"I am a voice shouting in the wilderness, Clear the way for the LORD's coming!'"



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Monday, November 22, 2010

Evansville IN to Tulsa OK

So I don't really remember much about the last three days we were walking except that we were so exhausted that our bodies could not go more than a half a mile without stopping. There was a man named Leeray who stopped to give us a ride to Lincoln State Park. He was a hoot! The next thing I remember is getting a ride to Evansville after barely making it down the road the next day. When we got to Evansville we got a message and it was from our brother Daniel Johnson, another guy, who like us, is walking across the country for Christ. He gave us a name and number of a contact he had in Evansville. We called them and they graciously came and picked us up and took us to their house. We were so grateful for them. They are a lovely fellowship of believers who have a coffee shop in downtown Evansville for believers to come and fellowship together. The coffee shop is called "The Refuge". We really enjoyed spending time with them and talking about like-minded things. They have felt a need to forsake a lot of the things Jeff and I feel strongly about forsaking. They do not have a traditional church fellowship, which was nice to see believers who are not caught up in the matters of a building and rules and regulations of a denomination. The first night we spent with David and Angie and their two children. Another family from their fellowship came over and we had dinner and told them our testimony. The next night we stayed with the other family, Jeff and Kara. The last three or four days Jeff and I were walking we were praying that the Lord would show us what to do about the winter months because we were just exhausted. We had both been thinking of going back to Oklahoma a lot. So for about three days we prayed about it and each day the feeling got stronger and stronger that that was God's will. The first morning we woke up in Evansville we both were 100% sure that the Lord was calling us to go back to Oklahoma. So after a couple days of getting to know the fellowship at the Refuge, and meeting several of the people in their fellowship we hopped on a bus and headed back to OK. The bus ride home was amazing. What was even more amazing is how if we would have left a day sooner, which we tried to do, what happened never would have happened.
We got on the bus at 1:30 Friday afternoon and had to change buses in St. Louis. We had about an hour layover there. While I was in the bus station Jeff stepped outside to get some fresh air and a few minutes later he was walking to the ticket desk with a woman. I was watching wondering what was going on other than the obvious, that he was buying this woman a ticket. After he payed for her ticket she walked down the hall and he went to the bathroom. I just sat there waiting for him to come back and tell me what was going on. He said this woman just came up to him and asked if he could help her. He asked her what she needed. She was obviously broken and was having a hard time even talking. She told him she needed to get home to her children and all she had was 11 dollars and her ticket was 35 dollars. So at this time, I am thinking, "where did she go, we got to go find her and pray for her!" So we walked up and down the hallway and she was nowhere to be found. As we were in line for the bus she came walking down the hall and picked up her bags and got on the bus we were waiting in line to get on. When I got on the bus, she was sitting on the second row and tears were just streaming down her face. I grabbed her and hugged her and told her she was going to be ok and Jesus loves her. She said, "I know he does, thank you." We sat down and prayed with her as everyone was loading on the bus. We did not even notice the people. It was like the Lord just had the three of us in a bubble and nobody could penetrate it. After we prayed for her she told me a little about herself and why she has to go to the veterans hospital in St. Louis. Then she just grabbed my hand and clutched it tight and laid her head on my shoulder and fell asleep for the rest of her 2 hour bus ride home. She was very sweet and I am glad the Lord had us cross paths right when he did.
So about 9 hours later we pulled up to the Tulsa bus station and the bus driver said, "May Jesus Christ bless you all tonight!" I was really exited to hear that because many businesses these days won't let you get away with saying things like that. As soon as we got off the bus I ran over to the first Taxi I saw and hopped in and gave him the address to the house. It was 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning by this time and Peggy, Jeff's mom, had no idea that we were going to be at her front door in 10 minutes. When we got there Jeff just rang the door bell and lightly knocked on the door. The dogs started barking but no answer, so he called her and asked her if she was awake. We had obviously awakened her out of a dead sleep by the sound of her voice. She said, "yes I am awake, what's going on?" Jeff asked her if she was home. She said, "yes, why what is the matter? Someone is knocking on my door." Jeff and I yelled, "let us in it is getting cold out here." Peggy said, "Jeffrey is this some kind of joke? Someone is banging on my door, are you outside my house? If you are not I need to hang up and call the cops because there is someone outside my house." We just said, "LET US IN!!" She opened the door and almost immediately started crying and grabbed us and would not let us go! We stayed up for about an hour just in shock that we were actually sitting in mom's living room in Tulsa OK. Then we went to bed in the bed that I had been dreaming of sleeping in for the last few weeks. It was so amazing. We had not slept that well in months.
So we have been back in Oklahoma for 3 weeks now, and I cannot believe it has been that long. We are starting to see why the Lord wanted us to come back here. We have loved ones who need our help and being here is allowing us to see things in a totally different light than when we were here 6 months ago. It is challenging in many ways being back here because Jeff and I are totally changed people. We feel that this will definitely be a growing time and a time to process everything the Lord taught us on our journey. We do not have any plans. We are going to keep living a life of not making plans because the more we plan the less space the Lord has to work in our lives. We do not know for sure if we will be continuing the walk in the spring. We feel that we will be, but you never know what can happen in three months. We are just going to do what the Lord sets in front of us until he leads us to do something else. I will probably be writing some of the things the Lord has shown us and lessons we have learned from time to time so keep checking the blog whenever you get a chance and I will try to keep it updated as much as possible. We are so very grateful for everyone's prayers while we were on our journey. We think and pray for all our friends and brothers and sisters we met on the journey often. We are thankful that each person we met was able to be a part of our journey.

Peace and Blessings to you all!

~Kristin

Thursday, November 18, 2010



Sometimes when we are doing the will of the Father, we don't understand what it is he is trying to teach us. Sometimes it is a longer lesson than we had expected. Often he does not reveal his will till we feel like we cannot go on any longer and we become desperate for him to rescue us. The good thing is that he does rescue us. Just at the right time. We may not ever know why he tarries or sometimes we find out as time goes on and we say, "Aha, that is why he wanted me to go here and wait there or take this road to go all the way over here!" Many times it doesn't make sense until we see the whole picture. We must not get discouraged though when he will not let us see the whole picture. It usually means there is something amazing in store. A lesson that will take us to new heights in our faith. A lesson that will bring us even closer to his throne. Just TRUST and OBEY for there is no other way! When we do not have a clear direction we just have to keep doing what it is he told us to do at first until he gives us something else to do. He knows exactly how much we can handle and he has ordered our steps according to his purposes.
I am so thankful for the strength the Most High God gives me each day. I praise him for everything he does for me, even when I am weak because I know he works best in our weaknesses. I am thankful for the trials we experience because I know that they will make us perfect and complete and when it is time for us to go home, when the work he started in us is finished, and his purpose for our lives here on earth have been fulfilled, we will then be ready for the Glory he has for us in heaven. I would so love to go home and be with my savior today but I know that the workers are few and there is still work to be done. There are more seeds to be planted and watered until the harvest. So I put all my hope in the Most High God as I travel through this life as an alien to this world, knowing fully that he always provides for me and my true home is not on this earth but in heaven with my Saviour Y'shua! We are here for such a short time compared to eternity. We are but passing through this life to get to the next, and the most important thing for anyone to know while here is their creator. Not just to know of him, but to have a relationship with him. To commune with him daily. It is my greatest hope that every person put in my path will know the Lord Y'shua. He is truly the way, the truth, and the life!! Forever and ever! Amen.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Corydon IN to St. Meinrad, IN




When we got to Corydon it was Wednesday and so we were trying to find a church that had a Wednesday night service. We called all the churches to see which one had a service and we could not find any. There was one that did not have an answering machine so we decided to go over and check it out. It had a couple cars parked out front so we went inside. It was actually a youth building for a church that was a few miles outside of town. We introduced ourselves and told them we were looking for a place to worship with fellow believers. The youth pastor said he could drive us over to his church, Trinity Assembly of God. We thought that sounded great! When we got there we met the pastor. My first impression of him was he is a very loving man. He told us about how he had been doing sermon's on loving like Jesus on Sundays and on Wednesdays he has been preaching on Faith. His message on this Wednesday that we just so happened to be at was perfect. He was right on the mark with his sermon and it really uplifted my spirit. I am going to include some of his key points here because they were awesome!

Romans 1:17 "It is through faith that a righteous person has life."




Key 1: We must have a thorough understanding of Submission and Authority.
He read the passage from Matthew 8:9-10 and spoke of some of the great heroes of faith from the OT. He was illustrating a point on being under the authority of God and I looked up and he had put on a Yamika. He was explaining that the Jews did this to show that they were under authority. I thought that was great! I have always wondered why they wore those things. I thought to myself, now as a New Covenant believer how do we show that we are under authority? By the fruit of the spirit. To know if someone is a true follower of the Most High you must examine their fruit. They will be a reflection of Christ and not of this world! In order to do this we must Submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit and die to our own selfish desires. The fruits of the spirit are: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. The works of the flesh are the following: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21
and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.



Key 2: We must Worship The Lord With Reverence

The word reverence means to bow down to his Lordship. Today's churches have become very casual. Not that being casual is necessarily bad, however, when we worship the Lord we should be putting all our heart into it, not worshiping halfheartedly with a donut in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other! Don't get me wrong, I love coffee and donuts but when we are focused on feeding our physical bodies it must be difficult to focus on praising God. In the Spirit! We must ask ourselves everyday, are we making Christ Lord of our lives, are we laying down our will for his will? Are we bowing before him in spirit and in truth to receive all that he has for us?

Key 3: Be convinced of Jesus' Ability and What you Believe.



Matthew 9:28 : When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied.

Romans 4:20-22: 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

In these scriptures we see that it is by faith we are healed and it is by faith that we are made righteous, not by rules and regulations. We must truly believe God has the power to make us a new creation in order to become what he created us to be.

Key 4- Press in Regardless of the Obstacles.

Luke 8:43-48

43
And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.



When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”



46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”



47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”








This is one of my favorite passages from the gospels. This woman had to fight through the obstacle of a huge crowd, but she didn't care because her faith was so great that Jesus possessed God's power, that she knew all she had to do was touch him and she would be healed. How many of us possess that kind of faith today? All we have to do is believe that he can heal us and he will. No matter the obstacle or trial we are facing if we just put all of our Trust in the messiah we will be healed for the scriptures say: "By his stripes I am healed" That is not to say that he will always heal our physical ailments immediately. Sometimes our physical pains can humble us and make us stronger and build our endurance, which builds character, which builds hope, and hope never disappoints us.





2 Corinthians 4: 8-9; 16 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
I read this scripture the night before I heard this sermon and it gave me so much comfort. To think that we are in this body but for a moment compared to eternity and today's problems will be gone tomorrow. The Most High definitely renewed my spirit that day because the day before I was feeling low and really needing to be rescued. The above scriptures are so true to a person who is truly living the truth in every aspect of their lives. Just when we feel that we can not go on any longer the Lord rescues us and lifts us up so that we may forget what is behind and press on toward the goal to win the prize in which he calls us heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14) We also know that the suffering we experience in this body is nothing compared to the glory we will share in heaven with the Lord. What an amazing thing to hope for and look forward to.

Key 5- Exhibit Boldness in The Midst of Unbelief and Mockery

Matthew 9:24-26 "Get out! he told them. "The girl isn't dead: she's only asleep." But the crowd laughed at him. After the crowd was put outside , however, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up! The report of this miracle swept through the entire countryside.

This passage shows that Jesus was not looking for man's approval. When I read this passage I ask myself if I would have the courage that Christ had in this moment. If our faith is strong it should not matter what any man says, we should be bold for Christ at any given moment. If we truly believe then we will stand up for what is TRUTH!! Even if we are being mocked by man. In the end it will be GOD we are going to have to answer to NOT MAN!!

Key 6- Be persistent in Humility.

It takes humility to be a follower of Christ. Nobody will inherit the Kingdom of God with a prideful heart. A prideful heart goes before a great fall. Pride is something that blinds many from the Truth. If you are more concerned about being right all the time then you are probably not humble. Here is a good paraphrase of Mark 8:34 that I found "Then Jesus turned to the crowd that had been following Him and said, If you intend to go the same way I'm going (the way to the Father), you'll have let go of your own self-interests every day and submit your life completely to God. You'll have to take up your cross every day as well, so you can die to self - your flesh has to go. And you'll have to follow Me continually. I'll have to show you the way, you'll never find it on your own." The more we deny our own desires the more the Father will make his will known to us and the more faith we will have. It is hard to have faith when all that dominates your thoughts are things of this world. So let us humble/die to ourselves so that Yahweh may increase our faith!

Key 7- Confess and Act Upon Your Faith.

2 Corinthians 4:13 - And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak,

So..faith is spirit. We must once again die to ourselves to walk in the spirit and to have faith. The same spirit that was in Abraham which caused him to have great faith lives in us so we must not quench the spirit of Truth. If the faith is really living in us we will speak about it. What dominates our thoughts comes out in our conversations and our actions.

James 2:20-22: 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?








So....does this mean that to be righteous we must perform works? No this means that because of our faith we will reflect the Glory of God! God is not sitting on a pedestal doing nothing, he is always working. So therefore we should be a reflection of our heavenly father. Don't just sit in the pew getting spiritually fed and then go sit on the couch at home in front of the television. Jesus commanded us to "Go and make disciples!" "Go" is an action verb! How are you helping to further the kingdom of God? If you spend most of your free time in front of the television, I guarantee that you are not doing much!!!!!!!!!






So....this is not exactly how Pastor Paul's sermon went just his main points and I added my own commentary. When he finished preaching he asked us to come up and share a bit of what we had been doing the last five months. Jeff looked at the congregation and said, "Your preacher basically just said it all, what he talked about is what we have been doing for the past several months." We told them a little bit of how God called us to go on this journey and the things he has shown us so far on our way. Afterwards many people from the congregation came up to us and hugged us and thanked us for coming. Then Pastor Paul offered to let us sleep in the youth building and we were so grateful. He said he would pick us up and take us to breakfast in the morning and we thought that sounded fantastic since it is the most important meal of the day, and probably our favorite!!






~Kristin






Ok so we were picked up from the church in the morning by pastor Paul, and he took us over to a local greasy spoon to get some breakfast. It was right on the corner downtown and the concrete step going into the restaurant was worn down in the middle by at least an inch. I knew that was a sign that this was a good place to eat!! And boy was it! Paul had french toast and home-made sausage, Kristin had scrambled eggs, home fries, home-made sausage, and biscuits and gravy, and I had a breakfast burrito with hash browns. Man what a meal!! Anyway, we were able to tell pastor Paul our testimony during breakfast and we had a wonderful conversation about faith. After breakfast he took us over to the grocery store to stock up on food for the road, then we headed over to the state park we were supposed to walk through to find some better maps of the trails. When we got there we met Stanley. Stanley works for the Department of Natural Resources and was telling us that we didn't want to walk the trail through the park because no one has maintained them for the past 10 years and they have also had 2 major ice storms, and a Hurricane hit the park!! To top it all off, the only bridge at the west end of the park was unusable!! Boy, the American Discovery Trial should probably update their map for that area! Stanley strongly urged us to take hwy 62 around the forest. He was VERY convincing. After we promised him that we would be bypassing the trails and taking hwy 62, I asked him what he did to his arm. He had this crazy contraption on his wrist that looked like something out of Edward Scissor Hands meets SAW. He told us it was to help him with his nerve damage after getting run over on HWY 62!!! I said, "what!" He told us how he was hooking up a trailer to a truck and someone slammed into the trailer while he was between it and the truck!! "CRAZY" I thought. He said right after that, "62 is still safer than our trials right now. Trust me, you don't want to take the trails!" Well if they are that bad, then we are definitely going to walk around! He gave us some strong warnings about the traffic on the hwy there (obviously) and wish us good luck by giving us some Smokey the Bear pins! So pastor Paul drove us back the way we came to the highway, and prayed for us before he went back home. We crammed our groceries down into our packs and boldly headed off down the road. We made it to the next town called Leavenworth, IN before dark and found a little general store that served hot sandwiches and desserts. It was a neat little store, and it reminded me of how things must have been before "the interstate went through." After a snack we walked down a side street to the Presbyterian church and set up our tent behind the building. It was right on top of the bluffs that lined the Ohio river, and we had an incredible view of the sun setting over the river. It rained on us that evening, but we stayed dry and warm thanks to the amazing gear that we got from EDMOND SUMMIT COMPANY!! In the morning we packed up our gear and went back over to the general store that was now serving hot breakfast! We ate a standard breakfast plate and talked with some patrons and also the owner. The people took a while to warm up to us, but I think they finally figured out that we were "ok." I think my beard is starting to scare people! Ha! So from Leavenworth we continued west for quite some time, until we were stopped by Randy. Randy was a local truck driver who pulled over to see if we were alright, and offered to take us on into St. Meinrad. He told us that there was a Benedictine Monastery there and that they would probably let us camp there for a few days while we were waiting on our package at the post office. Since we weren't sure where the monastery was, and we were exhausted, we hopped into Randy's truck and let him take us over there. He was a very kind guy who was curious about our journey. We told him a little about what we do, and he told us about his horses and driving a truck. It was nice to meet such a friendly person and were thankful for the ride. It wasn't but a few minutes and we were pulling up to the monastery.






~Jeff






When we pulled up to the monastery I thought it was going to some quaint little building but it was more like a giant castle!! Just google St. Meinrad Archabbey and you will see what I am talking about. We said bye to Randy and thanked him for the ride and headed toward the guest house to see if they could accommodate us. A nice woman greeted us at the front desk and said since it was the weekend we would have to reserve a room for two nights. We said we couldn't really afford that, and were really were just wanting a place to put our tent. So she made a quick phone call and got permission for us to camp out by a beautiful lake they had on the property. We walked around to look at the architecture of the buildings and saw the church and then found the library. The abbey was having a retreat this weekend so they were serving hot meals every day. It has been quite a blessing because for not too much money at all we got to eat really delicious and healthy food. They had a salad bar too. Boy was that a treat because Lord knows we have not been getting enough greens lately!! When we we leave tomorrow we will be sad to leave the cafeteria. We met a nice young man in the library who is a student at the seminary here. He invited us to his apartment to take showers Friday night, dinner Saturday night, breakfast this morning and we will be having dinner with him this evening. We have enjoyed our fellowship with him and talking about some of the things we have always had questions about on the catholic church. We really are very thankful for this new friend and glad we got to spend time with him. We hope to meet him again someday! Lord bless you Jon!!






Jeff and I have been feeling that we are in a transition faze for a couple months now. We feel that God is teaching us something but we have not yet received all of it. Maybe it is a really long lesson. The longer we are on this journey the more we want to come out of this dark in dying world. We know that we can not leave this earth till the Father calls us home and that there is still work to be done. We just feel a longing to be molded even more into the likeness of Christ each day! We will hopefully be able to share more of our thoughts on this as time goes on and God gives us revelation on the lesson he is teaching us. Until then......Peace be with you!






~Kristin

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Random Pics from the ADT
























































































































































































































































Hi All~ This is Jeff's sister, I have recently received a full scan disk of pics from Jeff and Kristin. Most pics can be identified in previous blogs, while others I am not exactly sure of the details..... hopefully Jeff and Kristin can add a post and identify some areas or specifics.... here goes! I just wanted to say how touched I am by all the LOVE being poured out in response to this life changing journey that God has called Jeff and Kristin to. There are so many stories of lives changed and prayers answered and blessing abound. I know a lot of you following this blog have been so positively changed. I just encourage you to share this blog with anyone you can and ask them to do the same. God has a perfect plan for all of us and each of us are here to touch lives... sometimes with a simple kind word or smile... sometimes with sharing a testimony. I encourage you all to listen to that voice when you are called to do something for someone else... you never know how far the ripple effect will travel. I love you, Jeff and Kristin and I thank God that you are on this journey. Stay focused and keep your eyes on God. Your travel is literally changing lives. Take comfort, for your strength comes from the Lord.
Love, Jen


A verse that has been on my mind:Matthew 28; 16-20


16 The the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

















New Albany to Corydon Indiana

When we left the hotel in New Albany we headed down Corydon Pike for Corydon, IN. We passed by the pastor's house who had put us up in the hotel. We stopped and talked to him a bit and met all his doggies and then kept heading west. The road was very winding and had many crazy drivers on it. After about 3 or 4 miles we got to the top of a hill and there was a town called Edwardsville, that was a surprise because we did not think we were going to see a town until Corydon. As we came around the side of a building, where there was a great view of the valley, a couple of teenage boys came up the ridge from the woods. They started talking to us and we asked them if there were any churches in town. They said there were a few. They asked us why we were walking and I told them because God called us to. Then there was just dead silence! We got to a highway and saw the church on the right and the boys were heading left so we told them to take it easy and walked over to the church. It was a pretty large Methodist church which had a decent size yard. There were a couple cars in the parking lot and so we decided to check the doors to see if they were open. The side door was so we walked in and took our packs off and I wandered around saying " hello, is anyone here?". Nobody answered so we just sat down and relaxed for a bit. It was nice to get out of the wind. After about 20 minutes I decided to wander around again. I went downstairs and saw some offices and the lights were all on and a friendly elderly gentlemen came around the corner. I told him what we were doing and told him that we just needed a place to put up our tent. He said they were about to have a meeting so I could talk to the pastor. I took him over to meet Jeff and we had some small talk and then he led us back to the pastor's office. She greeted us with a great big smile! The elderly gentleman told her we were walking across the country. We told her Christ had called us to do so. We asked if we could possibly pop our tent in the church yard and as I was speaking she was shuffling through her desk looking for a phone-book. Not even five minutes later she had made a phone call to the motel across the street, made us a reservation, asked the motel to bill the church, and handed us $20 and said, "get yourselves some pie at Korner Kitchen!!" We were just in shock that it all happened so fast. She said all she wanted in return is for us to come to the meeting to pray for the church. So we went to the meeting and met everyone and prayed for the Lord's will to be done. They were wanting to use their building for ministry and so that is what they were having a meeting about. So if you are a prayer warrior, please pray for Edwardsville United Methodist Church that God would show them a way to be able to use their building to serve others in the community! Here is their website: http://www.edwardsvilleumc.org/Home_Page.html
We walked to our room and Jeff went to get french fries and chicken nuggets from McDonald's! Yumm!! So healthy! I decided to go for a swim in the tub and Jeff passed out. I think Jeff slept like a rock all night but I tossed and turned and thought about /prayed about where God was going to have us spend the winter. I was becoming restless. The next day we ate some breakfast at Korner Kitchen. Indiana must be one of the last states to make their restaurants non-smoking. I don't see how people smoke while eating, it makes me gag and I lose my appetite for a while. After pleasantly filling ourselves we went back to the room and I took a nap. When Jeff woke me up to pack my bag 20 minutes before check-out time I was in a pretty grumpy mood. We got packed up, checked in our key cards and walked outside and it was like the spirit of grumpidom hit me and I just wanted to throw my bag across Indiana! After I sulked for a little while we took off walking and got not even a mile before we needed to sit down and have a break. We were both very drained physically, emotionally, and spiritually. After sitting on the side of the road for just a a few minutes a couple pulled up to the stop sign and rolled down their window. The gentleman said something about hitch-hiking in the 70's and said he would bring us some sandwiches and asked us to just stay right where we were, and then they drove off. They came back 20 minutes later or so in a big red truck. I was thinking, "cool, they are going to give us a ride!" Instead the lady just got out and handed us a big plastic bag of food and said God Bless you", and they took off as quick as they came! Jeff hurriedly put on his pack and stormed off down the road while I took my time putting on my pack. As I was fastening my hip belt a police officer lady pulled over got out of her car and came up to me and asked what I was doing. I told her my husband and I were walking across the country. She asked why we would do something like that and I told her because God called us to. She asked to see my id and I yelled for Jeff to come back and right as he turned around another police officer pulled over to talk to him. The extremely rude lady officer told me someone had called in and said we looked homeless and had been looking around in people's houses. I said that was absurd because all we were doing is sitting on the side of the road. It was kinda chilly and so I naturally put my hands in my pocket. She harshly told me to take my hands out of my pockets because I was making her nervous. I thought, "that is dumb, you're the one with the gun!" I then tried to walk towards Jeff and the lady started yelling at me to stand right where she told me to. I told her I was going to get my id like she asked. She said, "No YOU WILL STAND RIGHT THERE!" I said, "why are you treating me like this I did not even do anything?" She said that we looked homeless and suspicious. I asked her when it became a crime to be homeless. I tried to walk away again because she was beginning to really aggravate me and she started yelling at me again. She said, "I commanded you to stand right where you are!" I asked her why she thought she had a right to command me to do anything, thinking God is the only one who can command me to do anything. I told her it was interesting how many lisence plates for the state of Indiana had "In God we Trust" on them but so far it seemed that most the people we have passed seem to be living in fear of strangers. She said, "this is a conservative state mam." I thought, "what does that have to do with anything?" Not even thinking I put my chilled hands back in my pockets. She got even more upset! I thought she was going to arrest me for wanting my hands to be warm!! I looked down at Jeff and the officer that was harassing him waved at the lady officer and then she got in her car and they both just drove off! So....we have now been persecuted twice on this trip, once by a man from a church and the second by the police. That should tell you something about this country!!

~Kristin

I don't even know what to say about those police officers. They were the most rude people I have ever met, and hope that God shows them the error they are living in. The officer that was verbally assaulting me asked why I was "down here" and my wife was "up there?" We were maybe 100 yrds apart and it was because we weren't in the best of moods and I started walking before she had her pack all the way on. But when the officer asked me that, I said, "well because we are bickering at one another and I started walking before she did." He asked, "what were you bickering about?" I polietly said, "well that is a personal matter between me and my wife, it doesn't concern you sir." Boy he got IRATE!! Told me to "TAKE A STEP BACK SIR!" Then gave me a speach about how he strongly suggested that I just tell him what we were fighting about because when an officer detains you it's in my best interest to blah, blah blah.... I asked him why he was being so rude and treating me like a criminal, and what this was all about? He told me that I needed to anwser his question regarding my wife. I took off my sunglasses and looked him right in the eye and, "I get it. I see what you are doing. You are the one with the gun and all the power here, and I guess my private marital conversations with my wife should be shared with you, a complete stranger. IF you must know, I have no idea what we are bickering about. We have been walking for 5 months and we are both very tired and cranky. If you go up there and ask my wife, she'll tell you the same thing." Boy he did not like that anwser!! Anyway, after being humiliated on the side of the road for 20 minutes or so, they both said something on their radios and got in their cars and left. I have to give God the glory for giving me the strength to endure that. My flesh wanted to just tear into that guy, but the Spirit urged me no remain calm. A warm night in jail was starting to sound like an AWESOME punishment for popping that guy in the jaw! OK that's just my flesh talking. I just wish we had it on video! I think the funniest part of the whole ordeal was when he asked me in amazment if this was the first time in 5 months of "walking by people's houses" that we had been questioned by the police. I said, "well no, we were stopped by one other cop back in Clarkstown, IN but he wanted to know if we needed anything, and to make sure we were alright, and he also offered us a ride!" I said, "I guess you guys have a different policy regarding traveling missionaries." Maybe that was pushing my luck, but it was true. GOD HELP THIS COUNTRY!!!

So after narrowly escaping a night in jail we had a lot to talk about while getting back on the road. Our heads were just spinning. We walked maybe another 5 miles and found a christian camp. We tried to talk to the people who owned it, and the groundskeeper, but no one answered the phones. So we just picked out a secluded pavilion and crashed for the night. The whole time I was just waiting for the cops to show up and haul us off for "trespassing." The encounter with the coppers really shook us up and we are still suffering the mental effects, but we are ready for what ever may come our way. We woke up from the camp early and made our way down the last 4.5 miles to Coydon where we are now. We ate some awesome Mexican food and walked over to the library to tell all of you about the COPS! Anyway, we love and miss all of you and hope and pray that you are all happy and healthy!!

~Jeff