Greetings, beloved brethren. It’s been NINE THOUSAND MILES of driving over 5 weeks, and I have finally returned home. Much was accomplished for the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ, and there is much yet to do in preparation for a summer of Great Commission ministry in both Montana and Ladakh. Thank you for your prayers and support. We are so excited to be bringing back TEAM YESHUA and are praying fervently, even now, for the Lord to raise up the right group of young people who love Jesus and are willing to tell others, both Jew and Gentile, about Him. Applications are currently in the hands of four individuals from different parts of the country, but we need more volunteers. Please reach out if you know someone who might be willing to sacrifice a summer for Jesus at the ends of the earth, roughly 18-25 years old (not a hard and fast rule). The term of service will be June 16-August 31, 2025.

When I was in high school, I dreamed about driving across America, from one end to the other. After graduation in 1994, my hiking buddy and I decided to do something other than the typical “party at the beach.” We packed up my mom’s car and drove across America. Apocalyptic thunderstorms drove us off Longs Peak and out of the Colorado backcountry, prompting us to continue west. We explored the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone and then drove out the West Entrance into what seemed like the end of the world, a tiny little hamlet known as West Yellowstone, Montana. The farthest thing from my mind was that I would walk through West Yellowstone one day with a cross on a long walk across America. We slept in the car that night at a truck stop in Rexburg, paid for showers the next morning, and then kept west. It was in a little motel lobby in the strange town of Arco, Idaho where we caught a weather report on the television showing a map of the entire United States. At that moment, it fell upon us like a wheelbarrow full of bricks. By that map, we were FAR from North Carolina and probably needed to start heading back that way. We did the next morning, but not before putzing around Craters of the Moon National Monument and a bit more time in Yellowstone National Park. To this day, I don’t understand why we felt the need to get back home so quickly. There was nothing on the schedule for me but the start of college in late August. Regrettably, we chose to leave Yellowstone and drive all night. At MileMarker 109 on I-90 in Wyoming, my friend fell asleep at the wheel. It was a terrible accident, but by God’s abundant mercy, we both walked away with no more than a scratch on his hand. My mother’s vehicle was totaled. We were too young a rent a car to drive back to North Carolina but not too young to rent a 15-foot UHAUL truck. Go figure! We drove that thing all the way home and camped some in the empty bed. There’s a lot more to that story, but suffice it to say, I battled depression in my college dorm room that fall, longing and yearning for the freedom of the road and dreaming of the day when I could again set my compass west behind the wheel of a car.

Top: We left my mom’s Ford Escort parked atop Mt. Evans in Colorado as we scampered up to the true summit. It was June 16, 1994. Bottom: My high school hiking buddy and I somewhere along my first cross-county roadtrip.

I never could have imagined in my 18-year-old head that I would one day lose count of the number of times the Lord would lead me to drive across America. It certainly never entered my college mindset that I would ever bicycle across the country three times and walk an 8,000-mile route from sea to shining sea. I sometimes wonder if I have reached a million driving miles criss-crossing this country, one of the world’s largest mission fields. The LORD knoweth. Ironically, I walked right by MileMarker 109 in I—90 in Wyoming along #TheLongWalkUSA. I recorded a little video commentary, reflecting upon that terrible 1994 accident and the goodness of God:

Once, a brother and I logged nearly 13,000 miles in 5 weeks. We scoured 37 shopping centers between here and Alaska, fishing for Israelis peddling Dead Sea products and hair straighteners in mall kiosks. We gave out 30 Hebrew Tanakhim (i.e. Old Testaments) and 20 Hebrew New Testaments. We also witnessed to people from 18 foreign countries, including Pakistan, Cameroon, Egypt, and Somalia. It was quite the roadtrip. In 2020, at the height of the COVID drama, believe it or not, we logged more than 25,000 miles of driving, TWICE criss-crossing the United States, once in the spring and once in the fall. We preached on 9 college campuses, combed 41 shopping malls, and freely distributed 58 copies of the Scriptures, in both Hebrew and English. We shared the Gospel in English, Hebrew, Spanish, and Nepali, and we never once wore a mask :) There have been countless other cross-country ministry circuits, each with their own divine appointments and unique fruit. Like I said, I have lost count. To this day, I believe there remains only one stretch of interstate highway I haven’t yet driven, and it’s a short stretch—the 142 miles of I-15 between Dillon, MT and Idaho Falls, ID. Somehow, I have missed that one, and I almost logged it on this latest missionary journey. But a late-night of worship and fellowship with at a weekly Bible Study in Helena (one that started months ago, they say, “because of you”— To God be the glory) forced me to detour for a bed opened to me in Madison County. Oh well, maybe next time.

There have been many long drives during my years of service to the Lord, and I suppose there will be more. Along this latest nine thousand mile circuit …

Did I preach to thousands?
Did I distribute large quantities of Gospel tracts?
Did I see people get saved?
Did I stir up Holy Spirit revival or turn a city upside down?
Did I raise needed missions support?
Did I find a many a lost sheep from the House of Israel?

the answer to all these questions is NO

Was it worth the drive?
Were there divine appointments?
Did I preach in the open-air?
Did I give out any Hebrew Bibles?
Did I walk with my cross?
Were believers edified?
Was time redeemed?
Was peace made where once was enmity?

the answer to all these questions is YES

The measure of Great Commission success is never numbers, be it people or miles driven. It’s not in results. It’s in OBEDIENCE. The shortest and most succinct rendering of Christ’s Commission is found in Mark 16:15-16. The scope of that Commission and the measure of its success are pretty simple.

verse 15 is OUR RESPONSIBILITY

“Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

verse 16, believe it or not, is GOD’S PROBLEM

“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

American Churchianity may be about results and numbers, but true ministry is about obedience (I Corinthians 3:7). As the great Southern General, Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson long ago declared: “Duty is ours. Results are God’s.” I sincerely believe that.

In my last newsletter, ahead of this long journey, I articulated some prayer points. Thanks for praying, and I rejoice to share how the Lord answered each one of them …

thailand

The missionary journey to Thailand successfully came and went. The Gospel was preached, the saints were edified, and the poor were blessed. As a father, it gave me great joy to hear of my daughter Charlotte handing out Gospel tracts on the streets of Chiang Mai, and in the villages, as well as teaching and serving orphaned children. Brother Eric Trent represented FPGM well. Local Thai pastors and leaders were immensely blessing by his teachings on the structure of the New Testament church and the proper handling of God’s Word. Our ministry was honored to come alongside brethren from Mississippi who needed help and are accustomed to visiting that more remote part of Northern Thailand. It was a great team and a great time for the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ. Our partnership and fellowship with these Mississippi brethren, by the way, was born out of the trial and tribulation in Montana. Sheer profundity!

fishing for Israelis in the shopping malls

I regret to announce … the “Israeli Kiosk Phenomenon” in the American shopping mall is DEAD, a thing of the past. I suspected such, but this roadtrip confirmed it. I combed 9 shopping malls, places we had enjoyed multiple encounters on past circuits. Sadly, I found ZERO Israelis in the few Los Angeles and Montana malls I checked, places where they had been before. NADA in the Salt Lake City area was also disappointing. Back in 2020, we targeted the busy corridor from Ogden to Provo, Utah twice, once in the spring and once in the fall. Even with all the Covid drama, it was fruitful ground. We encountered a good number of Israelis working a variety of kiosks hawking Dead Sea products, hair straighteners, lotions, and makeup. Numerous copies of the Hebrew-English Scriptures were distributed, and there were many good Gospel conversations. This time, I only saw two kiosks peddling anything that remotely resembled was used to be typical of the Israeli kiosks. Both were operated by local Gentiles. In a Missoula, Montana mall, as it was dumping snow outside, I thought I finally found a son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to whom I could give a set of Hebrew-English Scriptures. He turned out to be Greek. Hey, I tried. OBEDIENCE > RESULTS

***Southgate Mall in Missoula, like all the others on this trip, was a BUST for Hebrew Scripture Distribution. But hey, let it be said we tried!***

I suspect the wartime footing in Israel resulting from the OCTOBER 7TH MASSACRE and the illegal immigration crackdown here in the States have put the final nails in the coffin of this strange cultural phenomenon. After all, most of the Israelis who worked those kiosks, we found, were doing so “illegally” while here on tourist visas. One is not allowed to work in America if visiting on a B-2 visa, and I oftentimes found it a bit comical to hear Israelis with the thickest Hebrew accents imaginable deny that they were from Israel, as if my attempts to make conversation were the inquisitions of an undercover ICE agent. I never cared about such things. We simply wanted to put the Holy Scriptures into the hands of the descendants of those who were used by God to write down those Scriptures long ago, and like with the Hummus Trails in South Asia and South America, we found the American shopping malls to be, at least for a few yeears, a good field to do so.

“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God” (Romans 3:1).

Many times over the years, a lonely Israeli far from home, working long hours trying to sell overpriced Dead Sea products, would respond with shock and surprise when approached by a Gentile Christian, also far from home, who introduced himself thus, sometimes in broken Hebrew:

“I am not Jewish, but I am a friend of Israel and the Jewish people. You see, Almighty God chose your people to write down and preserve His Words. Every book in both the Old and New Testaments was written down by a Jew under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I, a Gentile, can know the true God, the God of Israel; and I can know the Messiah of Israel, Jesus the Christ. I am very grateful for this and am very grateful for your people. As a token of that appreciation, I would like to give you, a descendant of those who wrote these things down, a Hebrew-English copy of the Holy Scriptures. Do as exhorted your Prophet Isaiah: ‘Seek ye out of the book of the LORD and read’ (Isaiah 34:16).”

I really hoped to repeat this heartfelt testimony a more few times in a few more malls on this latest journey. It wasn’t to be. Notwithstanding, two sets of Hebrew-English Scriptures did go out from my hands, one to a Jewish student on the campus of Sacramento State University, the other to a believing Jewish sister, the only follow of Yeshua the Messiah in her Jewish family. Both were grateful, and for this, I rejoiced. The latter and her husband, a Navajo Indian man, opened their home to me, a stranger, while I was in the Los Angeles area. At one point along that NINE THOUSAND MILES there was a Navajo man, a Jewish woman, and a Southern preacher sitting around a California table sharing testimony over fresh artichokes and rejoicing together in the things of the God of Israel and the Messiah of Israel. Sheer profundity!

***A set of Hebrew-English Scriptures did go into the hands of a Jewish student, not in a shopping mall, but on a California college campus.***

As for cultural phenomenons, they come and go. They may be for good; they may be for evil. Some, like all the illegal immigration to America, might even frustrate the heck out of you. Nevertheless, these are ALWAYS opportunities for the Gospel; and as Christians, we must view such things with spiritual eyes (what Proverbs calls “discretion”) and not political glasses. When a cultural phenomenon fades, we must ask whether or not we were good Great Commission stewards of the opportunities it afforded. I trust this ministry was found a good steward of the Israeli Mall Kiosk phenomenon that flourished for a bit here in Canada and the United States. I don’t know if it will ever return.

mississippi state university & gaston county

Over those NINE THOUSAND MILES, I did get to preach on some college campuses.

It was nice to get warmed up at Mississippi State in Starkville with some of the same brethren who left a couple days later to join Eric & Charlotte in Thailand. Sadly, I rendezvoused with them at the Oktibbeha County Jail in Starkville instead of the nearby campus. You see, two brothers, Gabriel Olivier (the Thailand Team Leader) and Coleman Boyd (recently pardoned by President Trump from the unjust Biden DOJ’s persecution of his singing a hymn in a public hallway outside an abortion mill in Tennessee and “daring” to film it), had been arrested by MSSU police while simply standing with Scripture signs in a public forum where they had preached many times before. There were no altercations and very few students were even out and about. It was simply another example of Christian persecution here in America, once again by “good ole boys” in a very red Republican district. I arrived at the jail as they paid their $500 bail, having been unjustly charged with “disorderly conduct,” and I almost got into trouble myself. I inquired of the ridiculous number of officers at the front desk why Christian preachers were being persecuted and targeted in a state that once bore a star in the Confederate flag. A morbidly obese female officer (who needed to pull up her trousers) threatened me with arrest for “disrespect.” I asked if “disrespect” was a felony or a misdemeanor. Of course, she didn’t answer. It was a circus. Nothwithstanding, both brothers got out, and we immediately went to the public sidewalk outside the MSSU police station on the MSSU campus to preach the Gospel and warn against the sins of our land that have brought this kind of tyranny. I was honored to hold aloft the cross stolen from and returned to me by the Madison County Sheriffs Office in Montana outside that Mississippi police department and to preach from Psalm 31 as an indictment against such persecution.

Did you know that the first order of business in the First American Congress (sometimes referred to as the First Continental Congress) on September 7, 1774 was the public reading of Psalm 31. In a letter to his wife, John Adams described the scene:

“You must remember that this was the first morning after we heard the horrible rumor of the cannonade of Boston. I never saw a greater effect produced upon an audience. It seemed as if Heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning. It has had an excellent effect upon everybody here. I must beg you to read that Psalm”

In the face of great tyranny, our Founding Fathers read that Psalm aloud. In the face of great tyranny, I had the great joy of preaching it. My final plea was worded thus: “O God have mercy on this land! O God, have mercy! Oh Lord, bring revival to your churches. May it start with me, Lord. Bring awakening to your streets. Have mercy, Lord God!” Here is the entire 15-minute sermon outside that police station:

Interestingly, the trial for Brothers Gabriel Olivier and Dr. Coleman Boyd over this illegal arrest is scheduled for May 27th in Starkville, Mississippi. It’s the same day trial is scheduled for Carter & Bethany Phillips in Gaston County, North Carolina concerning their illegal arrest on January 11th. As for my daughter and son-in-law, their ACLJ Attorney, Liam Harrell, published a concise article on the matter. He asserts,

“The Fourth Amendment explicitly protects against unlawful searches and seizures, meaning citizens cannot be compelled to identify themselves absent reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. Christians peacefully practicing their faith, carrying a cross in public spaces, should never face criminalization for doing so … We will not rest until justice prevails for these believers and the constitutional principles that protect all Americans’ religious liberty are upheld.”

You can read the entire article HERE.

In both situations, there will be no pleas, no deals, and a fight to the end. Your prayers are much appreciated for these persecuted brothers and sister in Christ. Hebrews 13 is a great outline of what should be considered Christianity 101. Remembering our persecuted Christian brethren, as being in bondage with them, IS Christianity 101 (Hebrews 13:3). If the American churches, who are supposed to be salt and light, the pillar and ground of truth in a society (I Timothy 3:15) can’t get Christianity 101 amongst ourselves right, last November’s election won’t ultimately make a hill of beans difference. We must remember our persecuted brethren! We must stand up for them!

california college campuses

As I wrote in my last newsletter:

“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.”

Needless to say, we didn’t have to worry about what happened in Mississippi way over in California. We spent a week in the Central Valley, visiting great four campuses—UC Merced, Stanislaus State, Modesto Junior College, and Sacramento State. All were great outings resulting in Gospel tracts and Bibles going out, good conversations with students of many different backgrounds, and solid open-air preaching. It was a true joy to labor alongside some faithful brethren with whom I have labored in years past, including Shawn Holes from Idaho and Ken Lightsey from California. Our local church has supported Mr. Holes’ faithful college campus ministry for many years. He has labored with us in India. And Mr. Lightsey is the one who made both crosses that we used on #TheLongWalkUSA. He has labored with us in Nepal and Israel, and he logged a few walking miles himself on our walk across the United States. I love these brothers!

***From left to right: Jesse Boyd, Ken Lightsey, and Shawn Holes after a long day of preaching on the campus of Sacramento State University***

It was on a college campus in California, not a shopping mall, where the Lord put some lost sheep from the House of Israel into my path. One encounter started off well, but then there was a sudden manifestation of the VAIL (II Corinthians 3:14). Another encounter with Annalisa and Nate resulted in them taking Gospel tracts. And then, there was Mason mentioned above, who glady received a set of Hebrew-English Scriptures (OT & NT). All heard about Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, and inquired about the Hebrew on the back side of my cross.

One thing that surprised me during our week on the California campuses was how many professing Christian students explicitly thanked us for being at their school. Usually, these are uncomfortable with the preaching and want to lecture seasoned missionaries on how they are “doing it wrong.” There was some of that, but a lot of students were genuinely grateful. Haephong, a Vietnamese young man and the only Christian in his family, was excited and hung around for a while. We prayed together. Karev from Rajasthan, the only believer in his Hindu family, felt the same. We, too, prayed together. There was many a “Thank You,” even a sincere one from a faculty member at Modesto Junior College and a security guard. Hallelujah!

***Haephong (top left) and Karev (bottom left) were very grateful for our presence on their campus.***

On one campus, Adrian, an autistic young man, brought me a hot Americano after I finished preaching. There was Marco, a very depressed young man who was contemplating suicide. He passed by and saw me standing there with the cross and heard some of the preaching. Later, he came back in tears, bringing cups of cold water and thanking us for being there to get his attention. I also remember good Gospel encounters with Monica, Ellie, Taylor, Alex, Massu, George, Carissa, Destiny, and Raymond. I couldn’t help but chuckle thinking about a the remark from an anti-Christian bigot early in the week: “What you’re doing doesn’t work. Nobody wants you here. Nobody is listening to any of you.” Whatever you say, dude!

You know, I hear the “This ain’t effective” mantra a lot when it comes to open-air preaching. I don’t pay much attention to it, as OBEDIENCE ought to be the believer’s motivation, not “effectiveness.” Besides, only God can give the increase. One man plants, another waters, HE gives increase (I Corinthians 3:6-7). Notwithstanding, can you believe that telling a group of pro-Hamas college students at Modesto Junior College how the Land of Canaan belongs to God (Read Leviticus 23:25)—and that He has given it to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac (not Ishmael) and Jacob (not Esau)—would lead to a Bible going into the hands of a Palestinian Arab? It happened. Amir approached me later with genuine questions. He was very polite and open to the Gospel of the Jesus Christ, the coming King of Israel. Who says open-air preaching isn’t effective? Amir received a Bible. Two others asked me for a Bible that same day, incuding Victoria, who skipped three classes to hear. Some got angry and heckled, but at least ten people, including a faculty member, thanked us for being there at MJC with the Gospel. “Ineffective,” right?

And how could I not mention Alexander? As I was standing there with my cross in the grass, he walked up and asked: “Weren’t you here a while back? You had your son with you. You were the guy walking across America, and you talked to me for a long time. Did you ever finish that walk?” True, I had been there SIXTEEN MONTHS PRIOR, on our way home from the walking leg that go us to the spot of that old dilapidated house in Washington State. He was right. I didn’t remember him, but he remembered me and wanted to hear about how things played out. That night, I checked my spreadsheet journal from #TheLongWalkUSA. There he was, his named noted with his friend Sanchez on 11/14/2023. Sheer produndity! “Ineffective,” right?

Marco (top left) was contemplating suicide until he passed by and saw the cross and heard the preaching. Instead, he brought the campus preachers cups of cold water (Matthew 10:32). Alexander (bottom left) remembered the “walking preacher” from an encounter 16 months prior! Amir (right), a Palestinian student gladly received a Bible. “Ineffective,” right?

Speaking of Amir the Palestinian, I popped into a coffee roastery in the little town of Joshua Tree, California after a night of sleep on the desert floor. I just couldn’t drive any farther, and I knew a secret camping spot about a mile down a dirt track off I-10. It was a few days before I met Amir. I was certain that a young couple ahead of me in the line was Israeli, and the prospect of giving away a Hebrew-English Scripture set before I even combed a mall or made it to a campus was exciting. As they grabbed their coffees and walked past me out the door, I asked in Hebrew: “Do you speak Hebrew?” The young man looked puzzled, so I asked him in English. A gruff expression came over his face, and he responded curtly: “We are Palestinian.” Ooops, talk about an embarrassing mistake. He and his girlfriend shoved out the door and down the street before I could say another word. I was bummed. Then, I had to pay $6.50 for a 3-shot Americano. At least it was smooth and strong. A few miles down the highway, I learned of an interesting “coincidence.” At the same time I made that mistake and failed to get out a copy of the Hebrew Scriptures, my mom encountered a Jewish young lady in North Carolina and gave to her a Hebrew New Testament. Sheer profundity!

The college campus preaching in California was great. Thanks for your prayers.

***“Ineffective,” right? Look at those gathered to listen to the open-air preacher. That’s more than show up in many Sunday School classes around America.***

ladies self-defense seminar in madison county

On March 15th, our ladies self-defense seminar in Cameron, Montana took place without a hitch. It was a great time with a great little group of ladies at the old saloon and general store about three miles up the highway from the spot where we were attacked. The all-day FREE seminar was a lot of fun and much appreciated by those who came out, some from as far away as Missoula and Helena. Our dojo can now add Madison County to our list of free seminar locales that includes North Carolina, South Dakota, Israel, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Moldova, and South Africa. All were great opportunities for the Gospel and/or biblical exhortation, and I look forward to more in the future.

Thanks to my daughter, Bethany Phillips, and Josh Williams, one of our brown belt students, for coming out to Montana to help. And thanks to our friends, the Burgharts, who hosted this little event at the Cameron General Store & Blue Moon Saloon. They provided a great lunch, and it was a good time. Truly, what men meant for evil, the LORD has used for good (Genesis 50:20); and He indeed makes everything beautiful in His time (Ecclesiastes 3:11; Romans 8:28).

***Ladies Self-Defense Seminar in Madison County, Montana***

cross-walking

Along the NINE THOUSAND MILES, I was also blessed to do a little cross-walking while praying for revival in our churches and spiritual awakening in our land. This included the college campuses and a litte piece in Los Angeles that allowed me to yoke up with some brethren for a Christian witness outside a Planned Parenthood.

While giving Josh, my marital arts student, a tour of some famous places in Madison County, including the site of the renowned “Battle of Bloody Nose,” I was able to walk again a short stretch of #TheLongWalkUSA route from the Virginia City Courthouse to the Madison County Sheriffs Office. It was a needful and powerful testimony of obedience over results in the spirit of Acts 14:21 (Paul and Barnabas WENT BACK through Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch in Pisidia, despite there being a much shorter and easier route home). It was a cold and snowy mile but precious. Inside the courthouse, we gave a Gospel tract to one of the ladies in the clerk of court’s office who recognized our faces. She was kind. Outside the sheriffs office, I held aloft the cross and sang an old melody aloud:

God has made this trial a blessing, though it brought me to my knees.
Though my tears flowed like a river, yet in His was sweet relief.
There’s no need to get discouraged, there’s no need to talk defeat.
God has made this trial a blessing, O the grace He’s given me.

As for the “Battle of Bloody Nose,” I wonder if a historical marker, perhaps a plaque affixed to a solitary fencepost, should be placed to mark the spot. That would be a good little community service project for Team Yeshua this summer :) It could read:

The Battle of Bloody Nose 11/12/2022
Here, on the afternoon of November 12, 2022, an outlaw raiding party attacked a small group of Christian pilgrims from North Carolina. Thus ensued THE BATTLE OF BLOODY NOSE. The Christians stood their ground and drove off a frontal assault. There were no casualties. This small and seemingly insignificant battle on the side of a remote Montana highway profoundly affected the course of Madison County history. SOLI DEO GLORIA

***Cross-Walking again in Madison County, Montana***

In another place along the NINE THOUSAND MILES, I picked up my cross and walked an interesting 8-mile isosceles triangle. This route crossed into three states and three counties in what used to be known as “No Man’s Land.” It was a very literal middle-of-nowhere. After 3 miles of US 64, it turned east to follow Rinker Rd, a lonely dirt thruway that literally forms the northern border of the Texas Panhandle. Along Rinker Road, I passed by a concrete marker noting the spot where the borders of Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas meet (It’s funny, #TheLongWalkUSA passed by two other TRISTATE markers: the spot where Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri meet AS WELL AS the spot where Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri meet). I then turned north on another farm road which put me back on US 64 near where I began.

Why, you might ask, did I walk with my cross 8 long miles under a blazing in the middle of nowhere? My only encounters were a few cows, passing traffic, and a couple of cowboys who waved from a distance. I did it simply because the Lord pressed upon my spirit to do so. Period. It was simple obedience in an out-of-the-way place that is actually very special to me. I don’t need another reason or to know why. Neither should any obedient servant of the Lord. A 22-year-old testimony echoing from that place was more than enough motivation to take up a cross and walk where I once took up a “Jesus’s Saves” flag and pedaled a bicycle.

It was 2003, and it all began with a coast-to-coast bicycle ride. Somewhere on that long journey, Jamie and I found ourselves discouraged, wrestling, and dealing with some persecution from professing Christians. One pastor in Washington State, whose church was supporting the work, didn’t like the route we had chosen and started complaining to me about our preaching and the nature of our outreach. He threatened to cut the church’s support and was just downright mean, even vindictive, in his communication. Needless to say, we were discouraged and dumbfounded. Anyway, we ended up at a couple of roadside picnic tables on the border of Oklahoma and New Mexico where a rusty old sign read “No Man’s Land.” It was definitely that, and we set up camp that night wondering what we were doing and even entertaining whether or not this pastor’s perspective rang of truth. We pleaded with the LORD to show Himself and direct our steps. Should we keep on or pack it up? The next morning, around dawn, I awoke dreading the day’s bicycle ride in the cold wind. It was overcast, and I heard the purring of an engine outside in the pull-off. A long-haired man from Iowa named Randy had tried to camp there but had to turn crank his car in the night because of the cold. These are the words I penned in my journal almost 22 years ago:

Today it was confirmed that once again, we were in the right place at the right time. It began early this morning with Randy, a man who had come out to the desert to die, sick of the world and running from his problems. As he toked on a joint, he wanted to talk about UFOs, but I talked about Jesus. He wanted to talk about that “tyrant” George W. Bush and Iraq, but I brought the conversation back to Jesus. He then wanted to talk about Jesus the Teacher, but I proclaimed Jesus the Christ, God of the Universe, and Saviour of the World. By the end of our fellowship, he had a Bible in his hand. May the Word of the Lord keep him awake in the desert tonight, wherever he may be . . . ’Twas a divine appointment, especially considering how much we had been wrestling. It was a miracle we ended up in that place.

Randy’s last words to me after I prayed with him were: “I drove down from Iowa to go out to the desert to die. I’m still going out to the desert, but perhaps now it is to read this Book you gave to me.” The “No Man’s Land” sign is long gone, but the weathered posts remain. Between those two pictures, 22 years have passed. That 8-mile walk was very special, and I trust the Lord used it.

***Hey, I’ve been to No Man’s Land before. The sign must have blown away.***

things redeemed

Above, I claimed YES was the answer to two more questions.

Were believers edified along the nine thousand miles? YES. The Lord gave opportunity to give testimony before three local church congregations, folks who didn’t know us from cans of paint before our Montana persecution. They somehow heard about it, reached out, and faithfully prayed for our deliverance. What a joy to report to these in person concerning how God heard and answered their prayers on our behalf. Two of these churches were in Southern California, and one of them was in Madison County, Montana. It was also a blessing to share testimony at three other gatherings of believers, one in Mississippi, one in Texas, and another in Sanders County, Montana. That latter, believe it or not, lasted until after midnight. I thought of Eutychus and Paul’s long preaching in Troas (Acts 20:9-11).

At Freedoms Way Baptist Church in Santa Clarita, California, it was announced:

Do you know someone who's been both targeted and arrested for being a Christian? You might be saying "Sure, in some other country!" No! Right here in the good old USA. This is just a piece of the story of Jesse Boyd...the man who walks across the world carrying a cross and preaching the gospel along the way.

I am unworthy of such acknowledgment, yet I was honored and blessed to be handed opportunity to edify the saints. I spoke of Christianity 101, as I did in all opportunity afforded to build up the churches along this NINE THOUSAND MILES. As mentioned above, if the American churches, who are supposed to be salt and light, the pillar and ground of truth in a society (I Timothy 3:15) can’t get Christianity 101 amongst ourselves right, no political election will ultimately make a hill of beans difference. The local churches, not the government or the Trump Administration, are to be the pillar and ground of the truth (I Timothy 3:15). The churches are to hold biblical truth and to hold it up, to support biblical truth and to report it, to maintain biblical truth and to proclaim it. As have gone the local churches in America, so has gone the nation. As go the local churches, so goes the nation, Trump or no Trump, MAGA or no MAGA. Hebrews 13:1-6 is a good place to start taking inventory. Below is the message I preached on a Sunday evening at Freedoms Way Baptist. I trust the Lord used it:

At Liberty Baptist Church in Norwalk, California I enjoyed the privilege on a Wednesday night of exhorting the brethren out of II Samuel 23:11. Like Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite, we need to be those who STAND OUR GROUND for truth, as the Lord enabled us to do faithfully in Montana. You can listen to that testimony HERE, beginning at approximately the 40-minute mark.

Were things redeemed along the nine thousand miles? YES.

“But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Genesis 50:20)

These are the words of Joseph to his brothers. You know the story. Injustice isn’t excused or justified, but the LORD indeed used it to preserve a nation and to increase a people according to His promise made long before to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Like Job, the end of Joseph’s trial was great blessing beyond his wildest imagination.

It was a bit ironic that I found myself sitting alone on this latest missionary journey inside an Ennis, Montana coffee shop. Late the night before, I had thought to leave Helena and drive into the wee hours of the morning, thinking to throw down my sleeping bag somewhere in Idaho or Utah. The weather turned sour; by Three Forks, it felt like the wind was going to blow my vehicle right off the road; and I could barely keep my eyes open. All I had to do was send a text message. Despite the lateness of the hour, a door would be left open for me in Madison County, of all places. I didn’t know a soul in this county from a can of paint on November 12, 2022. Now, doors of homes are left open for me in response to a simple text, and I can walk inside to find a comfortable bed with fresh sheets late at night while a family sleeps. Sheer profundity! Joseph’s words in this passage are real to me, very real.

Why had I been up in Helena, the opposite direction of where I ultimately needed to go? Well, there were rumors of a regular Wednesday night Bible Study which had started a few months ago as a direct result of what had happened to us down here in Madison County. Some folks who crossed paths with us because of that hate crime wanted to start studying the Bible for themselves, and they asked a couple of good Christian brothers we also met as a result of that hate crime to lead it. They have been meeting ever since for worship and the teaching of the Word, going verse by verse through the Book of Acts. After I was told “This Bible Study is your fault” (a compliment of course), I decided to drive a couple hours out of the way, pop my head in the door, and ask if they minded a traveling preacher feeding on the Word with them. Words cannot express how much I was encouraged by what I found. The worship was sweet, the prayer and praise reports were edifying, and the verse-by-verse through Acts 9 was good spiritual sustenance. The expressions of joy on a few faces when Jesse Boyd just showed up unexpectedly were priceless and well worth a little “out-of-the-way” drive. Some in attendance weren’t much interested in the things of the Lord when they heard about the infamous hate crime, and some of those same folks weren’t too sure what to think about those strange “North Carolina missionaries.” In those moments, my friends, the words of Joseph in the above passage proved very REAL. We all shared a meal and some good fellowship after time in the Word, and then I headed on down the road. You know, it’s not always bad when something is “my fault.”

God has truly taken the evil that wicked men meant toward us in Madison County and has used it to bring to pass much good. The last NINE THOUSAND MILES overflowed with testimony of these things, things redeemed. I left Montana after finishing my coffee at that little cafe in Ennis. It was strange to feel sad, but praise be to God for things redeemed! Ministry doors have been opened, and we’ll soon be back. On June 16th, Team Yeshua 2025 kicks off in Southwest Montana. Five weeks of intense missions training here will get us all ready for 6 weeks of Great Commission work in an uttermost corner of the earth. It’s ironic; Ladakh and Madison County have more in common than you think. Please pray the Lord raises up the volunteers we need!

***A Blessed Time of Fellowship in the Word at a weekly Helena Bible Study someone described thus: “It’s Your Fault!”***

In a manner of speaking, I could say a 200-mile stretch of this latest NINE THOUSAND MILES was driving redeemed. It’s always a blessing to drive roads I once walked or pedaled across America. Memories come flooding back. After the strikeout that was the Utah shopping malls and a hiking day in Southwest Colorado with Bethany and Carter, we parted ways. I headed toward home via that TRIANGLE walk described above. En route, I found myself sitting and meditating at an obscure highway junction, that of NM 4 and US 550 in Northwest New Mexico. You see, 22 years prior, some days after Jamie and I crossed paths with Randy, I pedaled right up to this junction on my COAST TO COAST 2003-2004 bicycle ride. I then turned right, toward Cuba, and pedaled a beast of a climb up and over the Continental Divide. Eventually, I passed through Farmington, Shiprock, and then crossed into Colorado near Cortez. It was strange to drive that 200-mile leg in reverse all these years later. Towns had grown, traffic had increased, and some signs had been replaced. It seemed more of it was now four-lane than had been way back then.

Most of that stretch is across the Navajo Reservation. I stopped at a little coffee shop in Shiprock. It would have been nice if that had been there when I came through on the bicycle. Inside, I told the Navajo folks who had just opened the place about that cross-country ride, about how I passed right by their building, and about the Christian flag flying on my bicycle that bore a very important two-word message. I explained how I still possessed that flag and how they needed to hear its 2-word message today: JESUS SAVES. They were left with a Gospel tract, and I left with a great coffee for the long road ahead. Later, I pulled over at the Continental Divide. I remembered the place and the sign, as if it were yesterday. I decided to walk a mile of that old bicycle route in the wind. I noticed a Navajo man hop out of his truck to take a selfie, so I approached and explained what I was doing, why that spot was special to me. Olsen Chee and I chatted for a while. Interestingly, his wife, from whom he's been separated, is the elected vice-president of the Navajo Nation. We had an interesting conversation, and I again explained why the two-word message flapping in the wind as I pedaled by more than two decades ago is still so very important today. “Jesus saves, Olsen. He was crucified in our stead and according to the Scriptures. He was buried, and on the third day, He rose again from the dead!” My friends, that’s the simplest declaration of the Gospel. It’s found in I Corinthians 15, and it’s a saving message. What a blessing along those NINE THOUSAND MILES to preach it again along one of the same highways I did long ago. I thought on the profundity of these things as I sat for a moment at the junction of NM 4 and US 550. What a joy to meditate upon the goodness and grace of God and to think as old Larry Norman once sang: “Here I am, talkin’ ‘bout Jesus just the same.”

As for Olsen, he was telling the truth. I did a little Google search at that intersection and found this Navajo Times Article from November of 2023. Pray for him and his wife. Politics is a devil’s business. I’m honored the Lord put him into my path on those NINE THOUSAND MILES and that I could say to him, “Jesus Saves!”

The Continental Divide sign with my bicycle in 2003 (top-left); The same Continental Divide sign on a walk in 2025 (middle-left); Hanging with Olsen Chee (bottom-left); In an old highway atlas, Orange marks the Coast to Coast 2003 bicycle route across New Mexico (top-middle); I remember this intersection (bottom-middle); Driving the old US 550 bicycle route (top-right); Sharing testimony at The Coffee Ship in Shiprock, NM (bottom-right)

one last question

Before signing off, and I know this report has been long, there’s one more question. Along those NINE THOUSAND MILES, was peace made where there once was enmity? The answer is a resounding YES. Hallelujah!

Last summer, on my way out to finally finish #TheLongWalkUSA with Bethany and Carter, we stopped in Helena to walk around the Montana Attorney General’s office with the cross, to sit outside and sing a few hymns, and to pray for those inside. I actually lost a friend that day. He pontificated that we shouldn’t be doing such things and then completely cut me and my family off, refusing to follow the very simple instructions for resolving conflict that Jesus outlined in Matthew 18. That’s Christianity 101, folks. Anyway, it happens. We press on, “talkin’ ‘bout Jesus just the same.” The truth is, we stopped there in June of 2024 to walk, sing, and pray very specifically because I believed the Lord wanted us to do so. Obedience always trumps results, “effectiveness,” and even earthly friendships.

This last time in Montana, God caused me to see with my own eyes His answer to the very specific prayers we prayed outside that AG’s office last June. Our presence had not gone unnoticed. I also saw with my own eyes the fruit of a very specific prayer we prayed on the side of the highway the morning we were attacked. You see, it was our custom each and every morning, before beginning a day’s walk, to ask the Lord to put a son or daughter of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob into our path, someone from the House of Israel. It had been a while. Our last encounter had been with an Israeli man in Sturgis, South Dakota. That cold Montana morning, 11/12/2022, we prayed with extra fervency … “Lord, put such an one into our path.” He heard that prayer; He answered it; and the Montana Hate Crime was exactly what brought it to pass. I was actually able to sit down over coffee all these many months later and tell someone who was once my enemy to his face: “You are the God of Israel’s answer to that prayer. The God of Israel is indeed real.” Out of respect for this person and in accordance with my word, I won’t provide any further detail. Suffice it to say that the testimony of Joseph in Genesis 50:20 became very real to me in those moments. So, did the words of Psalmist:

“When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Psalm 16:7).

I was sad to lose a friend of many years because we prayed outside an office in Helena last June. He thought Paul wouldn’t do such a “provocative” thing (wrong, read Acts 14:21). The Lord, however, is merciful. He restores what “the locust hath eaten” (Joel 2:25). I left Montana this last time, having made a new friend of someone who was my enemy that day we prayed outside a government office in Helena, someone for whom Carter and I specifically intercessed as we played and sang some hymns together on the public sidewalk. Truly, what men meant for evil, our LORD can easily turn to much good. When we lose friends because we choose to obey the LORD, He can easily give us new ones who may have once been our enemies. If we forget the prayers we long ago fervently prayed, He does not. Neither is He unrighteous to forget our obedience and labors of love which we done in his name (Hebrews 6:10). That, my friends, is a precious promise. Praise God for a time and a place along that NINE THOUSAND MILES where I could make a new friend, for the time spent doing over coffee as snow fell on a Montana main street just outside the big bay window.

***What men meant for evil, the LORD has indeed turned to good (Genesis 50:20).***

Please pray for Team Yeshua Big Sky. We need volunteers, and the April 15th application deadline is fast approaching! Come June, it’s back to Montana, and then on to Ladakh. Maybe my new friend and I can get together again, this time for an epic hike. He knows that Montana backcountry far better than me.

For the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus the Messiah,

Jesse Boyd
Full Proof Gospel Ministries