promised details
Walking in a Downpour in Western Nebraska
Hey everyone! In my last newsletter, I promised some details about the last leg’s Gospel encounters from Eric, and here are those details from his pen. I pray you are encouraged thereby in these very dark times for America. We are trying to get out of town in the next few days and to resume #TheLongWalkUSA from the Nebraska/Wyoming state line. Please pray for us. We are experiencing some delays at the last minute. This next leg will be very long, and I’m not sure when we will be able to come back to North Carolina for another break, at least not before Thanksgiving. It’s always difficult to leave our families, but we have had some good and special times with them this past month.
Before turning things over to Eric, however, I do want to share a very encouraging encounter that transpired as Jamie and I were spending a few days together down near this long walk’s starting line on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, a little silver anniversary trip. Even during periods of rest between long legs, the work of #thelongwalkusa continues, and we have to always be ready for opportunities the Lord may put into our path. Down on the beach near Cape Hatteras, I blew out one of my sandals so that it was good for nothing and I had to walk a half-mile back to the condo where we are residing over very hot sand, asphalt, and burr-ridden grass. Granted, it was a small trial, a very small one, but it did involve burns and blood from multiple barbed spurs. It was truly a ridiculous scene. No more beach for the day, and I just had to wait for an opportunity that evening to shop around. Later, after Jamie and I enjoyed a nice waterfront anniversary dinner, we went searching for what I expected to be very overpriced and cheap flip flops that wouldn’t last to be of any real use on #TheLongWalkUSA. It seemed like Wings Surf Shop was the only option, but both of the nearby stores were flying “Gay Pride” flags outside beside American flags. Nope, not happening! On the verge of giving up the search, we stumbled upon a beach shop right beside a pizza joint where I had preached to some teenagers back in March of 2021 at the end of our very first day of walking. I walked into this place looking for a pair of flip flops, and I actually found a decent pair for $15. Moreover, I should be able to get some use out of them walking across Wyoming. But, what I really found was something else, something quite unexpected and far more important.
Waiting in line at the counter, I overheard what looked like the manager ranting to a customer about the ills of America, the stupidity of the American people, the pure evil and tyranny of the Democrat Party, and how an FBI raid on Donald Trump’s home is just the beginning. The customer tried to argue with him, and he responded, “This is the problem with you Americans. You claim to believe something but you are too afraid to say it or to stand by it. Frankly, if you don’t like what I have to say, you can just leave the store.” I immediately thought to myself, “That sounds like Jewish chutzpah. Hmm?” When I got up to the counter, I said to the other worker: “Your friend is right. Americans are very stupid and very much cowards.” He responded, “Yes, we are Republican. And, we don’t care what people think about that. So many Jewish people here in America are so stupid and vote for these evil Democrats. You can’t talk to them; they are just so stupid.” At that point, I knew: Only a Jewish person would so openly condemn follies of Jewish people in a public forum. I came back, “My friend, Republicans are not the answer. Politics are not the answer. America, like Israel, has a great big spiritual problem. We have turned our back on God. I’ll tell you what we need. I’ll tell you what America needs, and what Israel needs: WE NEED THE MESSIAH.” I then told him in Hebrew that the God of Israel is real; that the Messiah of Israel is real and has changed my life and my heart. I went on to explain that I am a friend of Israel because God used Israel to give to the world a great gift, the Holy Scriptures. Therefore, I can know the true God and the true Messiah, Yeshua HaMeshiach. Messiah has already come once, and He is coming again to sit on the Throne of David. He is the Only One who can fix this mess and all this stupidity.
By God’s Providence, I had a nice hardback Hebrew-English Tanakh (Old Testament) and a nice hardback Hebrew-English B’rit Chadashah (New Testament) in my vehicle, along with some new socks, a Hebrew Trekker Tract that I had written, and a great Gospel tract concerning the virus of sin written by my Jewish brother in Christ who lives in Israel. I grabbed a sweet-smelling unused garbage bag to make up a gift bag of sorts and then went back inside to leave it for these two men from Israel. I thanked them for the Word of God given to men by God through their ancestors and exhorted them to seek Messiah while He may be found. A small tribulation worked patience that day. I went looking for sandals and found two Israelis; that was an experience. And, that experience truly strengthened my hope, a hope in the Messiah for which I am not ashamed.
“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:3-5).
Jamie and I went away rejoicing and decided to just re-walk the very first mile of #TheLongWalkUSA near dusk under a big moon. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was so beautiful, and that mile brought back so many fond memories. It was a wonderful silver anniversary together.
Please pray for Michael and Igal, that the copy of the Word of God given to them would not return void. Every morning, before we start walking, we pray that God would put a lost sheep from the House of Israel into our path. Sometimes, He does when we aren’t walking, or between walking legs, and we praise Him for that. These past weeks, there have actually been many great encounters back home that have springboarded from testimony concerning the walk. But, I’ll refrain from those details and now turn it over to Eric.
Michael & Igal from Israel
Greetings brethren in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!
I trust our heavenly Father has been gracious to each of you since our last newsletter. #TheLongWalkUSA team has been home for the last month enjoying much needed rest and rejuvenation with our families. I have so enjoyed the time with my wife and children. Michael and Louella get bigger and become a greater joy each and every day, and I have been privileged to spend some good quality time with them both since we arrived back in North Carolina.
By God’s grace we completed another leg on June 24th at the Wyoming state line. It was a late night, and the Lord gifted us with a beautiful star-filled sky!
Reflecting back, I praise God for giving us the physical and spiritual strength we needed to endure some hard trials, striving daily to be good soldiers for Him (II Timothy 2:3).
The Wyoming Line on US Hwy 20
During the course of our last walking leg, I found myself reading an excellent book entitled Evangelism by James A. Stewart, a Scottish evangelist and missionary who served the Lord throughout Europe in the early 1900s. It is an excellent read for anyone who desires to grow in the work of preaching Christ! Stewart writes of two key components in biblical evangelism that, if missing, will make the presentation of the Gospel weak and ineffective. These two ingredients are shamelessly neglected in today’s American churches, even scorned; and I believe this is big reason reason why our country is in such a spiritual mess today.
The first key piece often neglected is the clear preaching of REPENTANCE. Enter inside most churches across this nation and one will seldom hear this word uttered … even though this word was preached bluntly by the Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles (cf. Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:18, Acts 2:38, Revelation 3:19). All men are commanded by God to REPENT and believe upon Christ (Mark 1:18). It is also important to note that repentance and faith go hand in hand. You cannot believe upon Christ without repentance, and you also cannot repent of your sins without truly believing upon Christ! Paul affirmed this in his words to the elders at the church in Ephesus saying, “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Repentance is when we acknowledge our sin and realize just how guilty we are before God and His standard of righteousness (Romans 3:19-20). Once the law of God brings us to this point of hopelessness and despair, we can then truly and sincerely throw ourselves down at the mercy found in the Lord Jesus Christ and be justified by grace through faith in Him alone (Galatians 3:24). As Martin Van Buren, the 8th President of the United States, once said during his last illness that took his life: “The atonement of Jesus Christ is the only remedy and rest for my soul.”
Preaching Repentance to a Nation in Distress
This brings us to the second component of biblical evangelism which is often cast aside: the Lordship of Christ. Why is it that Christians throughout the ages have been subject to vile persecutions without mercy? As believers we acknowledge ONE LORD in this world, Jesus the Messiah! Our cry is “No King but Christ.” Tyrannical governments understand exactly what a proclamation like that means and are thereby threatened by it. The office that Jesus possesses as Lord and Christ must be emphasized to sinners when they are confronted with the Gospel. Jesus is not a cheap ticket into heaven. He is Lord of lords and King of kings. Christ is God Almighty who declares to John, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death”(Revelation 1:18). In these dark days, when sin is paraded up and down our streets as in Sodom of old, there is no place for a watered-down Gospel message. Preach repentance and faith in Christ as Lord, or do not preach Him at all!
This last leg, we carried such a message boldly on the streets and trails of the Midwest. From the Quapaw Reservation in Northeast Oklahoma to the Sandhills of Nebraska, the name of Christ was exalted! I pray some of these testimonies from this last chapter of #TheLongWalkUSA will encourage and strengthen you to go out and declare, as did Paul, “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). It really is a very difficult task to condense such a large amount of time into a single post, but I will try my best:
Let me begin with an encounter we had while walking a small piece of Northeast Oklahoma. Jesse and I were crossing the Elk River on the Cowskin Bridge near the little community of Cayuga when we met Caden. He pulled off the side of the bridge and ran out to meet us, telling Jesse and me that he worked with a local newspaper and would love for his boss to do a phone interview with us. We told him we didn’t mind speaking with small local papers since they have a very SLIGHT tendency to tell the truth when compared to the defiled industrial media complex (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, et. al.). Yes, there are lies on the LEFT and the RIGHT. Although we never did receive that phone call, we still had a great opportunity to preach Christ to Caden. He received some discipleship material and a copy of God’s Word. He was so blessed by our encounter that he ran up to a nearby gas station to buy us cold Gatorades! We were thankful to have been given that opportunity . My hope is that Caden has gotten into that Bible and is seeking the Lord today.
We were blessed to meet Caden while crossing the Elk River.
Just north of the little town of Seneca, Missouri on Bethel Road, we were blessed to run into a Jewish believer named Ben. He was a FOUND SHEEP of the House of Israel that we run into from time to time. Interestingly, he was at the U.S. Capitol during the events of January 6th. We told him we were there as well, not to “protest” but to call our fellow countrymen to repentance! Ben was arrested by the FBI and separated from his wife and children as a result. Yet through the grievous treatment he received from them, the Lord radically saved Ben and completely changed him through the Messiah of Israel! While we were talking with him, Jesse and I almost had to tie Ben down to keep him from flying away. His zeal for the Lord was contagious! When we offered him a pocket Hebrew New Testament as a gift to remember our encounter, Ben was absolutely elated. We will never forget Ben. Preaching the Messiah to a lost Jewish person is a great blessing, and meeting a Jewish believer that the Lord has sanctified through the Messiah is always a wonderful encouragement! There is one word that proves the Bible to be true—Israel. And because God has kept His promise to Israel from time immemorial and has always reserved a remnant of the Jewish people as He said He would, we can trust every single word He has to say and every promise He has made concerning the Church.
Meeting Ben & His Family near Seneca, Missouri
While walking in Southeast Kansas, we preached the Gospel in several small towns: little places like Mound Valley, Cherryvale, Sycamore, and Elk City. Eventually, we found ourselves in the little hamlet of Longton, what they call the “Whitetail Capital of Kansas.” Those days were extremely hot and humid, and walking those roads in the heat of the day was not pleasant. It was Jesse’s turn to walk, so Bethany and I waited for him at a small gas station. I tried walking inside to buy a cold drink, but I was barred from entering by the owners’ “Covid restrictions.” Well, their antics were divinely orchestrated by God for a wonderful outcome! When I stood outside the entrance, I ended up meeting Peter from Hungary. He had come to the United States to ride a bicycle from the airport in San Francisco all the way to JFK Airport in New York City. He had stopped at that same gas station for a cold drink. I had a chance to share the Gospel with Peter and talk to him about our long WALK across America. It was a good opportunity to speak about the spiritual condition of America and our need as a people for the Messiah. Well, one thing led to another and we ended up inviting him over to the little Airbnb in Longton we had rented as a base for a few days. We let him use our shower, cool off in the air conditioning, charge up his phone, and fed him both lunch and dinner. Peter was very grateful for the kindness we showed him that day. The entire experience was reminiscent of the days we had overseas when we would host Israeli backpackers for dinner as a means of sharing the Gospel with them as they traveled throughout South America and South Asia. Displaying genuine hospitality is always an inroad to sharing the truth of the Messiah. In that same spirit, we used the opportunity we had with Peter to speak bluntly about things concerning the Lord. That afternoon was spent discussing the spiritual condition of America, current events in Europe, and ultimately the only hope which is Christ. It was lively conversation around the table. The only exposure that many foreigners have to American media outside this country is CNN or the BBC, so their understanding of American politics and American problems is often very warped. Before he left, Peter received Gospel tracts and a copy of God’s Word. We were sad to see our European friend go, but we greatly rejoiced that God set him in our path to not only refresh him physically, but also plant the seeds of the Gospel in his life. Peter eventually made it to JFK Airport on his bicycle and safely back to Hungary.
Bidding Farewell to Peter outside our little AirBnb in Longton, Kansas
Walking across rural counties typically places us in the path of average, hard-working, and politically conservative Americans. This red demographic is greatly neglected when it comes to preaching the Gospel. Bear in mind, voting for a Republican politician does not make you right with a holy and righteous God who sees and knows the secrets inside the heart of man (Psalm 44:20-21). As Bethany and I walked into the small community of Mound Valley, Kansas, we turned up a street toward a few homes. Outside one of them was a dad with his two boys, grilling up some steaks for dinner. We walked up into his yard and began to share with him. Trent was rough around the edges, and he had some choice words that I will not repeat in this newsletter concerning the wicked fools sitting in American government. This topic led us right into the Gospel. One of his boys asked me what I meant when I told them America was in trouble with God. I told him we were once a nation that feared God, and now we are a nation that celebrates the blaspheming of His holy name. That word repentance found in the Bible is not a mere suggestion from God, it is a COMMAND (Acts 17:30-31). Still, many Americans continue to rejoice in their unbelief. Our conversation ended with a great opportunity to give Trent and his boys Gospel tracts and to tell them about the goodness and mercy that can be found in Jesus the Messiah. We are all great sinners, but Christ is a great Savior! In another Kansas town, a lady told Jesse that he needed to “calm down, because Republicans are going to fix all this stuff.” I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Red America is just as lost as blue America. And hell will be full of both Democrats AND Republicans. God save the United States!
This grain elevator in Mound City, Kansas was just one of many we passed by in small rural towns.
A place called Cherryvale Park yielded some good encounters. As we entered to walk through to 20000 Rd. on the other side, we noticed one predominate demographic: disc-golfers. They were everywhere! My prayer in that moment was that the Lord would be glorified, no matter the response. There was a large picnic shelter where a group had gathered for a birthday party. It was a great opportunity to do a little open-air preaching. Most of the crowd ignored me as I told them about the walk across America and our only Mediator between us and God, Jesus Christ (I Timothy 2:5-6). There were a few who looked on and listened to my brief message. We walked on, trusting that the Word had been proclaimed and that God would bring about the increase (I Corinthians 3:7). We then distributed Gospel tracts to disc-golfers as we passed by. Praise the Lord! I remember one group of teenagers that blasphemed the Lord’s name as we approached. I called out to them, “That name you just cursed is exactly the name that we are preaching. You all had better repent and trust in Him before it is too late!” They did not have anything to say back to us, but at least they were warned. In the end, the Lord heard our prayers as His name was truly glorified in Cherryvale Park.
Approaching a Birthday Party under a Pavilion in Cherryvale Park
Cottonwood Falls, Kansas was another small town of good Gospel encounters. Bethany and I walked right through on Kansas Highway 177. It was there we met folks like Bob & Melissa, believers that received great encouragement from our endeavors for the Gospel. Mr. Paul was an older believer we met who was edified by the sight of the cross. He rolled up beside us in his pickup truck yelling out, “What a great way to spread the Good News!” The conversation with him left us strengthened to continue to push onward. We also ran into Mason riding his bicycle. After speaking the Gospel message to him and warning him of his dire need to repent and trust in Christ, Mason gladly received a New Testament from our hands. Praise the Lord for that brief but wonderful time in Cottonwood Falls.
Mason in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas
We found some good ground in Kansas, tilled up and prepared to receive some seeds of the Gospel. There is no way I could recap or detail every encounter we had in that state. There were several like Chandler in the town of Chapman, who was greatly humbled when confronted with the law of God and her need for a Savior. She was so humbled, in fact, that she chased us down for more. There were good Kansas believers we met like Vince & Twila who invited us to their church one Sunday morning. We accepted the invitation and were blessed immensely with good fellowship and an encouraging sermon. Scott and Meagan were selling goods at a farmers market in the small town of Jewell; they took a moment to pray over us, asking the Lord’s blessing on the work and that many other souls would hear the Gospel.
As our time in Kansas was fruitful, so was our time in Nebraska. It was a long walk across Nebraska to the Wyoming state line where we packed things up for a break. We came into the state near the town of Red Cloud and initially made our way north on US Hwy 281. I remember seeing a semi-truck idling off to the side of a small parking area. Bethany and I walked up to the driver to offer him a Gospel tract. We figured he could use something to read as he sat there. While talking with Stan about the Lord, another pickup truck pulled up and an older man and his grandson hopped out to join in on the conversation. We went ahead and gave them tracts as well Then, Ms. Valerie pulled up in her white minivan and gave us a few bottles of water to refresh ourselves. She, too,took a Gospel tract and heard about the good news of Christ. What is really incredible is the fact that these great encounters happened within moments of each other in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE in Nebraska. I marvel at the providential hand of God in orchestrating such things.
Walking into Nebraska on US Hwy 281
Nebraska Highway 11 was very long and memorable. We became good friends with that road, as it was on its asphalt in the heat of the day that we hit 4,000 miles on #thelongwalkusa. It is hard to believe the distance that has been covered on foot for the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus. After hitting 4K miles, we just kept on walking, walking, and walking some more. The sun went down, it got dark, the moon came out and then set, and before we knew it, we were greeted with a beautiful sunrise in the Nebraska Sandhills. We made 72 miles that day, a new single-day record. Jesse, Bethany, and I each walked 35.5 miles, the longest any of us ever had ever done in less than 24 hours. The blisters at that end of that were no joke. My feet were in so much pain, and I had to resort to walking miles in flip-flops. By God’s grace, we made it to the town of Atkinson and an Airbnb where some kind Christian folks let us use the house beyond our reservation, as long as we needed it, at no extra charge. Phil & Kathy even invited us over for a great home-cooked supper, and we enjoyed some sweet fellowship.
In Atkinson, we got onto the Cowboy Trail, an old railroad line that has been made into a gravel pathway. We walked the Cowboy Trail west for many miles as it mainly followed alongside US Hwy 20. It was nice to get a break from the hard asphalt. Jesse and I had not been walking on the trail for more than a few minutes before we ran into some wonderful encouragement. Jeffrey was doing yard work when he saw us passing by. His home was just a stone’s throw from the trail. He immediately ran over to speak with us. Jeffrey was a man who feared the Lord. When he saw the cross leading, followed by the United States flag turned upside-down, he knew exactly the sort of message we came preaching. We found out that he also was burdened to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and led a small home fellowship right there in town. He received one of our Gospel tracts and said that he would share about the work with everyone in his church. Our talk with Jeffrey was so refreshing that time nearly got away from us. Before we knew it, an hour had passed. Such is the encouragement believers can offer one another during these dark days. When Proverbs 27:17 speaks of “iron sharpening iron” it means far more than believers simply companying together. Christians ought to sharpen one another’s graces and stir up each other to exercise them to the glory of God. Jeffrey was used of the Lord to do just that for Jesse and me on a hot day.
We enjoyed some good “iron sharpening” with Jeffrey on the Cowboy Trail in Atkinson, Nebraska
Seeds of the Gospel were scattered all along the Cowboy Trail and US Highway 20. Jesse and I witnessed to the Mayor of the little town of Long Pine when we were invited inside the small municipal community center to cool off from the heat. Bethany and Jesse met a Rancher near Valentine who payed for a few nights of lodging for us in town and treated us to a steak dinner that evening. That was a wonderful blessing. The encounter with him connected us with some believers from a small Baptist church where we enjoyed nice fellowship at a Wednesday night Bible study and breakfast together at the local livestock saleyard the next morning. And through THAT, we met a kind and virtuous widow woman from the church who lived right on our route about 12 miles down the highway. This sweet sister in Christ opened her home to us for a few nights and treated us to another great steak dinner as we made our way west on those long hot days in Western Nebraska.
This was the best time of day for walking the Cowboy Trail.
Eventually, the foothills of the Rockies did come into view. We blinked, and that Great Plains chapter came to a sudden close. Our feet crossed the Wyoming line. There was nothing left to do that evening but lay down on the asphalt and gaze up at the magnificent heavens. As the Lord wills, we will drive the long road from North Carolina back to that same spot in a few days … and we will just keep on walking. Our tentative plan is to turn north into South Dakota’s Black Hills. Perhaps we will then walk into a piece of Montana and come back down into Wyoming. The roads through Yellowstone National Park are scheduled to close for the winter the first week of November. If we don’t get through there by then, we will have to walk way south and around. Before Yellowstone, we have to somehow cross the Wind River Range, where one can choose a path over the mountains or a much longer route around them. The LORD knoweth all these things and will guide our steps as He has thus far, every step of the way. We are a bit pressed for time, however, as the snows can come as early as October in those mountains. This upcoming leg will probably need to go until Thanksgiving. We really do need this next leg bathed in the prayers of the saints. Our desire is to be faithful in the work God has set before us. Faithfulness is very difficult to find these days. In fact, Jesus Himself asked, “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Notwithstanding, we can be thankful in knowing He is faithful, and He promises that His Word will never return void.
“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11).
Hallelujah! We press onward. Thank you for taking the time to read this report. I hope it was encouraging. Lord willing, you will hear from me again somewhere along those Rocky Mountains, carrying that old rugged cross while preaching about my risen Savior!
The Lord be with you all,
Eric Trent
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 . . .
Stay tuned for more from the highways and hedges. It’s about 25 hours of driving to get back to the spot we last stopped walking. 4,413 miles; 14 states; 193 counties; 2,167 encounters; 120 Bibles … AND COUNTING.
In the Spirit of a Watchman upon a Wall (Isaiah 21),
Jesse Boyd, Full Proof Gospel Ministries