Christ's Reward

”The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.“
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭51‬:‭17‬ ‭

Coming Year For 3 Years For This Moment
In Miami there is an area where they have weights and people workout on the beach. It’s a muscle beach gym area. So I was walking by this area with the cross and a guy came up to me. He asked, “what are you doing with that cross?” I told him that I was carrying it to all 50 states and pointing people to Jesus.” He said, wow that really cool. He opened up about his life and how he had a one year old and was trying to make it living in Miami. He mentioned he had been reading the Bible and wanted to get baptized. I told him that we could do it, right now, in the ocean. He smiled real big and was like, really!? I said, “yes.” I shared the Gospel and he listened and he had faith to be born again as he wasn’t born again yet. I made it clear that baptism didn’t save you but placing your faith in Jesus and confessing Him as Lord. So he decided to be born again before we baptized him.
On the way to the ocean, he said, “ I was just thinking yesterday, why do I keep coming to this gym to workout, I’ve been coming here for 3 years. I’m not getting much bigger as I’m a big guy. But right now I realize the reason I’ve been coming is for this moment.” I encouraged him in the way God has perfect timing. He said, yeah that’s for sure. Then we got to the beach and baptized him the ocean. He was so happy! We got his number and sent him his baptism video. Which he showed to his family later.
Christ's Reward

Top 3 coffees of 2023 ☕️:
If you have been around long enough, you may have noticed my love for coffee. Here was my top 3 spots from last year:

🥇 - Las Vegas, NV 
🥈 - Austin, TX
🥉 - Myrtle Beach, SC

2023’s Top 5 Lessons Learned:

One cross is enough.
-Carrying 2 crosses in Austin was a lot to manage and could cause people to feel unsure even more of our message.

The cross isn’t a sign of protest but a humble route to reach people with the Gospel.
-I am not on a mission to pretest as Jesus didn’t come to protest but am following the route of Jesus to reach the world with a message of the Hope found in Jesus.

Proper communication with the team on our approach is key!
-Don’t surround and overwhelm people
-We are going to walk A LOT!
-We are going to share the Gospel message and hear are some tools to do so…

Smaller teams in cities
-More people = more moving parts to manage.

It’s all in the smile 😃
-Make eye contact and smile with people while talking to them.
-This is fun!

Merry Christmas!

The time I sat outside of a cvs on the ground and someone thought I was homeless and gave me $5. I must have looked worn out. The lady said, “are you okay?” I said, “yeah, just tired.” She responded, “well, I’m going to give this to you anyways.” And handed me $5. 😂

Freedom From Drinking
There was a lady smoking a cigarette and i approached her. She was grateful that we were carrying the cross. I offered to pray for her and she said to pray for her to be free from drinking. She had a drinking problem. I prayed for her. This lady knew a little about Jesus and the Word. Then I asked her, has she ever fully surrendered to Jesus? And she was like no. She was now crying. I knew Holy Spirit was at work. She told me that she felt this was a sign from God that we had crossed paths. Then she said, “yes, I want to fully surrender”. And she gave her life to Christ on her smoke break at work.

Your Ministry is For Believers Too
Vik one of the team members was carrying the cross and a lady came up and started at him and said, “do you know who else carried the cross?” And we said Jesus and she said, yes and “Simon” she begin to open up about her struggles and then I offered to let her carry the cross and she wanted to and the next thing you know this lady carried the cross for 45 minutes. She opened up about how she has lost trust in God and used to share the Gospel with others. She has stopped because she had lost hope. I encouraged her in the nature of God. His love for her and how He wasn’t afraid of her questions. She started crying several times while she carried the cross. The Lord deeply touched her. Then at the end she said, “this ministry of carrying the cross isn’t just for the lost but also other believers. Thank you.” She prayed a prayer for us and went on her way.

Unforgettable River Baptism
I was standing at a red light waiting for the walk sign then a guy came up to wait on his scooter. One of the team members Louis offered the guy prayer and the guy on the scooter said, "that would be great". He was a football player at the college nearby in Wichita. He got off the scooter and opened up to us that he had recently given his life to Jesus. He was really trying to follow Jesus but temptation was really hard for him. At the moment that he was talking to us he told us that he was actually headed to go sin and how he was grateful to run into us. Then he told us about how he had an abortion this past summer with his girlfriend in college and he felt guilty and sick at his stomach about his decision to do this in the summer. We listened and prayed for the Holy Spirit to touch his heart and to give him strength. He told us that he had recently been wanting to be baptized. It was about 45 degrees outside but offered to baptize him and he said, "yes, I want to do it, now!" The next thing you know we are taking him to the Arkansas River in downtown Wichita and we baptize him in the cold. He went from go to sin to being baptized and he was super grateful for our encounter!

7 Months Ago, I Would Have Went to Hell
There was a girl walking down the street in Boston and she was limping so I approached her and she told me that she had messed up her knee. She was at a pain level of 10 which was a lot of pain. I offered to pray for her and she let me. She got a little better. She checked it by walking down the street. Ultimately, I prayed for her five times and each time she got better to the point that she got totally healed. I transitioned to the Gospel and she opened up and told us that seven months ago she had done some drugs and they had fentanyl in them and she flat lined at the hospital. She believed that Jesus gave her a second chance to be alive now. I asked her, “where she thought she would have spent eternity?” and she said, “I would have definitely gone to hell.” We talked some more and told her, “Jesus conquered death and that if she gave her life to Jesus that He would give her purpose in life.” she listened and told us that in this moment of the conversation that she wasn’t sure if she was ready to give her life to Christ.” I processed some more with her about the Gospel and she counted the cost of following Christ. She then looked at me and said, “yeah, I am ready to surrender my life to Jesus.” After she prayed to receive Jesus, I told her that “she was given a new heart from God now.” and she said, “that’s crazy 7 months ago when I came back, I told people I believe I have been given a new heart.” All I can believe is that she was prophesying what was happening in this moment.

Trivia for Treat?
I was carrying the cross at the Halloween festival and we weren’t getting a huge response. So i decided to make a sign that said, “Trivia for Treat?” And ask people if they would like to answer a trivia question about the Bible to get a Candy treat? And people were interested. We had several people come talk to us. One in particular was a couple that had just gotten married. I asked a question, “who was one of the twelve disciples?” And they answered Peter. So we have them some candy. Then we offered to pray for them and we prayed for their marriage as they had just gotten married. Then shared the Gospel with them. They shared that they had gotten married at a church and knew a little about God but hadn’t fully surrendered to God yet. I processed the importance of having Jesus in your life and in marriage and they both decided to give their lives to Christ in this moment

A Broken Heart
I was carrying the cross across the street in the Italian area of Boston and a guy in a bright colored jacket said, “I like your cross” I turned to him and offered him prayer and he said, “he didn’t have time.” but I offered to walk with him and pray for him. We walked about two steps and he stopped and said, “man, I came down here with my son to connect with my wife. We are having marriage problems and we set a time to connect as a family and she didn’t show. I am hurting man.” I processed his situation with him and told him that the Lord is near to the broken hearted and prayed for him. Then I gave him a Gospel bracelet that is multicolored and a Bible that matched the colors on the bracelet. He really like the bracelet because it matched his jacket. I walked through the Gospel and this man and his son that had a broken heart came to the cross and were born again. I received a text later from “Great meeting you. It was a pleasure. I appreciate the prayer and I’m going to continue in the Lord’s way my friend and I mean that. I love the bracelet by it’s my new favorite. It matches my jacket.”

By Faith, Jacksonville, Florida. God is alive. He is speaking. Obedience is success. God provides. People are hungry for God.

It was great to do an evangelism workshop this weekend with . The hunger from this community encouraged our team in many ways! There are many testimonies of people being activated to overcome fear, heal the sick, share the Gospel and be obedient to the voice of the Lord. My heart is full of faith! Glory to God!

Jesus is God?
A guy came up to the cross and asked what I was doing. I told him. Then I shared the Gospel and he heard me mention that Jesus was God and said, is that true? I said, it is! Jesus is God yet that takes faith to believe. Then a guy that we were ministering to started to preach to him and encouraged him to not waste his time and make Jesus his God. A team member Louis chimed in and shared a few analogies to help the guy understand the Gospel. He listened. He then told us that he had a smoking problem with ci******es. I told him if you give your life to Jesus that the addiction to ci******es would fall away. He said, this is deep! Can I get a few minutes to think about this? I gave him time and went and got some water and then came back. I asked him to come to the cross and surrender and it took a few second and after staring at the cross for a few minutes he said, “that’s what I want to do.” So he surrendered his life at the cross and is believing that the addiction to ci******es would fade away.

Sharing the Gospel is part of being a follower of Christ. Will you be obedient in sharing the Gospel with someone today? “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”- Mark 16:15

We Were Watching You
A guy came up to me and asked, “what are you doing with this cross?”, I told him my reason. Then I transitioned to the Gospel. He had many reasons that he could not follow Jesus. Then his sister came up to listen. She told us that they were watching us from their car and was curious about all that we were doing then her brother decided to chase us down.

She told us that she was eight years sober and had been to a Christian church recently. Everything she had said sounded like she was a believer and I even had concluded that she was a believer by the things that she was talking about in conversation. Then Ray one of the team members started to talk to her about the Gospel without her brother around and she listens and Ray gives her a chance to respond to the Gospel. She tells us that she had never fully given her life to Christ, but would like to today. I am stunned as my assumption is wrong yet really grateful that she was being born again. Ray led her into a relationship with Jesus as she made Jesus her Lord.

I Have Just Started Reading the Bible
There is an area called Federal Hill in Providence and there are many restaurants in this area. As I was carrying the cross a waitress from one of the restaurants walked outside and shouted, “what are you guys doing?’ so I walked to the other side of the street to speak to her. She was curious about us carrying the cross. I told her the reason that we were out there and she listened. Then I asked, “do you know anything about Jesus?”she told us that she had just recently been seeking God and reading the Bible. She started to cry. I knew the Lord was at work. So I started with God’s desire for a relationship in the garden and how sin entered the world and how man has tried to get right with God but it hasn’t worked by our good deeds. Then I shared the good news of Jesus and how we can put our faith in Jesus and make Him our God. She said, “I want to do that, I want to follow Jesus.” so this girl that had recently been seeking God now had chosen to follow Jesus with all her heart at work.

Demons Cast Out
I was walking down the street and saw a guy sitting on the ground. I offered to pray for him. He told me that he definitely could use some prayer as he had made some bad decisions. The team that was with me on this trip. Ray and Louis joined me. The guy’s name was Domnic. I shared the Gospel with him and he was a believer. He could point back to the time that he gave his life to Jesus but he said that he had backslidden away from God a lot and was in a dark place. Ray started to pray with him and asked Domnic to hear from the Lord, he asked, “Holy Spirit what is your favorite thing about me?” and he felt like he could sense that God was angry with him. Ray felt there was some demonic activity in his life so we started to pray for him. Ray led Domnic through breaking agreement with many demonic spirits from lust, witchcraft, vudu, homosexually, anger and many more. Dominic was getting freedom on the street. He begin to shake, have leg cramps and sweat a lot as the Holy Spirit was coming upon him. Once we finished praying with him for about an hour. You could tell a total difference. When we spoke to him at first his eyes were cloudy and he wasn’t smiling. Once finished he was at peace, smiling and his eyes were clear.

Beer or Jesus (Part 2)
The next morning Me, Louis , Taylor and Blake the team woke up early and went to the pier. We set up the cross and went for a walk down the pier. We got to the end of the pier and we didn’t find Brandon. Our group sat down and watched the fishermen fish on the pier. Then I carried the cross to other end of the pier. Then we encounter and man and his son that were reuniting with each other for the first time in their life as the son was now 33 years old. We shared the Gospel and the son was born again but the dad wasn’t born again. As we shared the Gospel he was drinking a budweiser and very similar to the previous day this man didn’t want to give up his beer to follow Jesus. We prayed for him and went down the pier.

I was about to go down the stairs to leave and Louis one of the team members said, “Hey, look it’s Brandon!!” I turn around and there is Brandon from the day before. We went out to the pier to talk and as he talked our team listened. You could tell that he had been hurt by religion in his past. He told us that actually was baptized and given a bible 27 years before on the day that we met him on the beach with his friend but hadn’t talked to God in a long time. Here we are 27 years later and we had given him a Bible as God’s divine order led us to this moment. We shared the Gospel and Brandon from the day before decided to surrender his life to Jesus at the foot of the cross with tears coming down his cheeks.

We have been in contact with each other since that moment and has had a genuine hunger from God.

Beer or Jesus (Part 1)
There were two guys hanging out at the beach, Brandon and Ricky. They were both drinking some beer. Patrick was in a car accident about a month ago. He told us that if he had a passenger in the car then they would have died. After he talked to us then he told us that he had pain in his ankle. I prayed for him twice and he walked then started to run around as the Lord had healed his ankle. He kept saying, “seriously, I am healed, this is incredible.”

I shared the Gospel with him and his friend, Brandon. Brandon acknowledged that they had been drinking some beer and were a little intoxicated. It was only 11 am in the morning. I prayed for them to sober up and I shared the Gospel with them and asked them, “did they know where they would spend eternity?” They both told me that they weren’t sure the place that they would be, and hoped they were going to heaven. I shared some more about the Gospel and after I shared the Gospel, I asked Ricky if he would be willing to pour our his beer and to follow Jesus. He looked at his beer and then at us. He said, “I think I am going to keep drinking.” I prayed for him and we went on our way.

At the end of the conversation Brandon told us that we could meet them the next morning at pier at 7am as they would be fishing and not drinking by that time in the day. So I told him that we would take him up on the offer and would meet them the next morning.

Crucify Him
There was a group of women that came up to the cross and kept saying “crucify him, let’s crucify him” and then they took the cross and I held onto the cross as I didn’t want to give them full control. Then they stepped into a huge flower pot and the cross was in the center. As I held onto the cross the women said, “now it’s time to crucify this man.” I said, “well, no need to do that, Jesus has already done this for us.” And after I said this they stopped and got out of the flower pot.
A few moments later. Louis a friend of mine came over and he prayed for these same women. Then Louis shared the Gospel and I look in the corner of my eye and he is leading two of these women to the Lord. I was totally stunned at the series of events that took place.

I Need to Repent of Smoking W**d
We were walking back to the place we were staying in Albuquerque and as we walked over a bridge, we saw a guy standing in his backyard. We were up on top of the bridge and he was 50 ft from us.

I shouted, “do you need prayer?”, he said, “yes, I need to repent of smoking w**d”. I said, “let’s do it.” So we prayed, “Holy Spirit I rent for grieving you. I turn away from smoking w**d. Jesus I get filled with you.” Amen.

He then said, “I need to get saved. I’ve been telling my friends I need to get saved. Can you tell me how to do that?” So we shared the Gospel. He said, “I want to surrender to Jesus.” And He did.

We had him hear from the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit spoke to him that “he was a soldier in the Lord’s army” and he begin to weep as Holy Spirit ministered to him.

Come to find out through talking back and forth his mom had died the night before and he said, I will never forget this encounter.. We connected him to a local pastor and the pastor the next morning said they had spoken over the phone and were planning to meet for discipleship.

**d

Phone Call from Jail
I was carrying the cross through a grocery store parking lot and saw a mom and her two daughters in their car. I offered to pray for them and they gave me a few things to pray for them. They had recently become homeless and living out of their car. I shared the Gospel with them and the mom was a believer and one girl said, “she doesn’t feel that her heart is ready to surrender to Jesus” and the other girl said “she had to much hurt and questions to God that she wouldn’t be ready.” I prayed for them again and while I prayed had a sense that we should offer to buy them gas for their car. They were so grateful for our offer so we went across the street to a gas station.

Once across the street we started to fill up the tank and then the mom received a phone call. The phone call was from the dad that was in jail. The mom begin to share about our encounter and that a man with the cross was getting their gas. The husband said, that he would like to speak to me. So I spoke to him and shared the Gospel on the phone, I told him that this was moment for him to repent and turn to God, he got quiet. I said, “what do you think?”, he said, “yeah, your right, I think this is divine I need to repent and fully surrender to God.” I told him to pray for him heart so over the phone this man that was in jail begin to pray over the speaker phone for his wife, daughters, me, and God could hear him praying and telling Jesus to be the Lord of His life. The entire family was crying. The husband said on the phone, “ I feel relieved now that I have done that”

This was an incredible moment as I didn’t expect the opportunity to speak to the husband on the phone and definitely didn’t expect to lead him to Christ. After all of this I offered salvation to the daughters again and they gave same responses as before, but said, “we are going to look more into Christianity after having out encounter today.”

I Don’t Want to be Here
I was standing with the cross as the parade was going through the city and I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn around and there was a guy standing there and he asked, “what are you doing with that cross?” I told him, “I am pointing people to Jesus.”, he said, “I am a believer, I don’t want to be here, I came with my girlfriend.” I pulled him away from the crowd and we talked. He told me, “I gave my life to Jesus about seven months ago and I don’t want anything to do with this lifestyle. My girlfriend and all her friends are angry that I am talking to you” I encouraged him and said, “ stand strong today and don’t give into temptation. If you need to call off your relationship then God will give you grace.” Then I prayed for him and we parted ways.
Four hours later I look up and he is coming to us. He said, “I am so glad that we met today and that you guys were out here. I broke up with my girlfriend and I am on fire for Jesus. I can’t live in a relationship that is compromised.” I told him, “God is proud of you and will take care of you and your future spouse one day. Today was a bold move.”. He was super grateful and I prayed over him and he went down the road.

Car Accident.
I was walking down the street with the cross and all of a sudden heard a loud crash sound. I looked up and there was a car crash. We offered to pray for the people in the crash. The young college kids said, “we were looking at you walking down the street with the cross and crashed.”. We prayed for them and a couple of other people.

Then one of the team member’s, Louis on the trip noticed a man outside looking at the accident that was wearing his work outfit for the restaurant. We found out that he was the owner of the restaurant. Louis shared the Gospel with him and this man got born again. He decided to follow Jesus. So I guess it’s true, “God does work everything for His good” as this man got born again even though there was a car accident that led to his salvation.

Headed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to carry the cross this weekend. May 19,20,21. Then headed to Salt Lake City, Utah. June 2,3,4. Prayers appreciated!

By Faith Trip, Tuscon. It was a powerful 3 days as we heard the Holy Spirit and followed the Holy Spirit that led to people being saved, healed, and delivered.A marriage was restored and a divine encounter with a pastor in the city.

It was great to do a one day evangelism workshop called Activate Love with lives were impacted and equipped!

It was a blast equipping and then doing outreach with Lantana Community Church.

Testimonies from the youth:

“I didn’t know how to share the Gospel with someone before today but now I do.”

“I now know how to share my testimony”

Thank you Jesus!