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Mexico

1977

The call of God to walk from Mexico to Colombia is an awesome call. I accepted it while in the Mideast at Mt. Sinai in the Sinai Desert. Then comes carrying out of the call, one foot in front of the other!

I began my walk in Mexico City at “Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral”. Jim Hampton, the Hollywood actor, a follower of Christ and friend of mine, came to spend the first week with me on the road.

We began in Mexico City where Jim joined me for start of the walk south toward South America. We met a young man to interpret into Spanish for us within the first hour of cross walking. Jesus did it. Jim and I had so much fun but also did some tough walking in the mountains. What a blessing and friend he was and still is to me.

Oh, when Jim got Andre to interpret for us he did a great job as I preached and witnessed. It was only later in the day that I discovered that Andre had not received Jesus into his life as Savior and Lord. I then led him in prayer but for most of a day he had already been preaching! Jim baptized him in a swimming pool. It was glorious.

***

Jim Hampton, our Mexican interpreter Andre, and I were going up the high mountains south of Mexico City. We were passing a rancho on the hillside above us with about 20 or 30 workers. A man came down the hillside toward us kind of staggering. When he got to us we could see that he had too much to drink. The workers were drinking poque, which are the first juices from the cactus. When fermented the juices become poque. Then it becomes mescal, and
after that it can be refined into tequila. The man was so excited, standing there in his baggy clothes and big hat.

“What’s he saying,” I asked Andre.

“He thinks you are Jesus carrying the cross.”

“Well, who does he think you are?” I asked.

“Oh, he thinks we are two of the disciples,” Andre said.

“What does he want?” I said, a bit confused.

“He thinks you are Jesus and we are two disciples. He wants you to come up and drink poque and play cards.”

We spent the night in their barnyard and had a wonderful witness.

Jim Hampton has remained a true friend and brother.

***

“The world’s largest pyramid” is not in Egypt but at Cholula, Mexico. I carried the cross to the top of it. It is not the highest but the largest at the base. It was a thrilling experience!

***

In Mexico, south of Oaxaca, I had one of the most fantastic times. I stayed with some missionaries. They were very nice and kind to me. I spent the night with them and the next day I went into their market town to preach.

There were 2,000 or 3,000 people in the market. Smelly meat with flies on it was hanging up; vegetables and fruit were everywhere, pots, pans, and household wares, a real Mexican market. I carried the cross into the market area and the people were as thick as the flies on the meat. I stood on a table and began to preach with an interpreter. Masses of people were saved. After we had finished praying with the people and instructed them in living for Jesus, I stepped down. There was a little old lady in black sitting next to a big pot on coals of fire. It looked something like stew she was cooking. She looked up at me and said, “Would you like something to eat?” I could understand what she was saying in Spanish. I said, “No, I’m not hungry.

It was 11:00 and I was hot in the boiling sun. I wasn’t hungry at all, and looking at the pot I wasn’t hungry even if I had been hungry. She looked at me with her sad, hurt eyes, reached up her hands and said, “Would you eat, I want to give you something.” I looked at her. She was old, poor, and this was her life’s occupation. The Lord said in my heart, “Eat it and let her know you love her.”

For a seat, I sat down on a log. People were pushing and shoving,
just to be near me. I was dripping sweat in the sun. She dipped
down and poured a bunch of this stuff in a bowl, it looked horrible.
The missionary, said, “Arthur, don’t eat that.” But I said, ” ‘The Lord
told me to sit down here and eat it.” He said, “You’d better make
sure the Lord said it. I’ve been a missionary here 17 years. You’ll
have diarrhea and vomiting. We’re going to have a rally tonight.
You can’t eat that stuff. Do you know what it is?” I said, “Wait until
I’ve finished before you tell me. See if you can get some water or
something so I can wash it down.” I started eating it. I couldn’t chew
it; I just had to swallow it whole. It was like eating rubber and oil.
The taste was nauseating. Everybody watched me as I ate it. After
eating, Houcks said to me, “That is minudo, the inside lining of a
pig’s stomach.”

After a bit I went on carrying the cross out of town. He rode along on his motorcycle. When a crowd gathered, he would interpret as I preached. Later he went back into town. Soon he came up on his motorcycle and said, “Arthur, there is a restaurant here in town. It is the only decent place for the next 150 miles. They want to give you a
meal for free. I know them. They flagged me down and said they had dinner ready and they want you to eat. ”

“I’m not hungry,” I said. “And after eating that minudo I won’t be hungry for three days. I don’t want anything else to eat.” “Okay,” he said. “I’ll go back and tell them.”

He went back and they had the dinner ready, so he decided to eat in my place. I didn’t see him again until that night. He was pale as a ghost. He said, “I hate you, Arthur Blessitt. You ate that minudo and you’re going strong. I ate the clean meal and I am about to die!”

* * *

Another time a friend was walking with me. We were very thirsty. About that time a guy stopped in a battered old pickup and asked, “Would you like something?” We talked with him, gave him a tract, and went through the Scriptures and prayed with the man. He asked again, “Do you need anything?” I asked, ” Do you have any agua?” “Si,” he said, nodding his head.

He got in the truck, drove down the road about 100 yards, reached into the back of the truck, picked up an old can and went down to a hog pen, literally with the hogs. There was a trough there where the pigs drank. He scooped the water up into a big old rusty can and came running back toward us, just grinning from ear to ear. He was so happy, just pure love from the man’s heart. My friend said, “Arthur, you’re not going to drink that!” I said, “The Bible says to eat and drink whatever is set before you.” I can’t tell this guy that I’m too good to drink it as is. He would drink it if he got thirsty. So, I took that old can and said, “In the name of Jesus, kill ’em all,” drank it, handed it to my friend, who said, “Okay, I’m with you!” And we laughed.

I carried the cross from Mexico City to Guatemala along the Pan American Highway. It was a glorious walk for Jesus and with the most wonderful people. However the walk was one of the toughest in the world with the narrow roads and huge trucks and buses. Thorn bushes lined the road in many places. I would have to push into the thorns to avoid the traffic. The highway was also just up and down one hill or mountain after another. Yet at each village or town or city the people were waiting for the man with the cross! I loved Mexico and the beautiful people.

Pilgrim followers of Jesus,

Arthur and Denise Blessitt
Luke 18:1