It was a great privilege to stand inside the old Cane Ridge Meeting House from America’s 2nd Great Awakening and to preach openly about how bad this nation needs revival in its churches and a spiritual awakening on its streets. The curator was dumbfounded, but we PREACHED.

After a much-needed week of rest and precious time with our families, this is where #TheLongWalkUSA stands:

2,036.68 total miles WALKED

1,253 total witnessing ENCOUNTERS along the byways
68 Bibles freely GIVEN

We head back out today for another long leg before Thanksgiving. It’s a 6-hour drive from home to where we stopped walking in Eastern Kentucky. Your prayers and support are much appreciated. Soon, we will be out of the mountains and into the bluegrass.

My dear friends, as the miles stack up on this long walk, the more and more I am convinced that the spiritual state of our nation is far worse than we think. Moreover, the American Church is far more compromised and corrupted than we have imagined, much worse. Oh, how desperately we need REVIVAL in the churches and a SPIRITUAL AWAKENING in the land, like the Great Awakenings of old! O LORD: “Wilt thou not revive us again” (Psalm 85:6)?

Unless the LORD intervenes and grants us a spiritual awakening in America, we will be as Sodom and Gomorrah. Except the Spirit of God is poured out upon the lukewarm, weak, and compromised American Churches, even a “red wave” or “Trump 2024” will prove no better than the broken reed of Egypt that Israel once foolishly leaned upon in the face of Assyria and later Babylon. But unlike Israel, America cannot claim a promised end of blessing. The fate of all Gentile kingdoms will eventually be ours (Daniel 2). O LORD: “Wilt thou not revive us again” (Psalm 85:6)?

Know of a surety that every day we walk, we preach and proclaim our grave need in America for revival and spiritual awakening. We preach this as the only solution to the spiritual adultery of a nation that once knew God and served as a beacon of light for the rest of the world. In fact, we preached this very message inside the old Cane Ridge Meeting House in Bourbon County, Kentucky along this past leg. Amazingly, this old meeting house has been preserved as it stood back in 1801 when God poured out His Spirit upon that place and the adjacent fields during the Second Great Awakening, what became known as the Cane Ridge Revival. Today, the wood edifice is enclosed in a large stone housing that was erected in the 1950s to protect it from the elements. Outside, Barton Stone, the renowned Second Great Awakening preacher, is buried. The curator of that place stood dumbfounded when I said to him, “America is wicked as hell and we need revival and spiritual awakening even more today than the nation did back in 1801 when 30,000 people gathered in these fields to hear the Word of God.” He didn’t even now what to say but was kind enough to indulge us as we milled around inside, stood in that old pulpit, and took the opportunity to preach aloud to the few standing by.

Back in April, you might remember, we purposely walked similar holy ground near Sandy Creek, North Carolina where God likewise did an amazing work of revival and spiritual awakening during America’s First Great Awakening. We spent some time in that old meeting house that hot afternoon, praying for America and pleading with the LORD to give us an awakening, “a surprising work of God” as Jonathan Edwards described that First Great Awakening. You can actually listen to some of that commentary and prayer in this video:

We knew that day it would be a long “out-of-the-way walk” to get from Sandy Creek to the holy ground of the Second Great Awakening that can be found scattered around Kentucky, and by God’s grace, we made it. At Sandy Creek, we prayed for revival and awakening. At Cane Ridge, we preached it. Make no mistake, my friends, America's is a SPIRITUAL PROBLEM, not a political problem. Trying to treat a spiritual problem with a political solution is like taking the Covid "vaccine" to keep from getting Covid. Actually, it is very dangerous to treat a spiritual problem with a political solution, for we may end up trading a godless blue tyranny for a godless red tyranny. And the red tyranny, mark my words, will be much worse. America needs REVIVAL in its churches and SPIRITUAL AWAKENING in its street . . . NOT a “red wave” in 2022 or "Trump 2024." In fact, true revival and spiritual awakening would render Joe Biden quite MEANINGLESS, Democrats & Republicans quite POWERLESS, and Donald Trump quite USELESS. O LORD, "Wilt thou not revive us again" (Psalm 85:6)?

***The Original Cane Ridge Meeting House, where great revival broke out during America’s 2nd Great Awakening, still stands, encased within a large stone edifice constructed in the 1950s.***

***In a strange way, we were honored by this plaque, as if it was speaking to us. What an privilege it was to literally walk in the footsteps of the Second Great Awakening.***

Truly, Cane Ridge was one of the highlights of this last leg of our long walk. But, I’m going to defer and let Brother Eric testify about the rest of the story . . .

Greetings, brethren, in the name of our great Saviour,

We are grateful that the Lord strengthened us to complete another leg of our long walk across the United States. Throughout long and difficult days of plodding and witnessing, days that are growing shorter and colder, He is always faithful to grant us the health and resolve to accomplish His purposes. I am reminded of Psalm 31:24: “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.”

This last 133-mile leg in Eastern Kentucky yielded a big milestone for us. Right as Jesse walked across the top of Kentucky’s Natural Bridge in the Red River Gorge, we hit the 2,000-mile mark. It is hard to believe that we have walked a continuous 2,000-mile route from North Carolina’s Outer Banks since March! What is even harder to wrap our heads around is that after 2,000 miles, we are still in the Eastern Time Zone. Back in 2003, when Brother Jesse pedaled a bicycle across America, the missionary journey out of which Full Proof Gospel Ministries was born, his 2,000-mile mark was in the Mountain Time Zone in South Dakota! I guess we made some wrong turns. Still, as crooked and curvy as our walking path has been, we wouldn’t trade a single inch for a shorter or easier option. There have been so many great Gospel encounters orchestrated of the Divine Hand of Providence; and besides: our primary goal has never been to walk across America via the most direct route. Our purpose is to sound an alarm in the highways and byways concerning the wicked state of our nation and the coming judgment of God. We preach along these byways to whoever the LORD puts into our path, and we speak in the spirit of watchmen upon a wall (Ezekiel 3:16). But please understand, we don’t just WARN, we DECLARE. We declare the only escape from the coming judgment. God is a furious storm, but He is also the shelter from that terrible storm. As the Prophet Nahum proclaimed: “The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him” (Nahum 1:7). King Solomon also wrote, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe” (Proverbs 18:10). We would be lacking if we walked the backroads of this nation to warn of God’s wrath without also shouting the refuge from that wrath, the only refuge or remedy that has ever worked—The Messiah, the LORD Jesus Christ and His shed blood. I tell people we meet on the streets all the time that our only hope can be found in the Gospel. America does not have a political problem, we have a dire SPIRITUAL PROBLEM. If you don’t believe me, go read and meditate upon Galatians 5:19-21 and see if you can find the United States of America in that passage. Even though America may be doomed, and we certainly deserve it, there is always hope for a living, breathing American. God’s Holy Spirit is still active in the business of drawing people to the LORD and bringing them into a right relationship with Him, completely rewiring their nature (II Corinthians 5:17). If we want to effect true change in our country, we need to preach the Gospel and make disciples. It is as simple as that! I would even go so far as to say that this is 10,000 times more important than voting! For all the “red wave” political hopes are ultimately vain. Political medicine cannot heal a spiritual disease.

It was a bit of a bummer that Brother Jesse was walking alone when he hit the 2,000-mile mark at Natural Bridge, Kentucky. At least he had a sign made by sweet little Piper Estep from Waynesville, North Carolina. She also made our 1,000-mile sign.

Jesse, Bethany, and I were blessed on this last leg to be joined by our good friend and faithful brother in Christ, Ken Lightsey from Central California. Ken is a bold preacher of the Gospel who has come alongside Full Proof many times over the years and in many places around the world. He is someone who will stand before a crowd and preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified for all to hear and with many tears, regardless of the response. We need more bold preachers like Ken in America. He is one of those who can truly say, along with the Apostle Paul: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). If we had more professing Christians in this nation who lived as if they really believed this verse, then we would see a big change. People wouldn’t be able to stop revival from happening in the churches or spiritual awakening from happening in society, even if they wanted to! Another interesting fact about Ken Lightsey is that he made the cross that we carry as we walk across America. He is a very talented woodworker.

***Brother Ken Lightsey came alongside this last leg and actually got to help us carry the cross that HE MADE.***

With all of that said, please indulge me for a few moments as I share some memorable encounters from our last 133-mile leg that wound from Magoffin County to Jackson County, Kentucky. We had 108 Gospel encounters and gave out 9 copies of the Holy Scriptures on this leg. I pray you will be edified and encouraged by these testimonies.

As we walked down Coon Creek Road, Jesse and I spoke with Matthew who stepped out on his front porch to greet us. He asked us about our “Appeal to Heaven” flag. Matthew was very knowledgable of the history behind that flag and was surprised to hear us explain exactly why we carry it. In Washington, righteous Americans no longer have any appeal. All three branches of the federal government are hopelessly corrupt and morally depraved, and there is no real representation for any citizen. However, there always remains an appeal to heaven, an appeal to the righteous Judge of all the earth. We must appeal to Him and get right with Him! Anyway, Matthew said he was a Christian but that he was “in a weird place.” We were not sure what he meant by that statement, and it seemed as if he was wavering in his faith or living in sin. No doubt, he was encouraged by us being out there and preaching the Gospel. But, we owed it to him to be fairly blunt: “It’s time to get out of that weird place, to repent, and to stop wavering.” As James writes, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8). There is no time for instability in these dark days! It is time to get right with the Lord and to walk in obedience to His Word. When people tell us they are backslidden, we tell them to stop backsliding and get right before they fall into a ditch! We encouraged Matthew to straighten out his walk with the Lord and to make sure that he is actively fellowshipping and GATHERING with other believers according to God’s EXECUTIVE ORDER, Hebrews 10:25. Matthew heard us out humbly and was open to receiving some discipleship material. We saluted this man and then continued down the road. Not long thereafter, we met Malcom who pulled up to us on his tractor. He was an unwavering believer, and he was greatly encouraged to see us out on the road with a cross and preaching the Gospel. We enjoyed an edifying talk about the state of our country, and how our hope needs to be in the Lord and His Word, not lying Republican politicians. As we parted ways, Malcolm blessed us with a small gift and told us to grab some dinner on him that evening. What a blessing!

One day, the weather was questionable and our knees were sore, so we decided to take a break and go preach at nearby Morehead State University. We had been encouraged to do this by some Christian students who attended that university and who waited upon us at a local restaurant the night before. So, we showed up the next day and immediately had an open door to proclaim the Gospel publicly outside the student center. Of course, there were those who mocked the preacher, but overall, the students remained reasonable and many took Gospel tracts and heard the message. Several students even received New Testaments from us that day. And praise God, we had an encounter with a lost sheep from the House of Israel! As Roman passed by, I offered him a Gospel tract to which he replied, “No thank you, I’m Jewish” and continued walking. We don’t have many Jewish encounters on this walk, so I couldn’t let him get away that easily! I literally chased him down, and surprisingly, we ended up having a great conversation about the true Messiah. I explained to him that I wasn’t a Catholic, as he may have suspected, and I talked about why I believed Jesus Christ is the Messiah of Israel. Christ’s perfect fulfillment of EVERY prophecy found in the Old Testament as recorded by Jewish eyewitnesses proves that He is the Messiah; it is that simple. After conversing with Roman for a few minutes, I offered him some Gospel material and a Hebrew New Testament to take back to his family. He was glad to give that NT to his parents as they speak and read Hebrew. We shook hands with one another and then parted ways. Our hearts will continue to be toward the Jewish people out here on the road. Even though the door to go overseas and reach the traveling Israeli backpackers is closed for us at the present moment, there are still these opportunities here in the States. To God be the glory!

***Jesse preaches to the students at Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky***

Eventually, we walked down into Kentucky’s famous Red River Gorge. The Gorge is a great place to find tourists, hikers, and rock climbers. We jumped onto the Sheltowee Trace Trail north of the Gorge (a trail that runs from Indiana down into Tennessee), and it was a good five miles before we reached the heart and found people to talk to about the Gospel. We encountered one family from Kentucky who stopped to speak with us. Carl and his wife Tabatha were hiking with their two daughters. It was a good opportunity to share what we were doing that day, explaining how our day hike was a small piece of a long walk across America. We spoke with them about the touble our nation is in with God and how we can escape His judgment through Jesus Christ. They listened and received some Gospel material as we parted ways. Later on, we met two girls from California who were visiting the area. They were open to hearing the Gospel and both of them took Gospel tracts as well. Down the trail, we even ran into a young man from China. He told us that we wouldn’t be able to pronounce his real name and asked that we just to call him “Nigel.” He had been traveling around America for a season and was preparing to go back home to China soon. When we told him that we were literally walking across the United States, his eyes lit up and he said, “Oh wow! That is awesome my friends!” We talked with him about the spiritual state of our country. I told Nigel that I couldn’t speak for his country, but regarding ours, America is wicked to the core and needs to come back to God and His Word. Nigel heard the Gospel and received a tract before we parted ways. He is probably back in China by now.

***Nigel from China heard the Gospel on the Sheltowee Trace Trail in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge.***

The next day, Jesse walked a rather long section of the Sheltowee Trace alone, trying to make it back to the pavement. As mentioned, the route hit 2,000 miles as he walked across the Natural Bridge. Later, at a spot of cell service, he called and encouraged us to hike up to the stone bridge as there might be an opportunity for preaching to some tourists. So, that is exactly what Bethany, Ken, and I did. The day was filled with Gospel encounters. We witnessed to a family of four out for a day hike. There was another group of people who had stopped for a smoke break in a small shelter. One of the men in that group, Jack, received a New Testament. We were encouraged to meet a group of believers coming down from the top of the Natural Bridge. DJ and Andy were missionaries, and John was a pastor from Cincinnati. After an uplifting conversation with those guys, we stopped and prayed together right along the side of the main trail. As we prayed, we heard several hikers pass us by. I am sure they were wondering what was going on. But hey, the Lord was glorified in that moment! On top of the natural bridge is where the tourists congregate, so Ken did some open-air preaching in a glorious natural amphitheater fashioned by the Creator Himself. Don’t ever let anyone tell you open-air preaching is “ineffective.” I have seen with my own eyes far too much godly fruit borne simply from a man who fears the Lord opening his mouth in public and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Several people stopped to listen as Brother Ken preached; others walked on wagging their heads just as folks did to Jesus hanging on the cross. As a result of that preaching, however, we were able to give out Gospel tracts to several, including a few older couples hiking together, a young lady resting to the side, a couple from Louisville, a few believers who were encouraged, and a small group from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. People were challenged that day with the truth of God’s Word. And I guarantee that the Natural Bridge of Kentucky has never experienced such a day as that!

***This couple was greatly encouraged by the open-air preaching of the Cross on top of Natural Bridge.***

Finally, we crossed the Jackson County line, another county like Madison County in North Carolina that the LORD had put upon our hearts. This county has a reputation for Appalachia privation and widespread opioid abuse, just the place we want to be walking and preaching. That county line was our goal for this past leg, and by God’s grace, we made it. However, there were some good encounters in Wolfe, Lee, and Owsley Counties just before we got there. Bethany and I stopped at a vacant convenience store to switch up walking with Jesse and Brother Ken. It was their turn to take up the cross and head off down the road. As Bethany and I took a few moments to eat a snack and rehydrate, a white Toyota pulled up and a woman inside beckoned us to approach. Rhonda, as it turned out, was the owner of that piece of property and she had seen us walking down the road with the cross and flag. She told us that we were welcome to camp out on her property anytime we needed a place in the area to throw down. I thanked her and began to share with her our purpose for walking. She listened as we talked about the judgment of the Lord and the shelter that can only be found in Christ. After she took a Gospel tract, she told me that we could take the remaining pieces of pizza that she had in her car for a snack. After walking a bunch of miles, a piece of pizza is always a blessing! She drove off but came back a few minutes later. This time, she gave us a couple cans of ice-cold Coke to stick in our cooler. That, too, was a treat. Rhonda drove off a second time only to come right back moments later. This time it was to give us some cash for the trip. What a blessing! We thanked her for her kind gifts and assured her that we would continue preaching the Gospel on the backroads of her home state of Kentucky.

There was also Jennifer who offered us water and took a New Testament. One man walked out on his front porch with two thumbs up as we passed by. We saluted one another and left him some Gospel material on his mail box. A sheriffs deputy stopped to talk and received a Gospel tract. He wanted to make sure we were carrying a firearm for our protection and was glad to see that this preacher was definitely packing. Soon after this encounter, Johnny who had been badly burned in a fire took a Bible. The highways and byways are filled with people who need the LORD! We are blessed to be used by Him in this manner to reach the lost and encourage believers in their own backyards.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. It is hard to believe how far we’ve come on this journey, and we enjoy reminiscing about various encounters going all the way back to the starting line as we keep walking. It has truly been a long adventure, and we do not know for sure when we will reach the Pacific Ocean. Moreover, we have no plans to stop for the winter. Make no mistake, it is very difficult to leave our families as we go out to walk week after week. It is also difficult leaving our local church family who we love very much, and with whom we never once ceased to GATHER during all the Covid madness. #TheLongWalkUSA has been a very joyful experience, but it is not without its challenges. Notwithstanding, there is always encouragement in God’s Word. Lately, I have found great comfort in the Psalms as I slowly progress through them each morning. As you read through the Psalms, you will find repeatedly that a righteous man is one who TRUSTS in the LORD when the going gets tough. Regardless of the struggles or trials he faced, David always put his trust in the LORD. How far has the American Church fallen these days! There is so much we need to learn from the Psalms, so much that is so foreign to our CHURCHIANITY. Instead of trusting the LORD through difficulty, we opted to shut our churches down. Not surprisingly, we found many churches with empty parking lots during the 11:00am hour as we walked a Sunday morning along this last leg in Kentucky. Do the churches in America even trust the LORD anymore? It sure doesn’t seem that way.

“In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?” (Psalm 11:1).

“O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me” (Psalm 25:2).

“Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide” (Psalm 26:1).

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).

We will continue to trust the LORD as we walk across America. We will continue to trust the LORD for safety and protection on dangerous roads. We will continue to trust the LORD for direction as to the route. We will continue to trust the LORD for revival in America’s churches and spiritual awakening in America’s streets. And, we will continue to trust the LORD who is our light and our salvation through Jesus Christ. “Of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).

“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalm 27:14).

Thank you for holding the ropes for us in prayer. We are truly grateful for the support and prayers of fellow-saints.

Eric Trent

I’m thankful for that testimony from Brother Eric. It really saved me some time as we are franctically trying to repack all our gear and head out for another chapter. This update will be posted at 6:00am, and Lord willing, we will pull out of the driveway at 7:00am. Hopefully, we can get in a few miles this blessed Tuesday before the sun goes down. I miss those long summer days.

It was a blessing to take this last week off and to spend some time with family. Eric went to Missouri with his family; and the Boyds chose to go back down to North Carolina’s Outer Banks to revisit the starting line of this long walk and reconnect with some folks we met or fellowshipped with when this whole thing started. During those few days, we had some great witnessing encounters, including a National Park ranger and some fishermen. And, I had a nice opportunity to get some aerial shots of the starting line. We enjoyed Pastor Brandon Gwaltney and his family’s company down there back in March. We enjoyed it again this time around. Brandon is one of Full Proof Gospel Ministries’ faithful Trustees.

The Long Walk starting point was right there on the yellow X, the original location of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. On March 1, we walked the entirety of Hatteras Island in the direction of the horizon in this photo.

Here is another interesting perspective of Hatteras Island looking north. From the starting line, we walked around Lands End where all the trucks are parked and headed west along the beach. In March, there were only two trucks out there. This time, there were many. Both times, we shared Christ with fishermen. Can you see Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in this photo?

It was surreal going back to that starting line with my family. And it was a blessing to have Brother Brandon Gwaltney and his son with us down there again. His beard was better back in March though :)

***We always love visiting North Carolina’s lighthouses. It was gorgeous day here at the Currituck Light Station.***

Before signing off, I’d like to share one more photo. This one is a powerful illustration. Five hundred years before Christ, Daniel the Prophet was told to seal up his prophecy “even to the time of the end” (Daniel 12:4) and that this END TIMES would be characterized as such:

“Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4). Not wisdom but knowledge and information! More than anything else, the photo below shows we are living in the time of the end. Jamie snapped this shot of me with my drone just last week at the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk, NC.

ONLY 118 YEARS AGO, the Wright Brothers flew a homemade glider plane for 12 seconds at Kill Devil Hill. A few days ago, I stood at that same spot with a small aircraft in my hand that I can fly almost 2,000 feet above where I stand for more than 30 minutes on a single lithium battery, capturing incredible photographs of anything below. Moreover, such a small craft is readily available to anyone for a fraction of what I paid for my very first laptop computer. And we’re only talking 118 years after the Wrights glided a giant monstrosity for a mere 12 seconds, what they call the first human flight!

We are living in the time of the end, my friends, as that time was clearly described to Daniel the Prophet. Truly, many run to and fro on information overload, and there is so very little wisdom. It’s mostly fallen in the streets.

Jesus Christ is coming soon! Are you ready?

***This picture really is worth a thousand words, a powerful testimony that we are truly living in the time of the end (Daniel 12:4).***

Again, we covet your prayers as we go back out. We have had some unexpected expenses of late and the ridiculous gas prices are a burden for the S.A.G vehicle. Moreover, the colder weather is making it more difficult to camp, and we haven’t had any homes open up to us in awhile. It’s hard to believe that we nearly made it all the way across North Carolina before we ever had to pony up for a motel room or an AirBnb. It has been quite the opposite in West Virginia and Kentucky. So, prayers for provision would be appreciated. Everything is so expensive these days. Notwithstanding, the LORD always takes care of His own.

We’ll be taking the cross back up later today from these very specific coordinates:

If this long walk across America and these testimonies are, or have been a blessing to you, please consider financially sowing into this difficult endeavor. We have financial needs and anything you can share is a blessing that will be used faithfully and with account. All contributions are tax-deductible, and donating online via PayPal is very easy. Thank you in Jesus’ name. Learn more . . .

It’s 2,036 miles / 1,253 encounters and counting in the spirit of watchmen upon a wall (Ezekiel 3:17),

Jesse Boyd

awakening & revival