catawba
Catawba County, NC is my Jerusalem (Acts 1:8)
Catawba County North Carolina was carved out of Lincoln County in 1842. Its name comes from the Catawba River, which forms it northern and eastern boundaries, and it hearkens back to the Catawba Indians, once one of the most powerful Native American tribes in the South. These were extensive traders, using the Catawba River system, and they even rubbed shoulders with Spanish explorers. A few years ago, flooding in this area unearthed a Spanish fort on the bank of one of the Catawba’s tributaries. The history books tell us the Spanish only came to Florida. That, of course, like many other things in the “history books” is UNTRUE, and it’s funny how something as trivial as a local flood can expose an untruth. As a student of history who fears God and trembles before His Word, I learned a long time ago that the secular historians, particularly of the Wikipedia sort, think they know as much about human history as the NASA “scientists” think they know about how the heavens work. And all of these, in fact, know very little and work harder to conceal the truth as they do to discover it, especially when that truth points right back at THE TRUTH, Jesus Christ and the God of the Bible. They are KNOWN LIARS and cannot be trusted. I’m sorry, perhaps a ministry report is not the ideal time to go down that rabbit hole :)
They say the first permanent settlers to cross the Catawba River and come into what is now Catawba County did so by way of Sherrills Ford in 1747, a man named Adam Sherrill and his eight sons. Thirty years later, the Catawba Indians of the same area sided with the colonists to help fight British tyranny.
I walked right by this monument in Sherrills Ford commemorating the crossing of the Catawba River by the first permanent settlers in 1747.
During the War for Southern Independence (1861-1865), there was true patriotism and heroic bravery that came out of Catawba County. Much of this is recorded in The Catawba Soldier, a book published by a local historian in Hickory in 1911. I was privileged to get my hand on this book some years ago, found it in a box of old books that would have been discarded. Some of my wife’s direct ancestors who wore the gray are mentioned in there, folks who didn’t own any slaves and who were willing to fight and die for constitutional government (a chapter in American history that has been lied about by the same LIARS mentioned above, perhaps more so than any other chapter).
One of these was a Mr. Ezra Mull, a soldier in the 55th regiment of North Carolina Confederate troops, the same regiment that my great, great, great grandfather, William Henry Green, served. Perhaps they knew each other. The 55th NC reached the stone wall at Gettysburg at the culmination of Picketts Charge, the high water mark of the Southern Confederacy. Most of that regiment was slaughtered, but by God’s grace, my ancestor and Jamie’s ancestor both survived. Later in February of 1865, Ezra Mull was wounded and died at Petersburg. Interestingly, he had time between his mortal wound and his death to get his affairs in order. He drew up a will contributing personal funds to help build the first church in the remote corner of Catawba County from whence he hailed. The church was built and first known as Ezra Mulls Chapel. Today, it is Mulls Chapel Baptist Church, one of the oldest Baptist churches in the county.
Another one of Jamie’s direct ancestors, Ezra’s cousin, was Captain Peter M. Mull. In 1862, he was wounded badly at Washington, NC—shot in the head and in the left lung. Somehow, he survived these terrible injuries and the war and was considered “one of the bravest men in the Confederate army” (The Catawba Soldier, 312). It was also said of Captain Mull: “He has always enjoyed the sincere friendship and confidence of all his old soldier boys, as they say he always treated them like brothers when he was their Captain. He has always been charitable and warmhearted, and a DEVOTED CHRISTIAN, and is noted for his GREAT LOVE OF TRUTH, HONESTY and SINCERITY” (The Catawba Soldier, 312 emphasis mine). Now, contrast that original source with the CRT LIARS who write today’s “history” books and continue to perpetrate old lies about the Southern soldier who wore the gray and owned no slaves. You would be hard pressed to find a single man or woman in Washington, DC today about whom such things could be said. Is there one politician in Washington, just one, Republican or Democrat, who bewrays a genuine love of truth, honesty, and sincerity? I think not.
Peter Mull, like his cousin Ezra, also willed funds to Mulls Chapel Baptist Church upon his death, and they were used in 1924 to construct the present building.
Captain Peter Mull, CSA (one of my wife’s Catawba County ancestors) was a devoted Christian and a lover of truth, honesty, and sincerity. There is not a single politician in Washington about whom such a thing could be said today.
I love my home county and the heritage I have in this place. I’ve often said that I am an American by birth and southern from the Old North State BY THE GRACE OF GOD. It was a great honor to spend some time covering all of Catawba County in my long walk across America for the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ.
We entered my Jerusalem on foot via the Hwy 127 bridge over the Catawba River at Bethlehem; and we walked close to 150 miles along a giant figure-8 circuit in the county before exiting on Pea Ridge Road to head west again. Jesus told his disciples that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8)—the STRATEGY of the Great Commission. I have been blessed over the years to preach the Gospel at many literal “utter ends of the earth,” and with this in mind, I felt led to walk all over my own Jerusalem before trudging west into my Judea & Samaria (Western North Carolina and Tennessee) and ultimately the uttermost end of the American mainland somewhere on the Pacific Coast. Many times I have preached that if a Christian can’t be a faithful witness in his own Jerusalem, he won’t be a faithful witness on the foreign mission field. If he doesn’t love his neighbor enough to speak with him about the Gospel, he surely won’t love the man who lives 10,000 miles away enough to do the same. The call to missions always begins at home. In fact, I preached this very thing just last week to the campers at Camp Caraway. It was such a blessing to take the week off from walking and to be invited back to Camp Caraway near Asheboro with my family to serve as the week’s “Camp Missionary.” It was surreal, knowing Bethany, Eric, and I had walked through there back in May.
Hey, I never want to be the preacher who says one thing and does another or who fails to practice what he preaches to others. So, I really had no choice but to walk all over Catawba County along a huge circuit that ultimately joined at my house on Hwy 10 and then continued west. And besides, when several thousand miles separate me from the end of this journey on foot, what’s an extra 150 miles? Is there any such thing on such a path that could be considered “out of the way”?
The Long Walk’s giant Figure-8 circuit around Catawba County. Note the blue location pointer. That is at my house on Hwy 10 where the circuit came together, and from there, we again headed west.
It was a great privilege to walk with my cross by the memorial in downtown Newton to Catawba County’s Confederate Heroes, including my wife’s ancestors. I paused to salute. I also walked near where Captain Peter Mull is buried in downtown Hickory’s Oakwood Cemetery and close to Mulls Chapel Baptist Church on Jacob Fork River Road. I passed through Sherrills Ford where the first permanent settlers came into Catawba County in 1747, and I walked past the grave of Jamie’s grandfather, a WWII veteran who died just last year. Sadly, America’s WWII veterans have almost become extinct as has the God-fearing honor and bravery that characterized many of them.
I paused at Newton’s Monument to Catawba County’s Confederate Heroes, including my wife’s ancestors. BLM or Antifa would be very foolish to come into Newton and try to mess with that monument. I’d really be scared for them if they tried.
My “Jerusalem Route” also took me through the Brookwood neighborhood where I spent my childhood, and that on a day when my brother and his kids joined us. We purposely walked through that old neighborhood where we grew up as children and along streets and avenues we used to explore on our bicycles and skateboards. Near our childhood home on Newton’s East 23rd Street, we got to witness to some neighborhood kids out doing the very things we used to do in that neighborhood. At another house where some neighborhood friends used to live and where we had many adventures, we met the widowed Christian sister who lives there now. She just lost her husband and is having a difficult time. Alice said our passing by really brightened her day and encouraged her in the LORD. One of the kids went and told his dad about the crazy preacher walking across America. We then had a great encounter with that dad in his front yard. Telling folks that my brother and I grew up in that neighborhood really opened some doors to share the Gospel.
My brother and I got to witness to some neighborhood kids in the very neighborhood where we used to run around and play as kids.
The Catawba County circuit also took us by the Conover Post Office where the ladies working inside who know me well wanted to get a photo to capture the moment. I walked by the hosiery mill where I worked my first job and got to speak about the things of the Lord to some folks out on the loading dock. I walked by some of my former martial arts dojos, including the old building where I earned my first black belt rank by in 1994. I passed near my old high school and got to witness to some seniors at that same high school. I walked through my parents’ neighborhood where I spent my high school years, following the same 5K route I used to run almost daily. A kind police captain from the Hickory Police Department swung by and picked me and Bethany up as we were walking so we could go grab a coffee together and fellowship for a bit. A couple of hours later, he dropped us off right where he had picked us up. All along the Catawba County way, we stopped into local establishments to greet folks I know personally, some of them unbelievers. And, by God’s grace, it was the perfect opportunity to testify of Christ and to give out Gospel tracts to some of the very people I had been meaning to confront for a long time. Another highlight was open-air preaching on Memorial Day in Hickory’s Union Square in the very spot my brother and I were arrested back in 2008 for handing out Gospel tracts. The Hickory PD is very different nowadays, true friends of the street preacher and the liberties guaranteed by the United States Constitution. After preaching in Union Square on Memorial Day and while packing up to continue walking across the county, a kind lady approached to thank me for preaching such bold truth. As it turned out, she had moved here not that long ago from New Hampshire and had been looking for a Bible-believing church. Since our encounter, she has blessed our local church fellowship by coming faithfully.
We stopped by the Conover Post Office for a Photo Op.
We witnessed to some Seniors from Fred T. Foard, my old high school.
My friend, a Captain from the Hickory PD, picked us up to go grab a coffee. We are blessed to have some righteous friends of liberty, the US Constitution, and the street preacher in our local law enforcement here in Catawba County.
Two of our most fruitful days along this entire walking route, the pedometer of which currently reads 887 miles, took place right here in Catawba County. The day we walked through downtown Hickory, there were 22 Gospel encounters! And the day we walked through Newton, the county seat, there were 27 Gospel encounters! What a joy it has been to walk all over my own Jerusalem bearing witness of the Truth all over my own Jerusalem. We literally passed through every town in the county on foot—Hickory, Mountain View, Newton, Conover, Catawba, Sherrills Ford, Maiden, Claremont, and Longview. And, we had many great witnessing encounters, 130 in all, some familiar faces and others unfamiliar. Moreover, 5 copies of God’s Word went into the hands of folks who needed it. I walked out of Catawba County at its far southwest corner with my 11-year-old son walking by my side. That county line sign was in some nice shade. Goodbye Catawba, my Jerusalem! From there it’s on to my Judea and Samaria.
After 150 miles, I finally walked out of Catawba County with my boy at my side. This spot is the far southwest corner of my home county.
The best qualification for a faithful foreign missionary, my friends, is one who has been a faithful missionary at home. My grandfather, who served with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol for 35 years and spent a lot of time in Catawba County, showed me this. And sadly, I had to learn it the hard way back in the day.
Our last stint of walking, before last week’s respite back at Camp Caraway, was our longest week of the entire journey—112 miles that took us west into Lincoln, Cleveland, Burke, McDowell, and Rutherford Counties . . . all the way to the Henderson County line just south of Chimney Rock State Park. We praised God for Carter Phillips, one of our former Team Yeshua volunteers, who again took off work in Missouri to come help us walk and witness. That particular week was fun as we got off the pavement, followed some old fire roads, did a bit of bushwhacking, climbed a couple of peaks, found some good swimming holes to cool us off from the hot sun, and walked through the route’s very first tunnel.
We got to walk through our first tunnel on The Long Walk, Vein Mountain Road in Rutherford County, NC.
There were two encounters from that 112-mile week which stick out in my mind. A grieving Christian sister stopped me on a very remote road enroute to a funeral. Her cousin’s 18-year-old son was supposed to graduate from high school next week and was killed in a car crash on Monday right at the time his mom is awaiting a heart transplant. She asked me to pray for this family as I walk. I took off my hat in the hot sun and said “Let’s pray right now.” You never know how the Lord will use you. Be ready! It could be on a lonely road in the middle of nowhere that just turned to dirt.
The second memorable encounter was early one morning, along Cooksville Road, and the very day I walked out of Catawba County. A kind sister in Christ stopped on her way to work to simply say, without even having to ask or inquire: “Thank you for what you are doing.” She then gave me some sports drinks that came in real handy when the sun got hot. What made this particular encounter particularly special was that it happened at the very moment I was telling the Lord how precious and strengthening it was to me the day before to have two different strangers stop what they were doing to say “Thank you!” No questions, hesitancies or opinions, just “Thank You!” That meant a lot, and I was saying this to the Lord. Immediately that sister drove up and did that very thing in the kindest of tones. I Peter 5:7 came to mind: “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
My friends, He does care for His servants, and He does hear them, even in what seems the most trivial and inconsequential of matters. He hears at the very moment we cast our care upon Him. His answer is in His time, but He hears at that moment. And sometimes, His time on the answer is at the precise moment our care is cast. Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you!
He cared for us walking all over Catawba County. He cared for us as we pushed west traversing the South Mountains. He cared for us along Rutherford County backroads. He cared for us up and over Worlds Edge in tall brush. And He showed He cared for us with a glorious sunset that colored the sky at the very spot we last stopped and packed up the cross. Tomorrow, Lord willing, we will resume from that very place. Thanks for all your prayers and support.
The LORD gave us a glorious sunset at this spot where we last stopped. Thanks to Carter Phillips and Josiah who joined Bethany and me for what proved the longest week of this journey thus far. Lord willing, we will resume at this spot tomorrow.
If this walk across America and these testimonies are, or have been a blessing to you, please consider financially supporting our ministry to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. There are needs for travel expenses, and anything you can give is a blessing that will be used faithfully and with account. All contributions are tax-deductible, and donating online is very easy. Thank you in Jesus’ name.
From the Highways and Hedges,
Jesse Boyd