoming road trip will also be in the spirit of Luther Rice’s 1813 departure from the Judsons in India, returning to America for the purpose of recruiting Baptist missionaries. Unto this end, I will be meeting with some folks, sharing with some local churches, and casting bread (Ecclesiastes 11:1). Please pray that the Lord will raise up the right folks.

There was Team Yeshua Ladakh (2015-2016) and Team Yeshua Peru (2017, 2019). Unlike the singular geographic concentration of our previous teams, this year’s focus will involve two far corners, both spiritually dark, both places we have labored before with good spiritual fruit, and both considered a very dark … the one good domestic practice ground for the foreign ground of the other. We are calling it TEAM YESHUA BIG SKY, and it will involve 11 weeks pretty evenly split between Madison County, Montana, and Ladakh, India—both places known for their big, bright night skies. More details will be forthcoming.

It’s a step of faith, and there is much the Lord is going to have to bring together, hence the need for me to go back out to Montana. We’re excited to see what He does, and I’m excited that part of the work will involve cross-walking the 35-mile stretch of Madison County highway we haven’t yet walked, as well as the 130-mile stretch of road between Taglung La and the confluence of the Shyok and Nubra Rivers, thus connecting with our previous Ladakh cross-walking routes from 2006 and 2014. This spur will cross the highest and second-highest motorable mountain passes in the world. Those who were part of our Team Yeshua in 2015 or 2016 know all about these high passes, all about them. If you know anyone who might be interested in serving this summer, please have them reach out to me ASAP.

In closing, here is a quick rundown of the specific matters for which we covet your prayers and support:

Thailand Missionary Journey (Eric Trent, Charlotte Boyd, and the rest of the team)
College Campus Preaching with Brother Shawn Holes
West Coast Shopping Mall Fishing for Israelis
March 15th Self-Defense Seminar in Madison County, Montana
Team Yeshua Big Sky

If the Lord should lay it upon your heart to help our ministry financially in any of the above-listed matters, you can donate online below or visit fpgm.org/donate for other options. Our financial support has declined this past year, and anything is appreciated. All contributions are tax-deductible and will be used for the furtherance of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God told Abraham: “Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee” (Genesis 13:17).

Many years later, Joshua told the people of Israel: “Give out from among you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come again to me” (Joshua 18:4).

We’ve walked some land ourselves, the length and the breadth. Now, in a manner of speaking, it’s time to go back through and DESCRIBE it; and it has never been our practice to wait until we can raise a specific amount of financial support before we go. No, we follow the call to go FIRST, trusting the Lord for His provision. And guess what, He never guides where He does not provide. Let’s GO!

Jesse Boyd
Full Proof Gospel Ministries

donate online

go through the land and describe it

are you ready?

2025

thailand

back to the west coast

team yeshua big sky (2025)