Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, who was crucified for our sins and raised again from the dead for our justification!

Jamie and I made it to Roanoke, Virginia. We left Creedmoor, NC on Friday morning, and I biked about 60 miles to South Boston. I was feeling pretty sick all day but still made the ride, anxious to get back out on the road. When we crossed the state line, it felt good. While eating a bite on the side of the road in the small border town of Virgilina, a man walked up and introduced himself as the mayor of the town. As it turned out, he was a fellow believer who took our picture and agreed to have an article written up on us in the local newspaper. It is our prayer that through such an article the Gospel of Jesus Christ goes forth in ways it might not have otherwise.

Saturday morning, we started early with hopes of making it 100+ miles to Roanoke. Unfortunately (or fortunately--Romans 8:28), the day would be filled with trials and aggravations. Things started at 6:00am when I had to change a flat tire on our trailer. Later, I broke a spoke on my back bicycle tire. Still later, the backup wheel went so far out of line that it was virtually unrideable. Finally, we called it quits in Burnt Chimney, about 15 miles outside of Roanoke. Originally, we had planned for Jamie to leave me at Burnt Chimney, drive to my uncle's house in Roanoke, and wait for me to pedal in around midnight. Had the wheel survived, we undoubtedly would have followed such a course. However, God apparently placed this aggravation in my path so as to force me to quit for the day. Not too long after this, a severe thunderstorm struck the area. I don't even want to think about what it would have been like out in that mess on a bicycle, riding the Blue Ridge Parkway in the dark. At Saturday's end, after biking 82 miles, it felt great to have a sweet pad for lodging. It truly has been a refuge from the storm.

As far as evangelism went, we did not see too many people on Friday or Saturday as we cruised through some pretty rural areas. Nonetheless, God did place souls into our path. As always, may the Word of God not return void (Isaiah 55:11). I recall one particular occasion: I was biking down a rural state road northwest of South Boston and saw a small group of Hispanics working out in the tobacco fields. I stopped the bike, utilized what little Spanish I know (very little), and called them all over to me. Everyone dropped what they were doing and approached. I then distributed Spanish Gospel tracts to all of them. As I pedaled away, I looked over my shoulder and saw each one of the migrant workers standing and reading. The Lord also put a few believers in our path for edification. I especially recall riding up on Jamie parked at an abandoned gas station seemingly out in the middle of nowhere. A kind elderly gentleman, who was out mowing his grass, came over to comment on the banners attached to our trailer. He offered us something cold to drink and shared his salvation testimony. He had been saved over 50 years.

One other especially cumbersome aspect about Saturday's 82-mile ride was the crash-course introduction I received with regard to steep hills. The coastal plain was nice and flat, the piedmont was a little more rolling, but now I am beginning to cross the Appalachian Mountains. Needless to say, my average speed took a plunging drop.

God has also blessed our journey with the addition of another laborer. Chad Currin, the Christian teenager who went with us to do evangelism in downtown Raleigh, will be accompanying us until around August 18th. His parents agreed to let him go for the valuable ministry/evangelism experience. They brought him to Roanoke on Sunday, and we will be sending him home on a Greyhound Bus later this month. Please pray that God does a work in his life over the next couple of weeks. Also, pray that Jamie and I will be the kind of examples before his eyes that will spur him to walk closer with Jesus Christ. Finally, pray that the Lord will give him abundant opportunity to share his faith and perhaps participate in the increase. Chad will be riding his bicycle with me some of the time. At other times, he will be keeping Jamie company in the truck, helping scout out places to do evangelism. We have been praying for a companion of like faith and like mind for quite some time. The Lord has answered that prayer for the next two weeks. All praise be to his name!

Tomorrow, Chad and I plan to bike from Burnt Chimney to Catawba. This will be a distance of about 40 miles, and the route will take us right through downtown Roanoke. We plan to time things so as to be biking through downtown around lunchtime, when lots of business people are milling about on the streets. Pray that the Lord will provide people to whom we can preach the blessed Gospel. Also, please pray for our strength. The route out of Burnt Chimney begins with a grueling climb up and over Lynville Mountain. Then, there is some sweet downhill right into downtown.

One final note and then I will sign off for the evening: As I have mentioned before, Jamie discovered that she was pregnant while we were making our way east a little over a month ago. Today, we were blessed by a Christian OBGYN doctor who agreed to see Jamie for a prenatal check-up. The Lord provided again in that Dr. Schmidt insisted on doing an ultrasound free of charge. Everything is great, the baby looks healthy (he/she sure was moving around a lot; the arms, legs, face, etc. were clearly visible; and the heartbeat was strong and steady), and Jamie's "due-date" is sometime around February 7, 2004. Only the Lord knows where we will be at that time. But, the unknown is what makes things interesting and downright bearable. Ah, the joys of an endlessly changing horizon!

Well, I must go. It is late, and the dawn brings a long day of labor. But, there is always joyful anticipation when laboring for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

May God rain his blessings down upon you all.

Jesse & Jamie Boyd
Full Proof Gospel Ministries
Revelation 22:21

back on the bicycle