TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Arthur Blessitt: Carrying the Cross of Christ

Episode Date: August 31, 2023

In a remarkable journey spanning 56 years, Arthur Blessitt, known as the "Pilgrim with the Cross," has devoted his life to an unparalleled mission of Christian evangelism, walking an astounding 43,340 miles across 324 countries, island groups, and territories.Starting on Christmas Day in 1969 in Hollywood, California, Blessitt took on the daunting task of carrying a 12-foot, 45-pound cross on foot, earning him a Guinness World Record for the "World's Longest Walk." His extraordinary pilgrimage led him into some of the planet's most dangerous and remote areas, including war-torn regions like Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Somalia, as well as geopolitical hotspots like North Korea, Iran, and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Venturing across all seven continents, including Antarctica, Blessitt has faced immense challenges, traversing mountains and deserts and crossing oceans, taking an estimated 86 million steps.Through it all, his unwavering dedication has made an indelible global impact, testifying to his boundless commitment to spreading a message of faith, hope, love, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.Rick Wiles, Doc Burkhart. Airdate 8/31/23You can partner with us by visiting TruNews.com/donate, calling 1-800-576-2116, or by mail at PO Box 690069 Vero Beach, FL 32969.It’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. Now available in eBook and audio formats! Order Final Day from Amazon today! https://www.amazon.com/Final-Day-Characteristics-Second-Coming/dp/0578260816/Apple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books!https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/final-day-10-characteristics-of-the-second-coming/id1687129858Purchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today. https://www.sacrificingliberty.com/watchThe Fauci Elf is a hilarious gift guaranteed to make your friends laugh! Order yours today! https://tru.news/faucielf

You are listening to True News with Rick Wiles. We appreciate you tuning in. To find out more information regarding the broadcast, including prayer and financial support, please visit our website at truenews.com. Our mailing address for all correspondence is True News, PO Box 690069, Faroe Beach, Florida, 32969. 999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999-999- sitting in for your host, Rick Wiles. In today's episode of True News, your host Rick Wiles speaks with Arthur Blessed. Now Blessed is a renowned

traveling Christian evangelist who has dedicated his life to a singular mission that has brought him international recognition as the pilgrim with the cross. So his extraordinary journey commenced on Christmas Day in 1969 in Hollywood, California. And he embarked on a crusade that led him to become the first individual to carry a 12-foot, 45-pound cross across every sovereign nation on foot, an unparalleled feat listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's longest walk.

Throughout his incredible pilgrimage, Arthur has ventured into some of the most remote and perilous corners of the globe. He's braved mountains, deserts, and even war-torn regions like Lebanon and parts of Africa, offering prayers for peace. In the midst of the Cold War, Blessed fearlessly took his cross into the Soviet Union, traversing Russia, the Baltic states, Ukraine, and more. And his path also included treacherous territories such as Iraq, North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, China, South Africa,

India, Antarctica, Palestine, Israel, Cuba, Libya, Yemen, Vietnam, and Mongolia. In total, Arthur Blessed has walked an astounding 38,102 miles across 315 countries, encompassing island groups and territories as well. Astonishingly, 52 of these regions were in active states of war. So this remarkable journey has led him to cross oceans and set foot on all seven continents, including Antarctica. 2023 marks the 56th year of Arthur's ongoing journey, bearing witness to his steadfast commitment to carrying the

cross through every nation. And from 1968 to 2023, he has amassed a Guinness World Record title for the longest walk and pilgrimage, a staggering 43,340 miles, transverse to over 324 countries, island groups, and territories. And this extraordinary venture accounts for an incredible 86 million steps

and the movement of over 19 billion pounds of weight, all in the service of sharing the message of Christ, the cross, and the gospel. Now in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges, Arthur Blessed's unwavering dedication has left an indelible mark on the world, embodying the spirit of faith, perseverance, and a boundless commitment to spreading his message of hope and love. Here is Rick's conversation with Arthur Blessed from December 3, 2014. Jesus said, Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also

before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. I read an article just a few minutes ago that simultaneously moved me to tears and filled me with courage and hope. The article was focused on an interview that Anglican canon Andrew White recently gave to an Orthodox church network. Many of you remember canon white on True News last summer. He was the last remaining Anglican pastor in Iraq. And when we spoke to him, he was hiding in the mountains from ISIS jihadists. And if you recall that interview, he said that he only had about 1,500 members remaining of his

5,000-member congregation. He said he didn't know where the rest of them had gone or if they were still alive. And the saddest thing that he told us in that interview, when he broke down weeping, he said that the Muslims cut in half with a sword a little boy whom Cannon White had baptized. And in fact, that little boy had been named for him. Now, in this most recent interview, Cannon White told the interviewer a true story about four Iraqi children who were kidnapped by ISIS jihadists. The Muslims told the

children to convert to Islam. They responded, no, we love Yeshua. We have always loved Yeshua. We have always followed Yeshua. Yeshua has always been with us. The four children were given a second opportunity to renounce Jesus Christ and convert to Islam. Once again, they steadfastly refused to renounce their Savior. The Muslims cut off the heads of all four children. Jesus also said that if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. The man on the telephone is the only human being I know who literally obeyed Jesus' words and carried his cross to every nation in the world.

Arthur Blessed's journey started in 1968. He walked over 41,000 miles carrying a large wooden cross in a total of 323 nations, islands, and territories. His website is blessed.com. In a total of 323 nations, islands, and territories. His website is blessed.com. Arthur, welcome back to True News. Well, it's wonderful to hear you, and God bless you, and thank you for what you're doing. And I'm so moved with your stories there in Iraq, and of course I carried the cross through there.

What was your thoughts as I talked about the four children who refused to renounce Christ and were beheaded? Right. Well, it reminded me that we have to remember that at the birth of Jesus Christ, right after the birth, when Herod had all of the male children killed in Bethlehem, I mean, the persecution began with the birth of Christ. And when Jesus began his ministry, John the Baptist was beheaded. And Jesus went off and withdrew himself to pray. He was so moved by that. And the first deacon was stoned to death. So it's almost a repeat of early history. And it is so sad and so sorrowful.

And I have been in every one of the nations in the world and every island group and have seen the persecution of believers. And it's only by the sovereign will of God that I've survived and my wife and my children that have been with me from time to time and to go into all the world. And I like that scripture you said of confessing openly. I was in a service just the other day, a big church, and they prayed in his name and the other minister prayed in your name and they didn't even say whose name. And so on one hand, we have people standing strong and open and bold, and on the other hand, we have believers that don't even want to say the name of Jesus. When you hear about four children standing up to adults with swords, threatening to kill them,

and they have the courage and the commitment to Jesus Christ to say, we will not bow, we will not convert. And they lost their heads. They lost their lives. It's a terribly depressing story, yet at the same time, Arthur, it is an inspiring story, because what excuse do we have here in the United States to not shout the name of Jesus Christ? Nobody's cutting off our heads yet, and yet, as you say, we've got people in this country who are not even willing to say his name publicly. I know, I know. I guess the most moving thing with me of that was when my son Joshua

and I were going into Beirut in 1982, and as we were driving, we'd rented a car in Israel and had the cross tied on top. It's a long story, but we finally got up to Beirut near the airport and the road just disintegrated and fighting. The Israelis were there attacking the city and there were the PLO and all that war exploded in front of us. And Joshua was 12, and he had felt Jesus tell him to go with me into Beirut with the cross. And so I said to Joshua, as the road just exploded and all the fighting in front of us, and I said, Joshua, if we go ahead, there's no turning back. And he was crying, and he said, wait a minute, Dad. And I looked at him and he just looked straight ahead. I'll never forget his eyes. And he closed his eyes like he was praying. And then he opened his eyes and he said, let's go, Daddy.

And I said, there's no way back. If we go in, we've got to go in all the way with the cross. There's no turning back. He said, let's go. And we did. And we went in, and he and I walked through two blocks of landmines to go into Beirut. And there we met Yasser Arafat. CNN happened to come up and see and recorded that interview. And it's in the movie The Cross. Did you speak with him? Yes, I spoke with Arafat for over two—I met with him three different times.

I spoke with him for several hours total, but one time over two hours. I've read various stories that, yes, Arafat was very interested in Jesus Christ. That is absolutely true. I met him the first time in 1980, about two o'clock in the morning, was taken by gunmen. I was in there carrying the cross, but I was at a place at night, and he wanted to meet me. They brought me to him in the night and a building with blacked out windows. And when I walked into the room where he was, he got up and he walked toward me and he knew I was carrying a 12-foot cross. But I didn't have it at that moment. Now, the other time when I went in with my son, I was carrying it open there. But they had taken me a night.

And when I looked at Arafat, I said, it's one fanatic meeting another. And he broke into a big grin and he hugged me. And I said, I've come to share with you about Jesus. And I sat down and he sat down and I read the red words of Jesus. And I read the whole Beatitudes to him. And then I got down on my knees and prayed, holding his hand for about 10 minutes, and then invited him to pray, and I led in the sinner's prayer. And he didn't say anything, but I asked him whether he prayed in his his mind or if he didn't or what. But when I asked him if he prayed the prayer, he said he looked at the people around him. He said, I can't say.

But I talked for hours about Jesus. I just read an article about two weeks ago, and I don't recall the Christian who was quoted in the article, but it was somebody who knew Arafat, and this gentleman said, like you, he said, although I never heard with my own ears Arafat confess Jesus Christ, he said, I would not be surprised to find out that before he died, he was saved. Yes, R.T. Kendall, who was a former pastor of Westminster Chapel, I think that's who was in the article. Right, and he was a friend of mine, and I was preaching at the chapel during those days, or those years, and he went over and actually showed the Passion of the Christ movie to Arafat and also invited him to pray. But he was there where Arafat was before where he got sick and took him to Paris, but he still had on his desk the cross that I gave him.

Did he really? In 1982. But he said to me, the cross is more powerful than the sword. God was after that old boy, wasn't he? He was. He was. And he was very hungry. We talked about Jesus. I said to Yasser Arafat, sharing my heart and soul, and I said, if you'll lay your pistol, he had his pistol on.

I said, if you'll put your pistol on the table, I'll walk with you and I'll carry the cross and walk beside you to Jerusalem or as far as we go. But you got to lay the gun down. And he looked at me and I looked at him and we understood each other because I was there with a 12 foot cross. actually, the clip that CNN broadcast with Peter Arnett showed me the second time praying with Yasser Arafat and with Joshua, my son. We've gone into the world to share the message of Jesus with people. And I can tell you that in spite of people thinking you can't go, you can't do these things, like you said, in 1968 when I made the cross, I've now carried it all over the world openly in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Korea, all of these places. And I've been carrying the cross this morning. I just came back here for your program.

I'm 74 years old and have now walked over 41,000 miles. And the new Guinness Book of World Records says it's the longest documented walk in human history. And you were carrying the cross today. Arthur, is it now so ingrained in your being that you have to carry the cross continuously? Well, yes. I grew up, I was saved when I was seven, and I started preaching when I was 15. And my dad had a problem with drinking, and I was in bars many times from the time I was four years old when he came back from World War II. And I prayed with dad when I was 13 years old. And then I went with him into bars sharing Christ. But I have a burden for the world,

but I never dreamed about carrying a cross. I was in Hollywood ministering with the hippies on Sunset Strip in the 60s, preaching in the nightclubs, rock festivals. I preached on stage with Janis Joplin, the Rolling Stones, Steppenwolf, Ted Nugent, all those old singers back those days. And then Jesus said, open a coffee house as a follow-up and make the cross, put it on the wall of the building. And I didn't even want to do that because I preached the message of the cross. And I didn't want, I never owned a cross before then. And then the Lord showed me the power of symbolism in the Bible, baptism, communion, all of these things that are symbols as well as Old Testament symbols. And he said, I want you to make a big cross, like the kind of cross Christ would have been

crucified on, and put it on the wall of the building. And I did. And then would carry it on short walks in Hollywood back in 68 in 1969 and then in 69 Jesus said take it off the wall and carry it across America and I've now been what 36 years now will be of walking with the cross, and the cars stop out here in the streets, and they say, do you pray? They'll holler out the passenger window, and I'll say, yes, I pray. And people get out of their car. I'm here in Denver and Douglas County. They'll get out of the car right in the middle of the traffic and housewives with Lexus and Mercedes and all kinds of cars and weeping. And the people behind don't even blow the horn. They see somebody being ministered to and the police just go around. They don't stop either. And people are so hungry. Business people, office buildings, they're just CEOs of office buildings. They said,

bring your cross up. And they helped me carry it up the stairwell up to their offices and call other CEOs in and have me share Christ with them. People in the neighborhoods right here in America, people are so hungry. It is so ripe. And yet, Arthur, they're not getting fed in the churches. No, I know. And I say, do you go to church? And they say, I don't feel comfortable there. I can't get through. It takes so much staff before I get to somebody. And so people, I'm not condemning the church.

I'm just saying when Jesus was here, Rick, the sinners came to him. They saw in him hope and life and change and his love for them. And today, people are scared of the church. And they don't want to go. They don't feel it relates. But the people are hungry of the church and uh they don't want to go they don't feel it relates it's but the people are hungry for jesus and and i mean i mean we've got some churches now that never give an invitation they never call people to christ i know i've been there i've been in the services there'll be a card maybe behind and the pew to fill out if you want to have somebody contact you about knowing Jesus. And we need voices like yours and mine

and to get out. And that's how the gospel went out into the world. And it's the only hope of the world is to go and confront people person to person and face to face. reading a mainstream newspaper article. It was an interview with Hugo Chavez, the late president of Venezuela. And in that interview, he said, whenever I'm with Fidel Castro, we always talk about Jesus. And I read that line several times. Like, is this in this news article? Hugo Chavez meets with Fidel Castro, and their favorite topic is Jesus Christ. Yes. So that tells me the hunger is there, even among people that we think would be hardened rebels. But privately, they want to talk about Jesus.

And that also tells me that, again, we as the church, we're failing to recognize it and connect with those people. Exactly. I have been through all of these Muslim countries, every Muslim country in the world, openly with a 12-foot cross. And Pakistan was taken out before Sharia Council to them to determine what to do with my wife and I. Because we'd just been over in Afghanistan. We were coming back. There were miracles happening. And I said, I'm a follower of Jesus. And then the man that spoke English and him interpreting, we spent the whole time And I'll never forget, he said, will you pray for my brother over here to be healed?

And let's see if this Jesus can heal my brother. And I went out and I was like, oh, oh, wow, and I talked to his brother, and his brother spoke English, and I just went through the whole gospel with him. He got on his knees. I said, get on your knees. Pray this. Jesus, wash me with your holy blood that was shed on the cross for my sins. the you were born the virgin mary live without sin he prayed everything and the lord healed him and they said you can go freely and and and the guy that was my interpreter is still there that. It's still in that area, and entire mountain villages in the Hindu Kush are followers of Jesus. Arthur, yes, sir, go ahead.

I have an article from the newspaper in Chitral celebrating the birthday of Jesus December the 25th in an area in Chitral there in Northwest province that has never had a church building in history and so people are hungry to know about Jesus in Libya I met with the leaders of the Islamic Call Society for three days, sharing the Bible and the Koran. We were talking, and Dr. Ali, they said at the end of three days that I didn't convert them and they didn't convert me. They said, we won't oppose you. You're welcome. And you're just a bit deceived about the resurrection. I mean, the crucifixion, resurrection of Christ may have been born of the Virgin Mary, but I don't know. I've got in,

I've seen the people in the bar rooms and on drugs, world leaders, everybody i talk to i talk about jesus i have been five times at the united nation as guests of the arab league and the libyans and and with my bible and they know i carry the cross and i get phone calls from from in Muslim countries saying, pray for me. Actually, pray for me. I said, and I started to say, just pray for me, pray for me. And God bless you. Bye-bye. And I found the world hungry for Jesus.

Arthur, I have followed you for so many years. I've heard you speak numerous times. In fact, the first time I heard you speak was in the mid-'80s when I was working for Pat Robertson. And you were speaking in the chapel there in Virginia Beach. Yes. And I was there in the audience, and you had just come back. I think you had just come back from Central America, if I recall. That's when the war with the Sandinistas was going on in Nicaragua.

Right. as was going on in Nicaragua. And you told a story about you and a missionary there, you were carrying boxes of Bibles, and you got surrounded by Sandinista soldiers. Do you remember that story? They were going to shoot you? Of course. I was walking from North America to South America carrying the cross. And I had a vehicle.

And at that time, I mean, I had gone down and was going into Nicaragua. And Mike Uten, who's still living today, and Don Price, who's a veterinarian doctor in Key Largo, Florida, were with me. Don was teaching me Spanish, and the war was there between the Sandinistas and the government of Nicaragua. A short version of this story, at 2 o'clock in the night, there's a bang on the door of the trailer that was hooked on behind our four-wheel drive vehicle. And I opened the door, and there were gunmen. And they said, you know, narcotics, policia. And they were looking in the cabinets at the food, and then they said, come outside. And I grabbed the truck keys because I thought maybe they wanted to rob, you know, take the truck, they could have it.

And, no, they stood me near the truck, and there were about seven gunmen with rifles and pistols. And they, I was preaching in Spanish, the bit I knew in Spanish. My cross was on the other side of the truck. And I realized this was a firing squad. They were going to shoot me. And when they said, uno, I figured dos, tres. And I don't know what the word for fire is. I never wanted to know.

But it just flashed in my mind. I'm not going to die without my Bible. And it was a moon night. It was a clear, bright, moonlit night. And I just stuck the key in the truck door. And there was a box of Bibles there that we were going to give out to the village people in the morning. And I grabbed that box of Bibles and I set them down. And they had that cord with kind of a cord tape, and you couldn't hardly get your fingers in it to pull, and I set the box down, and I'm pulling. Finally,

I tear a hole in the box, and I grab a Bible, and I'm so excited, and then I'm alive, and I think, well, I'll get them all a Bible, and I loaded my arm up with Bibles, and I could see their feet around me. And I started to stand up. And when I stood up, I promise you, there was no one there. About 15 feet away, there were six of them laying on the ground and one laying in the trailer door with his feet sticking out. And I went up and I said, what, what is it? Curio un biblia? Necesita agua? Do you need some? And they got up, stunned, and they ran, jumped on the back of a

truck. And that truck with two guys with machine guns on, and they ran, jumped on the back of a truck, and that truck with two guys with machine guns on it, they just drove off down the road. I went in, and Mike and Don said they heard blows like being hit, and like the air knocked out, and I said no. They thought I was fighting, and I said no. I didn't do anything. I said no I didn't do anything I just looked up there on the ground and the people in the village came up to the door and they were all out there kneeling and they said we saw a bright light God was here a bright light God was here and and uh so I mean and I went on through the country and I remember the next day I mean, and I went on through the country. And I remember the next day I was walking and I thought, Lord, I thought I was going to die.

And they were going to shoot me. And it seemed like Jesus said, you're not getting out this easy, buddy. I got a lot of roads for you to walk, a lot of miles for you to travel. You're going to keep going. I won't take care of you. Keep on walking. Keep on talking. Keep on preaching. But the Lord miraculously delivered down in Miami years later at the airport. A guy came up hollering at baggage, and he saw me there, and he was there with the gunman that night. My wife and I and daughter, Sophia, we adopted Sophia. She's 10 years old now. She's Guatemalan, Maya Indian, wonderful, and we went down to Nicaragua, and I went back to that area, and that was a few years ago,

and I got the recording. I found an old man that was there that night and saw what happened and got an interview with him, but that was an awesome miracle, but I was like, either just keep going, so I've just gone. To me, the will of God is wherever he says to go. But if he doesn't say go there, I'm not going. But when he says go, it doesn't matter whether it's Honolulu or Baghdad or a war or a jungle or what. Jesus is there, and he has a mission. I remember, Arthur, you telling a story about in a Middle Eastern country and you were surrounded by a crowd of angry Arab men who were getting ready to stone you. And if I recall, you had some one or more mysterious visitors. That was that was my first walk into a Muslim country, children started hollering and things,

and then they started throwing rocks, and then it built and built and built. And that was before I learned how to deal with this. I didn't know now when I go and what I did later was I started playing with the kids. I started letting them ride on the cross and whatever and making friends. But I didn't know at that time. So I just kept walking. And then it built and built and built instead of going over and asking somebody to get me some water or something else and make contact so I was walking and finally a mob built up and they were they have these sticks there in Morocco the and they usually have a knot on the end and they were beating on the cross and on the wheel of the cross that keeps it from wearing off and I was surrounded and I remember saying, get supper ready, Lord. I think I'm coming home

and I was getting hit and then there was a building. It was in the street and there were two men stepped out of a doorway and there was a little street, and there were two men stepped out of a doorway, and there was a little concrete step, and they were dressed in white, which was not unusual because some wore white in that area, but this was an awesome wife. And they started speaking to the people and hollering and everybody looked at them. And I just felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit go. And so I just literally pushed people out of the way and walked right through the crowd. And when I got about a hundred yards or more down the road, one or two rocks rolled by me and I was on down the road and the crowd never came. And then that was the only time that I ever had an event like that happen. But those two men, I think, were angels. But they, you know, God made provision to get through to deliver the message. And I went on through Morocco and then on across Africa.

Have you ever been kidnapped? Detained? You know how to punch that button. I don't talk about a lot of these things. Okay, all right. No, let me – I'll answer your question. Okay. I mean, I married Denise in 1990, and I remember saying to her, I'll never fight for you, and we'll never get kidnapped. I said, we'll die, but we're not going to get kidnapped.

I said, we'll walk out. They can shoot us, do whatever, but we're going to, you know, and if you don't want to live that life, okay, because we can't win anyway. I can't fight. You know, we don't have guns and we don't have security and we're going to all the dangerous places. So she said that that's fine with me. And we were down in Guyana in South America. And when we got out at the airport, we were going to go into town. And then it was in the afternoon, we're going to go into town and then start walking with the cross the next day. So the cross, I had to cut it years ago and and and half so it's in three six foot sections so at that so it was in our sleeping bag and it was this big long bag but it was uh and then we had both had backpacks and so when we went outside, there was a big, you know, push or whatever to get us in this taxi or whatever was trying.

And there was a bus that was sitting over on the side. And so I walked over there and it was empty. And I asked in Spanish if he could take me to town. And my wife and he said yes. And as we stepped on the bus, there were these group of men that stepped on the bus too. And I went, ooh. And as he started driving out of the airport, then the guys went up to him directing him, and he turned off, drove back behind the airport in some forest, and then they pulled out guns,

and they were saying, Vamanos, come with us. And about half of them stepped off the bus, and the other half were on and pointed for us to get our bags. And I grabbed the cross bag, and I said, okay, Denise, you know what it is. We walk out. And as we stepped off, they started to point the guns at us. And I grabbed her, and we started walking, and they were hollering. And we started walking back down this trail, and I was just ready any moment for bullets to come flying. They were hollering, and Denise said, I'm going to see what's happening.

And I said, don't look back. Remember Lot's happening. And I said, don't look back. Remember Lot's wife. I said, don't look back. But she looked back anyway, and she said, the bus is coming. And the bus driver drove up, and he opened the door, and he motioned for us to get in. And I looked under the seats to see if there was any more gunmen hid under there, and it wasn't. And so we got jumped on the bus, and I pointed and said to town, and we went. And that was the only time we were officially, I guess you'd say, tried to be kidnapped.

We were taken in by the military in Burundi during a military coup. And but that was kind of an unofficial taking. And finally, we met the head of the coup and he became the acting president, was on TV that night, and he let us go. You know, I was thinking as you were talking, I interviewed a missionary in Colombia, and he's in a very dangerous area where the FARC guerrillas are at, the drug dealers and such and revolutionaries. And I asked him about being kidnapped. He goes, yeah, yeah, you know, I think I've been kidnapped about 15 times. And he said, it's no big deal anymore. He said, you know, they tie you to a tree. They put a gun to your head.

He goes, it's the same routine every time. And he said, so I know if I just stay there at the tree for three or four days, they're eventually going to untie me and let me go. But I'm thinking, you know, okay, you've been tied to a tree 15 times, you know, and it's just routine to you now. Hey, one last question. I was thinking another story. This one I always thought was very humorous. And I don't recall, again, the location. It was a rainforest or a jungle. There was a scientific team going through the rainforest, and they kind of got bogged down on the journey. They couldn't make it. Do you know which story I'm talking about? Oh, you're talking about the Darien jungle. People need to get my book, I mean, the movie The Cross, the author blessed

story, and The Cross Museum, and it tells some of these stories. But anyway, I'll tell you that brief. I was still on that journey where I'd gone through Nicaragua and the firing squad, and finally you get to Panama, and that's the canal zone. And this was in the seventies and you had the U S forces still there. And, and, and they had me speak at the chapel, but they said, you cannot go through the Darien jungle. Um, it's impenetrable and especially with a 12 foot cross and you need to take a boat around to fly over to Colombia, and I said, Jesus said, walk, and anyway, I had two friends. I had tried to be normal one of the few times in my life. I had gone back to America, and I got two people to other was a doctor, and they were going to go with me and spoke Spanish and whatever. Anyway, within less than a week, they turned back and came back, on Wikipedia about the Darien jungle, the few people that have gone through it.

And so anyway, when the second guy left and laid down his backpack and everything, take what you want, and he was heading back. And for me, that was not the question, if, but how. And I remember standing there in tears running down my cheek, and I kept my Bible and my passport and a little money and a couple of canteens of water and whatever. And I said, in the name of Jesus, the devil isn't going to kill me. I'll see Columbia. If you want me to die, Jesus, I'll die for you. But the devil isn't going to do it. You'll call me home. And so, and I walked into the water with a cross on my shoulder. And I mean, I fell through down cliffs and vines. And you have Bushmaster snakes and Fertilite snakes and five-layer forest. And I was going through, and one day I heard, and it was like a chainsaw.

And they say, the locals will say, the Chocó and Cuda Indians, and they would say, anybody that spoke English in some of the little villages, they'd say, if you're out there at night, you'll never come back because you go crazy. It's the pressure of the aloneness and the density of the forest and everything. And I think I may be hallucinating. I was just living off of one container of lemon drops, fruit drops, and iguana eggs and whatever. And I thought, that sounds like a chainsaw. I grew up down in Mississippi and Louisiana, and we had a sawmill and a cotton plantation. And I know what a chainsaw sounds

like and when it died off, I hollered, hey, anybody speak English? And I screamed that out and suddenly I heard somebody holler back blank to blank blank, yes. I thought, yeah, they really do speak English if they know those words. And so I was hollering and they were hollering. And finally, I had my machete and I came, I'm sitting here looking over, there's my machete right there. And I came down with that machete and somebody else did. And now we cut through the vegetation. We were looking at one another, and it was a group from like National Geographic Exploring where, you know, he white man never been. Permitive villages untouched by humans. And there's Arthur Blessed in a cross. And there I am with a 12-foot cross, and they say, what are you doing? And I said,

well, I'm carrying the cross. They said, where did you come from? I said, from the U.S. And I said, where are y'all going? They said, well, we're on the way, you know, through the Dari. And I said, well, just follow my trail. There's a path all the way back. I've got my way, and I started talking to them about Jesus, and they said, you can do anything but baptize us, and they took pictures, and that picture that they took is what is on the cover of the movie, The Cross. Later on, they sent me some photographs and they showed me, well, they had helicopter support. The helicopters would come in and bring them in support. They had about 20 something locals that were helping them cross the streams and whatever. And they

were all sponsored by, you know, this this they had patches all over them with all their system they said who's sponsoring you i said jesus i said you know i hadn't got any badges just got a cross and and so when they sent me the pictures that they had they they showed me i mean they said open the pictures in the order. And there was first when they first saw me and then when I was leaving. And then they were going to a village and there were these people that they were just wearing G-strings and wearing Jesus stickers. And so they were these day glow jesus stickers they're red uh day glow jesus smile god loves you jesus loves you and they said we you know these people so primitive and all they've got these stickers on so they had to they had to

catch them and peel the stickers off so they could take the pictures. So it would be like they were the first ones there were these primitive people. But, yeah, that was a— Oh, my, what a story. What a story. Every village, I would do a drama of the crucifixion of Christ. And I got letters later, years later, when missionaries went into those villages, people would say, oh, we already heard. And they would tell them about Jesus dying on the cross. And I'd teach them the name Jesus. And when I'd finally leave a village, I'd go, Jesus. And everybody would shout Jesus. That was all I knew and all they knew. But do it the best you can for the Lord.

Well, Arthur, I know our radio audience is wishing that I had another hour, that we could continue so that we would hear more of these amazing stories. But I want our listeners to know, you can get the DVD, The Cross, and these stories and a lot more are on that DVD. And also, Arthur, you have another DVD, The Cross Museum. What is this about? Well, The Cross Museum is something that my children and my wife and other people who have seen the museum and it's really the basement of our house and and it has memorabilia from the world's longest walk the guinness book of records and and guinness book came uh and they sent three people over and they photographed. And there's a feature in the 2015 book of Guinness World Records of me. And they were photographing all these objects and telling

little stories about just teeny, a few, one paragraph each of different items that I have in here. And my kids, and then seeing what Dick Guinness was interested in, I thought they were saying, you can't die and leave all this. I'm 74 years old now, and still going strong, because we don't know the story behind all of these things. You got any shrunken heads from Africa or anything like that? Okay, all right. No, I hadn't got that, but I do have a piranha that's dried. But I have the crosses, and right now I reach back and I put my hand on the first cross I carried out of Hollywood. And then there is like a big pile, probably four foot around and piled up of broken crosses.

And when people see that, they just start crying. They can't believe it. I was carrying the cross. Every one of those crosses were broken. And from one, and my machete and the cross that Yasser Arafat gave me, a big mother of pearl cross with his signature. And I tell the stories of all the items that's here. And we did this ourself. Now, the movie The Cross was done by Matt Crouch with TBN now, but it was with Generation at the time. But we did this. I've learned enough with my wife and with Sophia, our daughter. We filmed because I wanted to open my heart and tell the story. I've got

a picture here with me sharing Christ with Bob Dylan and Charlie Daniels and taking Billy Graham into a bar in Northern Ireland and sharing Christ there and all these awesome things that are unbelievable. And I tell those stories, and it's in a DVD set, seven hours and 48 minutes. So it's four DVDs with two hours on each, and it's not made for I mean it's well done we got a professional editor but it's it's well done but it's the stories the stories and when I felt like crying I cried when I felt like laughing I laughed and I was looking at my wife filming me our Sophia filming and when she was talking, I was filming her, and little Sophia, she's on fire. She's been in 43 countries, and she's on fire for Jesus, and so that's what the

Cross Museum is, is the history, and I feel such peace that I've told the story behind the story. When you watch the movie The Cross, it kind of, Matt did a thing where it goes up like a Google, you know, it goes up and then it goes down and then you show up in the Darien jungle, or you show up in Nicaragua, and or you show up over in with Yasser Arafat, and it's a great movie, but you don't know how I got there. You don't know all the details. Well, with the Cross Museum, you got the details. So they're reliving the journey.

Yes. Yes. Yes, and it goes by items. In other words, if you want to see my machete, boom, there you click on the machete. And there's like five minutes where I'm talking about the machete in the Darien jungle. Two knives. Those two knives were at my throat. Two different experiences.

People came to slit my throat, and I led them to the Lord and got the knives. And so you click on the items that you want to see, or you can just click one time and go through a whole DVD. Amazing. And they are available at your website, blessed.com. Blessed.com, inblessed.com in our store. And with the museum, I didn't want anybody to touch it except me and my wife and daughter and the editor. And we were telling him what to put. But he knew the computer thing, how to move it and get it because it was so personal. It's like the inside of my heart and soul.

There's all the memorabilia from all the years of travel, and it's right there in your home. And it's so like if people watch the DVD, it's like coming into your home and seeing what you have from all the years of travel. Right. Every pair of shoes that I've worn. And you just look at those 46 pair of shoes and you just like, I mean, you see the condition there and and you see those broken crosses, just been out walking and still heading out again. God is good. And going and serving the Lord. And I love it. I'm happy. I'm at peace and I'm blessed. And I want people to share Jesus with others that if anybody has never received Christ, invite him into your heart. Repent. Say, Jesus, cleanse me. Be my savior. I want to follow you. I'm not ashamed of you. I confess you as my savior. Tell your wife, your husband, your friends, I'm saved. I want to follow you. I'm not ashamed of you. I confess you as my Savior. Tell your wife, your husband, your friends, I'm saved. I'm a follower of Jesus. Hallelujah.

Amen. Arthur, you are an original, and I am so honored to have the opportunity to talk to you. Well, I am looking at your picture here, and I remember you, and I look back, and all your service at Christian Broadcasting and with TBN and everything you did and now what you're doing. God bless you, and thank you for having me. Thank you for asking the questions you did and touching my heart. And I love you, brother. And keep up the witness for Christ. Thank you. We love you too, Arthur. And people all over the world love you.

You've made a mark on more people than you'll ever know. And so until you're home with the Lord, you'll find out how many people you touched. Arthur, bless it. God bless you, friend. Hey, thank you. God bless you, too. And God bless everybody. What an honor to talk with Arthur.

Well, thank you for joining us for today's presentation with host Rick Wall, speaking to Arthur, bless it from December 2014. I'd like to introduce you to a new chapter in our ministry journey. It's called Faith and Values. Now, we believe that faith and values is on the cusp of becoming the ultimate digital haven for conservative Christian families. Now, this journey started just over a month ago when we launched Faith and Values exclusively first for our True News family. Those remarkable partners whose generous contributions remain the lifeblood of everything that we do. Now, recent times have witnessed the opening of our doors to the wider public, and we have been extremely blessed with the positive response. Now, for those partners who supported True News through donations in 2022 or 2023, you have been sent an invitation to a complimentary membership with Faith Values.

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