***Bethany Boyd walks with her dad in a snowstorm in Northern Arkansas. The upside-down American flag communicates a very clear message: THE NATION IS IN PERIL.***

Greetings, beloved brethren, in dark days. Our nation is truly in PERIL. But as for Nehemiah and the Jewish Remnant in their own dark days, so for us: “neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

It’s been nearly two months since my last newsletter, and I apologize. It seemed that every time I had a few moments to write, I was just too tired and worn. However, I did daily log our latest location and stats and post a few thoughts, photos, and videos at thelongwalkUSA.com. If interested, I trust you were able to easily follow along.

Praise God! Since my last newsletter (dated February 17th), we completed a 612-mile leg that took us clear across Missouri, into parts of Northern Arkansas, and upon a very appropriate spot to pause for a much-needed “spring break.” This leg was more than double the length of our previous longest leg. On March 26th, we walked up to an interesting historical marker in the dark. It was an old tri-state marker at the spot where Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma come together. Just beyond that marker was a large sign: Welcome to Oklahoma. As we crossed into our 11th state on this long walk, I shouted to a lady entering the gas station across the street: “Excuse me ma’am, we just walked all the way across Missouri, and I’m so excited that I just had to tell somebody!” That interjection set up two witnessing encounters right there at the state lines and resulted in free food and fountain drinks from the kind manager inside the convenience store who was closing up for the night. I told Ms. Baker: “Our knees need a spring break, so we’ll head home to North Carolina for a bit. But, you’ll see us again when we pull up to that same historical marker across the street to keep on walking across a nation in big trouble with the LORD. I’ll be sure to stop in again and say hello.” This kind lady from Kansas, along with her daughter, was the last of 222 Gospel encounters across this 612-mile leg that involved 24 counties, a Missouri ice storm, an Arkansas snow storm, another tornado, waking up at trailheads in frost-covered sleeping bags, the Ozark Mountains, flooded farm roads, glorious sunsets, swampy trails, river crossings, roller-coaster gravel roads, high ridges, rough neighborhoods, bluffs, springs, and even a cave. We rejoice that 15 Bibles also went out, including 3 Hebrew New Testaments!

It’s good to be home for a short time and to be with our families. Eric and I both have preaching commitments here in North Carolina on Easter Sunday, and Bethany has some testing to complete in preparation for her graduating high school in a few months. After such things, Lord willing, we will head back to that same tri-state marker and keep on walking. For now, here is where things stand:

to date

• 3,326 miles walked
• 11 states | 158 counties
• 1,782 encounters
• 97 Bibles

***We reached the end of a long 612-mile leg and walked into our 11th state.***

***612 miles Across Missouri & Arkansas***

Lots transpired as we meandered our way through the Ozark’s and had to “ponder the path of thy feet” (Proverbs 4:26a). I couldn’t possibly share all the details. Suffice it to say that the LORD was kind and merciful, and our ways were established (see Proverbs 4:26b). Eric’s FACEBOOK POST from March 28th does a nice job of summing up some of these details via a collage of images that truly tell a story. I trust you will find it edifying.

I do want to thank all those who came alongside and actually walked with us for a piece on this latest leg. Shortly after resuming from Vanduser, Missouri, we were joined for a week by a team from here in North Carolina. It was so nice to have some good company and sound fellowship during the ice storm that accompanied those days. We were a CARAVAN for a few days and had some good Gospel encounters as we made our way winding out of the Mississippi floodplain and into the Ozark hills. The nation is in peril, but I’m blessed to have fellowship with good friends and brethren in Jesus Christ!

***Top (L to R): Bethany Boyd, Jesse Boyd, Matthew Boyd, Daniel Middleton, Josiah Boyd, Eric Trent, Graham Boyd, Brandon Gwaltney***

My 12-year-old son, Josiah, started out with us, and then our friends from North Carolina took him back home. I was so proud of him for logging his 100th mile on this walking journey. He was determined to reach that century, so he did an 8-mile day, followed by a 13-mile day, and then finished with a 7-mile day. He even insisted that I let him carry that cross for a piece. I wish I had cared about the things of God like he does when I was 12-years old. When my grandfather would share Christ with any and everyone he met out in public, it embarrassed 12-year-old ME (Oh, I praise God for his testimony now though). Josiah, on the other hand, doesn’t wait for me to say something. He grabs a tract and runs over to the person standing in their yard. The nation is in peril, but I’m blessed by my son and his love for the LORD just like I was blessed by my grandfather, Earl T. Green (1928-2012), and his love for Jesus.

Many miles after Josiah and the brothers from North Carolina went home, and as we got close to southwest Missouri, my wife and 14-year-old daughter, Charlotte, drove out to join us for a week. Eric’s wife, Mindy, and their babies had been out there with her family from the start of this leg, so it was great to finally walk up on the Phillips Family Farm and to have that as a base for our families to join us as we continued to plod through the Ozarks. I get to walk with my eldest daughter Bethany every day, and that is a joy. It was a special joy to walk with my wife and my younger daughter Charlotte. Jamie has logged about 80 total miles, and Charlotte 70. That’s a lot folks. Mindy, Eric’s wife, has logged more than a few herself. We absolutely loved having our families along for a few days. And, we were so grateful and blessed by the fellowship with Mindy’s family who kindly opened their home to us for an extended period of time. It was a joy having her dad and some of her siblings also join us on the road as we came into their neck of the woods. Thanks especially to Jamie, Charlotte, and Emily Phillips (Mindy’s younger sister) who joined Bethany to help us get across the Hercules-Glades Wilderness so that Eric and I could resume back on the road on the other side. They took the Hercules, we then took the Busiek State Forest. The nation is in peril, but we can joy in sweet time with our families. ERIC AND I LOVE OUR WIVES AND OUR CHILDREN … and we’ll shout that without shame from the rooftops.

***Precious Times in Missouri and Arkansas, walking with our Families***

Carter Phillips was once again a big part of this work. He has logged nearly 500 total miles and took time off from his job to help us navigate the Ozark Trail for a week, and later, after a hard day’s work at a grain elevator over in Golden City, Missouri he picked us up some good burgers and drove way out on some county roads to find us as it got dark. We scarfed down those burgers on his tailgate under the cool moonlight. He, his sister Emily, and Bethany then took the next leg down a very dark Logan Ridge Road, where they surprisingly had two Gospel encounters. After, Eric and I tacked the Busiek State Forest during a rain storm. On the other side, after five miles of trail, we had to bushwhack a bunch of briars and climb over two barbed-wire fences to get out to Camp Creek Road. There, Carter, Bethany, and Emily, who had driven many miles to get around, we waiting for us with the S.A.G. vehicle. We were soaked, but praise God, it was only a 20-minute drive from that spot to the Phillips Homestead where we found hot showers, warm beds, and a boot-dryer for my water-logged Oboz. Truly, our nation is in peril, but I praise God for a young man like Carter who loves the LORD, sacrifices for others, works hard, logs many miles as a testimony for Jesus Christ, walks uprightly in a wicked world, and who wants to one day marry my daughter Bethany. If and when that someday happens, I will be so immensely blessed.

***Carter walks with Bethany in the snow in EASTERN MISSOURI, and many miles later, he brings us dinner in WESTERN MISSOURI.***

So, why do I keep saying that our nation is in peril? Why is that the title of this newsletter? And what does that have to do with anything thus far recapped? Well, it is a giant BLACK ELEPHANT in every American room and really has something to do with everything we Americans do. You can bury your head in the sand like an ostrich if you like, but the giant BLACK ELEPHANT doesn’t move. He just stands there filling up every room. As it was said by the Weeping Prophet to Israel and Jerusalem of old, so it can be said to and of us:

“Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities … The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned! For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim” (Lamentation 5:7, 16-17).

Notwithstanding, I keep repeating it for a more particular reason. We see it with our own eyes every single day with every single mile we plod. And, we communicate it as a warning to everyone we meet. “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (II Corinthians 5:11). Along this latest leg, a little article showed up in a Van Buren, Missouri newspaper. A copy of it was waiting for me in my post office box when I returned to North Carolina a few days ago. For once, a newspaper headline actually declares a fact as it is in truth, without exaggeration and hyperbole. Interestingly, the headline words were not my words. They were a succinct summation of our testimony made by the editor who published the article:

***Current River Observer (Volume 2, No. 10), March 8, 2022***

ADVENTURE EVANGELISTS ... Amen! A NATION IN PERIL ... Amen, Amen, & Amen. I also greatly appreciate the printing of my explanation of the upside-down American flag. Like the cross, it is a very powerful illustration of a very real truth: AMERICA IS IN PERIL. That’s precisely why we walk and precisely why we preach in the highways and hedges.

A dear brother and a friend of many years sees the same thing as he travels far and wide across America, preaching and witnessing to young people on university and college campuses. His is a very needful and a very difficult and thankless work. In one of his recent newsletters, Brother Shawn Holes (luketentwo.com) penned something worth repeating:

The [college] students tend to believe in big government, lean towards socialism, generally like Joe Biden, don’t care about the border crisis, fear climate change, don’t care about the high cost of gas and goods, expect government to be the cure, hate babies and support the killing of them in their mother’s womb, justify and regularly watch pornography, don’t believe in the sanctity of marriage, and more than 25% are on doctor prescribed anxiety drugs. The professing Christians on campuses aren’t discipled, they don’t read their Bibles, they claim to be living in as much sin as the non-believers. But students are getting saved and many students are having to reason or at least listen to reason while gathering on the campuses, and hearing the Gospel preached clearly. None of this is too big for God to tackle and we serve a mighty God at that! He is on the throne and He is still saving souls.

Amen. The American people we meet in the rural areas, in many ways, AREN’T like typical college students. They don’t tend to believe in big government; they lean away from socialism; they generally HATE Joe Biden; they care much about the border crisis, don’t care much about “climate change,” and care a lot about the high cost of gas and goods. And yet, they share many things in common with the folks described above. They don’t say they hate babies or voice support for abortion like the hoodlums on the college campuses. But, is their silence on the matter and their selective outrage really any different? They don’t openly justify pornography like the college idiots, but I’m quite sure many of them watch it in secret. The heartland folks reject the redefining of marriage and confess its sanctity, quite opposite of the typical college student, and yet many of their own marriages are broken. And, you can rest assured that the percentage on doctor prescribed anxiety meds is pretty much the same. Like many of the professing Christians on the campuses, the professing Christians in the small towns and on the back roads are, at best, undiscipled. They don’t read or study their Bibles, and if pressed, they confess to living in as much sin as non-believers. America, both on the campuses and in the highways and hedges, doesn’t have a political problem. We all—red and blue, Republican and Democrat, liberal and conservative, students, professors, farmers, small businessmen, truck drivers, city-dwellers, rednecks, whites, blacks, browns, yellows, reds, many professing Christians, and a whole lot of pastors have a great big SPIRITUAL PROBLEM.

And yet, as with Ruth & Boaz in the dark days of the Judges, God is still at work. People are getting saved, and folks have more reason in the darkness and despair to reason, or at least listen to reason, than they did when things were more “comfortable.” As Brother Shawn said above, “None of this is too big for God to tackle and we serve a mighty God at that! He is on the throne and He is still saving souls.” How desperately this nation in peril is in need of revival in her churches and spiritual awakening in her streets. That is why we walk, and that is why we preach. And as possible as the sun coming up in the morning, REVIVAL IS POSSIBLE … IF WE WILL HUMBLE OURSELVES BEFORE THE LORD AND REPENT.

Yes, the primary audience of II Chronicles 7:14 is Israel, and yes, that promise remains for Israel. But like all Scripture, it is given for our admonition and our warning (see I Corinthians 10:11-12; Romans 15:4). It is therefore APPLICABLE, especially to a nation that, like Israel of old, once knew God, then turned its back upon Him, and now has turned back to Him and sticks its collective middle finger in His face, daring Him to act. II Chronicles 7:14 is APPLICABLE:

“If my people, which are called by my name, SHALL HUMBLE THEMSELVES, and pray, and seek my face, and TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

I’ve had the great privilege of preaching with Brother Shawn Holes on many college campuses around America over the years. This was Winthrop University back in 2010. I remember that day and the wicked mob that came absolutely unglued. America has been in peril for a long, long time, and the universities are the epicenter. Praise God for faithful preachers who preach on college campuses.

Earlier, I mentioned that we gave out three Hebrew New Testaments along this latest leg. Our first love at Full Proof Gospel Ministries is for the Jewish people: for making the name of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, famous among them. We are primarily about Jewish missions, and the great thing about biblical Jewish missions is that it must involve preaching to a whole bunch of Gentiles in different places (see Romans 11:11-15). Every morning, before we begin to walk, and as we bathe the day ahead in prayer, we specifically ask the LORD to put a lost sheep from the house of Israel into our path (improbable as it may seem on some of these back roads), or someone who knows a son or daughter of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We ask every day, and we keep doing so. Our eyes are always open and searching. And from time to time along this walk, the LORD has granted us this desire of our heart. It doesn’t happen a lot, but every time it does, it’s a source of great encouragement and joy. Three encounters from our last 612-mile leg speak to this point.

It was a cold and snowy afternoon in a rough and remote corner of Wayne County, Missouri. I was cold and thinking about how nice it would be to have a hot cup of coffee. As I passed by a small homeplace, I called to a man in his yard with a dog. I warned him about the peril of our nation and how we need to humble ourselves and seek the LORD. He muttered something and went back inside with a load of firewood in his arms. I figured, “Ok, I guess he ain’t much interested.” As I kept on walking, I heard a lady shout to me. It was his wife who came outside to say: “We believe what you are saying. We are Christians. Would you like to come inside for a moment to get warm and have a cup of coffee?” This kind couple made me a cup of hot coffee and gave me a seat by a warm fire. It was such a blessing. And as it turned out, she was of Jewish lineage. She even had a Hebrew Old Testament. I blessed her with Hebrew New Testament to go with that Old Testament, and we just enjoyed the fellowship in the Messiah for a short while. She asked me to pray for her children. I did, right there in that cozy cabin. That morning, we had prayed for a lost sheep from the House of Israel. God answered with a FOUND SHEEP. That was such a blessing … in Wayne County, Missouri of all places. Sometime before that, someone had warned us not to walk in Wayne County. It is a dangerous place, they said.

***With Nana, a daughter of Israel, and Tim, her husband, by their warm fire.***

Then, many miles west of Wayne County, there was Ms. Annie in the tiny community of Jane, Missouri. She was working in her garden the morning of the long day that culminated with us reaching the Oklahoma state line. As is our custom, we asked the LORD that morning to put a lost sheep from the house of Israel into our path. As Eric and Bethany passed by, they called over to her in the garden. She looked up and listened and was very encouraged to hear that we are walking across America and preaching Christ Jesus as the only hope for our nation. As the conversation progressed, Eric discovered that she too has a burden for lost sheep from the house of Israel and actually knows a Jewish lady who works at a nearby Walmart. Eric gave her a Hebrew New Testament, with a personal note he penned in the flyleaf, to give to this lady. She was very grateful and excited to do so. That morning, we had prayed for a lost sheep from the House of Israel. God answered by a GENTILE Christian who has a Jewish friend. Praise the LORD.

There was a third set of Hebrew Scriptures that went out on this leg. While attending a service at a local Baptist Church, we met a couple who had Jewish relatives in Florida by their son’s marriage. Somehow, that came up in the conversation. I went out to the car and brought back a Hebrew-English Tanakh and a Hebrew-English New Testament, and I said: “I want you to just put these in a box and send them to your relatives as a gift from a walking preacher who loves and appreciates the Holy Scriptures that were given to man by God through the Jewish people.” He was a little hesitant, thinking these very liberal folks might be offended. I replied, “Don’t worry about that. You can just blame it on me, a crazy Gentile preacher walking across America.” Once I put it that way and exhorted him a bit about how we Christians worry way too much about offending people, he agreed to take these Hebrew-English Scriptures and send them to his Jewish relatives. Again, the LORD answered our specific morning prayer in a unique way that gave us joy.

As with Ms. Annie or the couple at the Baptist Church, if you have a Jewish friend or a Jewish contact, we are happy to provide very nice hardback copy of the Hebrew-English Scriptures, the Old Testament, a New Testament, or a combined edition of both, FREE OF CHARGE. All that we ask in return is that you be obedient and make sure it gets into Jewish hands. Seriously, we have a sizable inventory that needs to go out, and we are more than happy to help you be a witness to a lost sheep from the house of Israel, or an encouragement to a found sheep who has eyes to see that Jesus truly is the Messiah of Israel.

Occasionally, I’ll get feedback online from people we meet somewhere along the way. Here are a few testimonies from this last leg, feedback from Gospel encounters out there on the byways:

It was really neat to see you all on your journey today at the ferry. I was one of the ferry operators on duty today. It brought joy to my heart seeing others’ love for Jesus Christ. God bless you and safe travels (White River Ferryman, Northern Arkansas).
Today is March 15,2022. I came across Bethany on a trail at Hercules Glades Wilderness. Bethany, I want to let you know God is smiling down on you! In a world where the Devil is running around in fear because he KNOWS what is about to happen to him, and he is hard at work deceiving this generation. It's a blessing to see God's still in control! The devil hasn't deceived the entire youth and he isn't going to intimidate God's chosen. It gave me hope to see a strong young lady stand tall & proud of our God, refusing to let Satan put out her light. I believe God is at work behind the scenes, preparing his people and selecting His disciples to prepare the way for His coming. So stand strong you are the light in a very dark world. Even if it's to fellowship with other children of God, it reminds them, that He is in control . Today I shared this with 2 other people, so in turn today, you reminded at least 3 people that: YES , God is moving! So stand strong, God has your back girl. Keep looking up! The devil has to back down in the presence of the Lord, so keep God in your heart. Thank you for sharing with me today. Keep moving in the direction the Lord is sending you and may God bless you (Hiker with her dogs, Southern Missouri).
Hey, we met at the river. I do apologize for the late message, but I want to thank you. Tonight, I was really touched. In fact, I want to change my ways. I’ve been a drinker and a smoker for 3 years now. It’s hard because my brother and I lost our dad 2 years ago, then just recently out sister passed away from the same stuff as our dad. After tonight, I was touched. Actually, I started crying and held my dad’s cross and asked the Lord to forgive my sins. I will always remember how you preached the Word to me and my brother about the country and how it’s falling apart, how even young children want to become something God never created them to be (2 Brothers Fishing on the White River in Cotter, Arkansas).

With regard to that last testimony, Bethany and I met these brothers really late one night as we were scouting for an inconspicuous spot on the outskirts of Cotter, Arkansas where we could throw up a tent. Mindy and Eric were walking at the time. It was cold, and we were very hungry and tired. That turned out to be a 33-mile day. Anyway, while scouting a roadside pull-off with a picnic table, two brothers walked up to warn us about some aggressive beavers that had ruined their night fishing adventure. It turned out to be a great encounter at the most unexpected of spots during the most unexpected of hours. That’s just how the LORD works, even in the darkest days of peril.

***A Late-Night Encounter with two brothers outside Cotter, Arkansas***

We are a nation in peril, and a great part of the American people are wicked people, “scoffers, walking after their own lusts” (II Peter 3:3). But, not all. There are some kind people out there who are very kind to us along our journey. We encounter this every leg, and it is a source of strength to walk another mile. This truth reminds me of Peter’s words to Cornelius and the gathered Gentiles: “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:34-35). Praise God, there are Americans who still fear God and who work righteousness.

From our path across Missouri and Arkansas, I remember a lady who had just picked up dinner for herself at a local Sonic. She saw us while pumping gas and gave us her dinner, still hot and unopened in the bag. Eric and I were very hungry. It was a blessing. A kind elderly gentlemen invited us down for some cold water and to check out his million-dollar backyard view. He prayed for us before we left, and then said, pointing first to me and then to Eric: “Now, here’s one for you, and one for you.” He put a C-Note in each of our hands. What a blessing amidst of these gas prices! At a quaint AirBnb near Alton, Missouri, the host came up to meet us the morning after we had arrived. She later messaged me to say that we were welcome to stay longer than our reservation, as long as we needed, WITHOUT CHARGE. That proved a great base for six nights, and good shelter from a tornado warning. These folks at this family farm were so kind to us. In Calico Rock, Arkansas, a local man who runs a country store and an adjacent motel gave us a big discount for a room when he discovered why we were coming through town. The nights we used that room were very cold. What a kind blessing from a kind American! In that same town, some Christian folks who manage a local coffee shop hooked us up with some of the best americanos and iced coffees I have found on this entire journey. We came in there a couple of times, and those kind Americans would not let us pay a dime. We had some great fellowship in that cozy coffee shop. We met a young dentist and his wife near Springfield, Missouri. He made us appointments in his office for free checkups and cleanings. We also spent some great time together exploring local caves and fellowshipping in their home. As a result of that encounter with these kind Americans, I had an opportunity to preach at a Saturday Men’s Bible Study and to a youth Sunday School class at a local Presbyterian Church. I preached hard and blunt, as I do on the streets, and it was much appreciated. The kindness of an American dentist put me in the path of a kind Ukrainian American who was so blessed by our testimony. He, in turn, blessed us with a generous gift that helped us to buy some needed supplies. Numerous kind folks stopped to offer a ride. We usually respond with gratitude: “That is a real blessing, thank you. BUT, I’m afraid that would be cheating. I told the LORD I would walk.” These usually turn into good encounters. One local policeman stopped to check on me as I was walking a dirt road in the dark. He, too, offered me a ride. He confessed that he had quit caring much about the things of God and knew that he was in trouble with the LORD. We had a great conversation, and he gladly received a small Bible from my hands to carry with him while out on patrol. This police officer was very kind. Another couple who stopped to offer a ride responded, “Ok then, well take this and get you some dinner.” We got some dinner. Another man gave me a cold Gatorade. I sat down to enjoy it on the side of a bridge. There were two welders who stopped to ask: “What are you doing out here? We love God, and we love America, so tell share with us your testimony.” The kind driver than asked if he could pray over me, and it was such a powerful and kind intercession on my behalf. There was a small burger joint in a Missouri town that we ended up visiting twice. The first time, we Gospel-bombed the place and gave tracts to all the employees. The second time, the kind owner gave us a bag of groceries and snacks that she hoped would help us on our journey. There was some definite fuel in there that helped us on our way. She, in turn, gladly received a Bible from our hands … another kind hard-working American. In the bottom southwest corner of Missouri, a pastor showed true kindness and hospitality and opened his church building to us for the night. That proved a real blessing as Eric got very sick that night. It’s much better to be sick inside a warm building with hot water and a bathroom than to be sick in a cold tent with only the forest floor as a water closet. Praise God for the kindness. Then, there was James, the last person on earth I thought would want to hear me preach to him in his front yard from the highway. I preached hard. He took a Gospel tract and gave me a couple of Dr. Peppers to take with me on my journey. James was a kind American. Below are a few faces of American kindness that I pray will bless you amidst a nation in peril:

I could go on and on and on, my friends. There were so many great encounters. Each one that involved a giving out a Bible was memorable. There were so many provisions of the LORD, so many divine Providences and unexpected twists and turns in the path. But, I trust you get the point. It was a great leg, and I wouldn’t trade being an “adventure evangelist making a long walk for a nation in peril” for anything the “American Dream” has to offer.

I won’t sign off without making a few passing comments about the ROUTE. It’s never been just paved roads or the busy highways. It certainly isn’t always the shortest or the easiest route. Our objective isn’t to necessarily walk the path that would guarantee the most people, nor is it to necessarily target larger cities and towns. We just try to be obedient, follow the lead of the Holy Spirit, and, as it says in Proverbs 4:26, “ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.” As a result, there were some interesting and memorable spots along the way, each somehow proving to be a piece of Divine Providence that set up some special encounter somewhere. There was a flooded farm road that we just had to trudge through. Our shoes and socks got soaked on a cold afternoon. There was a highway named PP off of FF. One day, some YakTrax came in handy for icy roads. At a bridge, a sign told me that it was illegal to cross on foot. What was I supposed to do? I crossed it anyway. There was the Ozark Trail in Missouri, much of it swampy and flooded, and the Ozark Highlands Trail in Arkansas, somewhat overgrown and hard to follow. We did some night walking. I always love how the cross casts a shadow on the side of the highway as we plod under the moon. There were waterfalls on the route, cliffs, river bluffs, even a cave. There was a narrow bridge over a giant horseshoe bend in the White River. There was another ferry, our fifth of the journey. And we even walked across Pea Ridge, a major Civil War battlefield. The route went over mountains and down into valleys. We walked paved roads, gravel roads, dirt roads, farm roads, and roads that proved to be no roads. They showed up on the map, but the forest had swallowed them whole. We crossed creeks, rivers, bridges, floodplains, a dam, state lines, county lines, barbed-wire fences, and sometimes private property. Listen, you cannot walk across America without inevitably having to cross private property. We just ready ourselves to ask forgiveness when we can’t ask permission. Along the whole journey, most of the Americans we have encountered on their private property showed themselves to be KIND AMERICANS. Along the route, we saw hawks, eagles, armadillos, hordes of deer, a bobcat, a wolf, coyotes, an owl, and lots of farm animals. We walked in ice, snow, rain, cold wind, and even through the smoke of a forest fire. And somewhere in the midst of all this, we hit a true milestone: 3,000 MILES! Glory to God, glory to the Living God. Little miss Piper from Waynesville, NC had again made our sign to commemorate the occasion. It was along lonely Highway 223 in Izard County, Arkansas. I actually posted a short video of that moment HERE.

***Sometimes, this happens! We therefore prepare to ask forgiveness since we couldn’t ask permission.***

Thank you for your prayers and support. Pray that we can get the appropriate rest over the next week or so. My knees have been bothering me again. Please pray for the Lord’s provision. Gas for the support vehicle is one of our biggest expenses. Fortunately, Missouri and Kansas have some of the country’s cheapest gas right now. It now takes us two good travel days to get back to the route. So, when we head back out next, it will be for a long time. And, we’re heading into a lonely part of the country where we don’t really know anyone. Any Christian hospitality in Kansas or Nebraska would be much appreciated.

If this long walk across America has edified you in some way, please consider sowing into our ministry. We have needs, and gas is real expensive these days. Anything you can share, if the LORD should lay it upon your heart, is a blessing that will be used faithfully and with account. All contributions are tax-deductible. Thank you in Jesus’ name. Learn more . . .

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Truly, we are a nation in peril. The white-hot wrath of a righteousness God is coming upon this land, and His judgment is already here. But like my preacher friend said, quoted above: “We serve a mighty God at that! He is on the throne and He is still saving souls.” There may be no hope for AmeriCA, a nation in peril, but there remains hope for AmericANS. If we didn’t believe that, we wouldn’t have walked 3,326 miles to go tell ‘em. For those of you who cling to Christ Jesus, let me leave you with a question:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or PERIL, or sword” (Romans 8:35)?

And here’s the short answer:

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:37).

An Adventure Evangelist Making the Long Walk for a Nation in Peril,
Jesse Boyd