1990
This new country declared its independence from Yugoslavia a month ago. War clouds are heavy overhead.
Today we began with the cross in Slovenia at the Austrian border. We are high in the mountains at about 8 or 9,000 feet. This is one of the most beautiful places I have seen. There is a steep winding road going down into a beautiful green valley with high mountain peaks rising up to about 9,000 feet in snow-capped splendor. After driving to the border, we pulled over to the side of the highway and unloaded the cross from the rack on the side of the Land Rover. I put the cross down leaning it against the Land Rover, Denise and I joined hands as we knelt down together. I then lay down and kissed the ground praying as I always do before I start with a cross walk. This was an absolutely glorious moment, the cross, and my wife Denise, the Land Rover, and a long winding road ahead and a beautiful valley filled with splendor. Hallelujah. After praying together, I stood, lifted the cross to my shoulder, turned to Denise and gave her a wonderful kiss as her hands were wrapped around my waist. We prayed again, thanking God for the wonderful opportunity of giving our lives together to carry the cross to every nation on earth.
Oh, how Jesus has blessed me, what wonder, what glory, what mercy He has bestowed upon this roadside pilgrim to bless me now, the wonderful blessing of such personal
love to share along the roads with my wife. We took a photograph of each other and then I took a step and then another, shouting to her to be careful in her driving, “Keep it in first gear going down this steep pass,” and then I proceeded walking on down the mountain. In a minute or two I could hear the Land Rover and looked, there was Denise in the big Land Rover smiling just like at our wedding, waving her little hands, and calling, “I love you Arthur,” as she drove by. I watched the Land Rover go by and then around the corner, tears ran down my cheeks as I praised God and thanked Him again and again and again. As I continued to walk, I began to sing songs of praise, Psalms from the Bible.
Up early and on the road today, many cars stopped, I talked to a lot of people. There was a slow rain all day, the road was very slippery, not much walking room, traffic here is really crazy, driving at a wild speed, passing in no passing zones, it is very, very dangerous. This afternoon as I was walking along the road facing the traffic. There were hills and curves as the road winds along the side of a stream that continues to get larger and larger. It was a slow drizzly rain as I heard brakes and tires squealing from behind me. I leaped toward the ditch, I looked back over my shoulder and saw a car sliding sideways coming directly into the cross and me. The car was coming at a high speed, it overtook slower vehicles just as it went over a hill, and it couldn’t stop. It was now skidding directly for me. The cars coming toward the out of control car were slamming on their brakes and they too were sliding. It looked like I would be hit both from the rear and front between two fast moving cars. I screamed, “Jesus,” there was no way that I could get out of their way. At that exact moment and one of the greatest miracles that I’ve ever seen take place, the car coming at me from the rear went completely straight across the road, just missing the car that it had almost hit from the rear and crashed off to the right side. It had been sliding toward me on the left side of the road and it changed and went off the right side against the flow of momentum. Other cars were spinning all about me, cars were sliding, finally it all stopped, I couldn’t believe what had happened, I was alive. Nothing had hit me, people were getting out of cars, and they too were all standing in amazement as more on rushing traffic also came to a skidding stop. We went to the car that went off the road, and then a man got out, in English, he said, “Lucky, lucky.” I said, “No, Jesus.” And he said in amazement, “I did not hit you, I did not hit you.” Everyone was coming up looking at the cross and me; they couldn’t believe how the cars had missed me. The people helped get the car off the roadside back onto the road.
I finally made my way along the highway with the cross to where I knew Denise would be parked up the road. I walked in wonder, surely Jesus wanted to keep me alive and the devil had tried to kill me today. When I got near where Denise was parked, I saw that there was a big road construction crew gathered along the roadside waiting for me to arrive with the cross.
There were about 150 tough working men gathered around, they stood in deep respect, no one was mocking, no one was laughing. When I arrived they all gathered around shaking my hand, picking up the cross, shaking their heads. One or two could speak a little English, and I began to explain the gospel to them. Denise came up with Jesus stickers and gospel tracks and there along the roadside with the road construction crew, we had a little rally, a prayer and a great witness for Jesus Christ.
This truly is the best of life along the road. God spared me from
the edge of death to preserve me to preach to these people
along the roadside. Denise drove off another few miles
and I continued to walk. Other groups of people were gathered
along the roadside wanting to talk in the rainy weather. This is a beautiful day of witness in this lovely little country. Later in the day I heard a truck stop behind me, I looked and saw it was a dump truck stopped in the middle of the highway. Suddenly he accelerated wide open and turned the truck directly towards the cross and me. For a moment I stood in shock not believing what was happening, never in 21 years had I seen someone purposely attempt to run me over with me looking at them. I jumped to the side of the road and into the ditch as the truck went off the road just missing me. He kept accelerating and continued to go on. I couldn’t believe my eyes, he had tried to deliberately kill me and run the cross over. I crawled out of the ditch and got back up on the roadside. A short distance up the road I could see Denise waiting. She had cooked a lovely little meal and is fast becoming quite a wonderful road cook.
It is very cold in this area and I’m ready for it to get a lot warmer. Just as we finished eating and I prepared to go back out on the road to carry the cross, I had
an awesome check in my spirit and the Holy Spirit seemed to say don’t walk anymore today, stop, drive to a campground, but don’t walk, don’t carry the cross today.
I said “Denise, I think it is time to stop, let’s go to the campground up the way.” We put the cross on the cross rack on the Land Rover, drove away into the next
small town just ahead and a woman who had just been hit by a car lay on the highway. She was almost certainly dead. The car was smashed in and its windshield was crashed and the police had just arrived. That demon of death that had tried to kill me twice in the last two hours had gone on up the road and killed another person. Immediately we began to pray and saying, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan… bind the demon spirit of death and accidents that had came along this road today to destroy us”.
Pilgrim followers of Jesus,
Arthur and Denise Blessitt
Luke 18:1