1973
It was wonderful to carry the cross into Togo from Ghana. I carried the cross to the capital, Lome and then on to Benin.
I carried the cross through West Africa from Sierra Leone through Cameron. I had a Land Rover with supplies and a bed inside. In each nation or language area I would get a driver that could also be my interpreter when I preached.I would stand on the hood of the Land Rover to preach. The driver would go in front for a few miles or to the next village and wait for me to arrive. Should it be a village I would preach. Most of the time almost everyone in the village or town would gather to hear the message and see the cross. Often in a day I would preach to from a few thousand to tens of thousands of people. Many hundreds to thousands of people prayed the sinner’s prayer to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord and to become a follower of Jesus.
Every day was hot. I poured sweat and had to drink, drink, and drink not to dehydrate. Sometimes I was in open country but much of the time I carried the cross through bush trees with small farms along the roadside. Then in short distance would be another village. I could see crowds of people around the Land Rover watching and waiting for me to arrive. I would arrive, get some water to drink then stand on the hood of the Land Rover and preach. Then I would do a brief Bible study of how to live for Jesus. Then I would sit and rest a few minutes before walking on. People were crowding around trying to talk with me as I rested. Sometimes I used the interpreter but often the people who spoke English came up to talk. In most villages and towns many people would walk through the streets with me. Sometimes I would have hundreds leave town walking with me and slowly I would lose the crowd, as we got further out of town. Oh, I loved these people! Often the village people were bringing me food to eat as I rested. Late in the evening we would park the Land Rover in a village near a house and spend the night.
I liked to sleep in the homemade bed we had constructed inside the back of the Land Rover. With the windows open it I had a breeze and all my supplies were nearby. I had a radio and could pick up BBC and VOA radio. This was my way of keeping up with the world.
My main diet was canned food and fresh fruit. In each major city you could find a store with western food. I would stock up my supply.
I just lived each day in the Glory of God and in the presence of people. I remember that almost every night I went to sleep with people gathered around the Land Rover peeking in at me. Ha
What a wonderful way to live. I walked from dawn till night almost every day. I would lie down and rest for about an hour or so at noon. This helped refresh me and also got me out of the hottest time of day.
My family, with my children Gina, Joel, Joy and Joshua were with me in Togo and waited for me in the capital. This was just wonderful.
God bless the beautiful people.
Pilgrim followers of Jesus,
Arthur and Denise Blessitt
Luke 18:1
