Since arriving in Montana this summer, we have walked about 65 miles of spur off #TheLongWalkUSA main route (including 28 miles of previously “un-walked” pavement in Madison County) and have enjoyed around 73 witnessing encounters. 2 Bibles have gone out, and there has been one encounter with a lost sheep from the House of Israel, a father down by the riverside with his children.

We are truly whipping our Team Yeshua volunteers into shape for the high-altitude of Ladakh, and Montana has proven a great place to do it. The LORD is good. Two words come to mind this morning as I reflect upon this past weekend in Madison County and ahead of today’s journey over to Helena:

SHEER PROFUNDITY!

Our team walked three stretches of asphalt with the crosses and flags: US 287 from the Madison County line south to Harrison, the asphalt from Harrison out to the community of Pony and the infamous Pony Bar, and Highway 41 from Twin Bridges out to the Madison County line at the Beaverhead, a prominent landmark that Lewis & Clark finally happened upon with Sacajawea as they searched for a way over the mountains in 1805.

The Pony walk on Sunday evening was interesting. A drunk in a red Mitsubishi got mad about the upside-down American flag and kept driving past us on the road, shouting and lobbing insults out the window. On his final pass, he said something about getting what was coming to us “at the bar” in town. I knew he was talking about the Pony Bar, and I knew we would have to walk right past it to get to the end of the pavement. The place is notorious. Fortunately, we had the ULTIMATE SAG VEHICLE with us that evening—the John Lamb Family tour bus. It went ahead and parked at the end of the pavement with the bar in sight. Jamie radioed back that there was indeed a group of people gathered outside. I gave it to the Lord, expecting trouble, and we just kept walking. One way or another, we were going to walk to the end of that pavement. By the time our little group finally came into town, the small crowd had dissipated. One of the bartenders was seated outside. I greeted her: “Good evening. Can I ask you a question? She replied, “I guess.” I inquired: “Where does our liberty come from?” She answered, “I don’t care.” I followed up: “Ok thanks. You have just confirmed why I need to keep carrying this up-side down American flag. We are a nation in distress, and it was old Thomas Jefferson who rightly trembled for this country when he thought about a day that Americans would forget or not even care that their liberty comes from the Hand of God.” What she said next was priceless: “Listen, I know who you are.” I couldn’t help but laugh.

***Indeed, we walked to the end of that pavement!***

She wouldn’t take a Gospel tract and stood up to go inside. Immediately, three men were upon me, and for a moment, it looked like I was about to get jumped. Instead, the unexpected transpired: I started talking about Jesus and those three men listened. A few others also hung around. When all was said and done, Carl, Grant, and Dan shook my hand and took Gospel tracts and a copy of my Rotten at Heart booklet. It was a great encounter outside the famous Pony Bar at the end of a long walk. Mr. Red Mitsubishi was nowhere to be found … just another coward who yells at a preacher and then flees into the night.

***A Great Encounter Outside the Infamous Pony Bar in Madison County***

Monday, we attended Judge Berger’s court in Virginia City, cross-walked from the courthouse to the Madison County Sheriffs Department, and got to give out a few more copies of Rotten at Heart. That afternoon, we completed the stretch out to the Beaverhead County line under a hot sun. Right at the pullout where we called it a day, an elderly man drove up looking for me. As it turned out Frank and I had traded a few emails back during the Madison County saga. He had reached out to me with concern and had offered some useful information. He actually attended some of my court hearings in person, and during the last one, he stood up in the courtroom and said very publicly, speaking of me on the Zoom screen, “I like his shirt.” The message on the front of that shirt read, “Self-defense is not a crime.” I never got to meet Frank and thank him personally for caring about our situation. He didn’t know me from a can of paint, and yet this elderly Madison County citizen cared. Unbeknownst to me, I walked right by his house on Monday. He saw a guy with a cross and wondered, “Is that Jesse Boyd?” He got in his pickup and drove out to investigate. As I walked up to the sign at the county line, this stranger was talking to my wife and the team running SAG. It was Frank. We stood at the Madison County sign for the longest time conversing about the things of the Lord and rejoicing in the great victory He had given us in Frank’s county. Sheer profundity.

***Team Yeshua on the Spiral Steps of the Old Virginia City Courthouse***

***An Unexpected Rendezvous with Frank at the Madison County Line***

It was a beautiful drive back to Missoula that evening by way of Dillon, the Big Hole, Lost Trail Pass, and the Bitteroot Valley. There were a few witnessing encounters along the way, including a man at a rest area who got very angry when one of our volunteers asked if he was ok and offered him a Gospel tract. He had been wheezing and seemed as if he needed help. I thought of the how the BIble describes the perilous times of the last days (II Timothy 3). Men will be “without natural affection.” That can take many forms, not the least of which involves responding to gestures of kindness with vitriol and hatred. Simply put, it’s not natural, and we do live in perilous times. As we prepared to drive off, the guy sounded like he was going to drop over dead. One of our volunteers went back and asked if we could help him. He yelled: “NOT IF YOU ARE GOING TO MENTION ANYTHING ABOUT GOD.” It was sad, but I was real proud of how these young people we have been training to be bold handled that situation. They handled it Christlike and with Christlike concern, despite the response. Please pray for this man. He needs help, and He needs Jesus.

Yesterday, we enjoyed some good teaching on how to properly handle the Word of God. Today, we head over to Helena to bless some folks at a weekly Bible study that started up as a result of what happened to us in Madison County. We may do a little cross-walking, and I hope we can enjoy another teaching session, this one atop Stemple Pass, a beautiful spot on #TheLongWalkUS main route.

Jamie heads back to NC for a week on Friday and then comes back out around the 12th. We all depart for South Asia on July 17th. My son Josiah wanted to earn a little money to take with him on our overseas journey. Ironically, he actually got some work in Madison County and is logging 12-hour-days this week, laboring with his hands. We’ll have to go pick him up sometime next week, and our Team Yeshua will undoubtedly log more previously un-walked pavement in a county that no longer looks so bad. I actually had a passing thought that it would be nice to live there. Sheer profundity!

Thanks for your prayers and support. Please continue to remember Team Yeshua Big Sky in your prayers!

montana spurs

SHEER PROFUNDITY!