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Tanzania- The Cross Above Africa

TanzaniaCrossabove1

Mount Kilimanjaro

October 30, 2003
Update from Arthur Blessitt inTanzania (Listen to the recorded message here)
Praise the Lord! This is Arthur Blessitt. I just had to get one more report. I took the cross out this morning in Arusha, Tanzania. And it was glorious! Before I could get the cross together at the hotel we had people coming up and then more and more. And out on the road it was just like old times. Wow! Hallelujah!

Anyway, it was just crowds of people. People praying, coming to Jesus, crowding around the cross. It was just like the old days in Africa. It was really fabulous here in Arusha. It is just absolutely great! It’s just great. I ordained one guy to preach today on the road side. He was called to preach but he had never started. And, I prayed for him. Laid hands on him, anointed him with oil. The pastor was wanting us to come for a crusade. Everything was just flowing out in the streets. It is just fabulous. It’s noon. Every time I turn around more people are rushing up. And, I’m actually, because we were doing the Kilimanjaro trip, I’m now…I’ve probably given away 2,000 stickers this morning. I’ve given away every piece of Gospel tract, everything I have. People are begging for more and it is just glorious!

So, don’t listen to all this bad news in the world. There’s a lot of good news! That good news is that people are hungry for Jesus, and people are wanting to know him, and people are wanting to tell about him. It’s an exciting time to be alive. It’s thrilling! And I pray that wherever people are, wherever you are, that God will loose his power in you and you’ll go forth now. The cross is lifted up. Christ is lifted up. He said, “If I be lifted up I will draw all people unto me.’ The cross breaks the power of satan. The blood of Jesus. Plead the blood of Jesus on your life, on your family, on your loved ones. And, the go out and live in the blessings of God.

So, praise the Lord! I needed help to get the cross up on Kilimanjaro. And, I need help and God’s getting other people that are working together and we’re getting the cross into space! Encircling the globe and waving the power of God in the face of satan. And going forth without fear, with boldness, with love, with a sound mind and with the power of the Hoy Spirit.

So the Lord bless you all and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and five you His peace. May He bless your going in and your coming out from this day forth and forevermore! And, now may the love of God and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit be upon you now and always. And may you live and move in power of God. May He bless your family, your job, your health, your lives, your witness. We love you! And, thanks for praying for us here up Kilimanjaro, and in Africa, and I know you’ll pray for us on into Norway. Pray for the Hobbs family. Pray for evangelist Ricky Hobbs and the ministry there at Mercy Street, and Sally who is doing such a fabulous job. Pray for the mission of the cross in space, and the continued crow walk to every remote island group in the world.

I’m excited! I am ready! I feel good. The team’s smiling. We’ve all had our bath. We smell good, and we’re all looking good. Oh wow! I wish I could see your faces. Thank you, and jot me an email. Let me know what you think about all these daily reports, I mean, about keeping you updated. Thank you Ricky, family, and Sally and everybody for this wonderful, wonderful updates and the way you’ve done this website. This is absolutely fabulous, and as I said, I got to see it this morning in a little internet café. This is great. I couldn’t be any happier, well I guess if I was in heaven, but on earth I’m in the ultimate! It’s just great! So, God bless you from Africa and we be keeping you updated. Well, we’ll post an update. I’ll do that for you. From Norway up there, when we’re doing an outreach up in Norway, we’re having street preaching and a big rally in the middle of a market and everything. I’ll give a call in. Ricky you’ve spoiled me and Sally by putting these audios on there. I haven’t got to hear it, but boy this is good. This is going to bring the life of the street right in to people’s homes and you can see how…This is kind of All Pilgrims’ Radio broadcasting. All Pilgrims’ Radio has been resurrected, Ricky. This is beautiful. OK. Thanks for a job well done. God bless you all. Bye bye.

October 29, 2003
Update from Arthur Blessitt on Kilimanjaro (Listen to the recorded message here)
We apologize for the quality of the recording as the satellite transmission was briefly interrupted.

Hi. This is Arthur. Oh, so great, wonderful, glorious! We’re down to Arusha, Tanzania now. We came down off Mount Kilimanjaro today around noon. All the team..If I sounded a little tired last night, I was. We were all exhausted. But, I had been so sick. Of course, this wasn’t food or anything. This is altitude sickness. In essence really the cross was lifted up, the big 12 foot cross, to the summit. I guess you would say the summit area. The summit of Africa. It wasn’t, of course, taken to the top peak; but it was taken there as high as these wonderful African porters could carry it. And, of course, everybody basically on the team had been so sick. We did such a fast trip. It was….we just couldn’t acclimatize in that short time. Of course, back in 1997 I carried the cross along with the…from Chitral…we took to cross to 18,200 feet up over….pass. As I look back that was a matter of … up to the top of pass through villages.

Well, my satellite probably got cut off. I’ll try to make it quicker. But I was saying there in Chitral we had acclimatized. We went up to 18,200. But here even the porters, the weather was so bad, even the porters, the guys helping carry the cross, these African men, they were sick and vomiting. This isn’t food. We’re talking about altitude. And anyway, it was furious weather and we got as high as God wanted us to go. I mean, the cross was up. I carried the cross through every country in Africa and now it has been lifted up above Africa. We feel such glory and wonder. Back down at the last camp this morning we gathered all the porters and everybody together, about thirty of the African men. I preached and we prayed. The power of God was so glorious and people receiving Jesus. And then down, there’s Jesus stickers all the way up the mountain. And so we’ve had a wonderful, glorious, Jesus time. It is absolutely fabulous. It’s about 10:00 now at night, and I can’t wait to get up about, I don’t know, 6:00 here in the morning and start out here in Arusha. I carried the cross here in Arusha in 1974 and I can’t wait to get out there in the streets with the men and women of Africa. But it was the African men, now, that carried that cross up. And, now here’s what we’re going to do at about the end of November. We leave here and go to Norway and we’ll be up there in Norway at Tronheim preaching at Bethel Bible School or Bethel Church with Joshua, my son. So we don’t get back till about the 20th or of November. Then, we will get all of the photos together. We’ll put the photos on the website, and you’ll see there the men, the three men, the three Tanzania African men that did the cross carrying up the mountain. Then all of the team will have the photos and their testimonies and all they experienced. I mean, we’ve had studies from the life of Jesus on all these phenomenal subjects and I going to, they’ve typed them up and we gave them out everyday. Each one of the people on the team wrote and it’s just the riches teaching. Like, starting January every week for my column I’m going to have all of these guest devotions on for out weekly columns on blessitt.com. So that’s going to be really exciting and thrilling.

But I feel now great, but I’m telling you, I was just vomiting water, just pure and the last water and blood. I left my blood on the mountain side and then that blindness that I had yesterday. I don’t know if I mentioned….but I mean, I was getting blind. And Denise when I got down here she asked… about the sickness and it’s called altitude …..It was almost so bad I couldn’t even see to walk. I couldn’t….but then my eyes have clear up as I went down. I feel great and we’re ready to hit the streets again tomorrow. So, thank you all for praying for us……cross in the face of satan and say Jesus is lifted up. He will draw all me and we pray for everything, upon all the people of this earth and salvation in the name of Jesus, and healing, and deliverance from bondage, and peace of God, and the solution of God to those that are in trouble or despair, and the mercy of God to those who feel guilty and need to be cleansed with the blood of Jesus that cleanses from all sin. If you don’t know Jesus, receive Him, invite him in your heart, know the power of God in your life, forgive everybody, love everybody, starting doing…and just start living in his way, walking in his way, laying our life down in love for the kingdom of God and our brothers and sisters……..and everybody’s been hugging and caring and lifting everybody. It’s been the most glorious thing and I am so thrilled…our Internet audience in this…..see, what I was saying was that it is so exciting that you in the Internet Audience got to participate in this trip and see the struggles that is involved in doing the will of God. Sometimes people thing that you go out and you just give this glorious report when you come back. Well, so many times on the way you’re going through many struggles, many difficulties accomplishing…..I wanted to walk across Russia but I could only get in for a three day trip backing the 80’s…I went back a couple of years later and spend six months going through there. But, what I am saying is that you go where Jesus leads, and when He says it’s finished’”that’s it. And we lifted the cross up over Africa. We lifted the cross up over Kilimanjaro. We did what he told us to do, and you go in and you live your life; you walk here and you walk there like on sunset strip trying to get in a club, one time two times, three times, finally get in that nightclub. ….

Everybody on the team is just fine, just tired but I feel great. We’re ready to hit the streets of Arusha with the cross in the morning, early. And then…the end of November we will have pictures….Africans, Norwegians, British, and Americans led this wonderful walk with the cross up the mountain so we’ll have those posted. And just praying that God bless you and that you be filled with the glory and power of Jesus and go out and tell somebody about the glory…We’re going on to Norway and we’ll be up there a couple of weeks ministering and back before Thanksgiving in America. You keep with up, and you keep praying. I’m so thrilled. And let me know, email me, and let me know if you like keeping this update. If you do, then the next time we do a trip overseas I’ll call in everyday or every two or three days if we’re gone longer. But I’ll call and let you know all about the trip. But this was Kilimanjaro so I’m not going to keep calling in reports everyday day or Sally will be so exhausted from typing all these things out. So, this will be my last report in. But let me know if it helped you, if it blessed you. And, if so, then next year, God willing, when we do another walk we’ll call in.

October 29, 2003
Itinerary
Walk from Kibo Hut down to Marangu Gate for a total of 19 miles (30 km).
This is the last day on the mountain, God willing. All downhill. Glory
Spend the night in Moshi.

Hi, this is Arthur Blessitt, and it’s great to be alive and well and speaking. Feeling OK right this moment. We’re down to the Mandara hut. Yesterday afternoon at about 14,000 I just could not acclimatize and started…I leaned or fell over a rock and just started vomiting water, and then blood. Just blood gushing out, so I stopped. One of the porters came back with me and I coughed up blood for a while, but it stopped. Spent the night at the huts up there. This morning it was real blurry. It was hard for me to see, and I said I’ve got to come on down to the lower one.

So, in the meantime yesterday afternoon Nina was sick. She came down last night in the hut where I was. And then Ted Caulkings and another one of the guys from Norway came down. And last night four of us were down. I made it to about 14,000 feet. They went on up with the rest of the team from the Mandara hut with Joshua leading the way there. Went on up with the African porters, and I have all their names; I will be giving them later on another day. They carried the cross on up and at about seventeen thousand, three or four hundred feet the porters were sick. It’s icy. Joshua stopped then. There were some others that stopped. A lot of vomiting’”everybody just about, except Tom Witt.

Most of the people involved have been very sick. Terrible headaches; very weak, but gloriously we lifted the cross up that high. And, we had great bonding of fellowship, the glory of God, everybody helping one another, and we made our way down here. Denise will join us tomorrow. Of course she walked the first day, and then she had to stop because of pain. But we’ve had a glorious mission. I mean, the cross has been lifted up above Africa. We didn’t make it to the top peak. But this, you’ve got to realize is a twelve foot cross on straight up, icy trails. And the porters did a great job. Everybody’s wonderful. We’re just like everybody’s walking with God. It’s just been one of those glorious times.

And yesterday when I was leaned over that rock vomiting water and blood I looked over at my son Joshua and said, “Joshua, now it’s you.’ Then Joshua, my 32 year old son, took the responsibility and went forward. And I felt almost like a mantle of glory going over upon him, and I felt total peace. Everyone of us got as far as Jesus wanted us to. Didn’t leave anything on the mountain. I went as far as I could. That’s how far God wanted and somebody else picked up, went further, went further. And, really that’s been the mission of carrying the cross around the world. I mean, I wanted to walk all the way across Iran’”they gave us two weeks. I wanted to go to Iraq. We did get in. We carried the cross in Iraq, Babylon and all, but that was only one week. In North Korea, I wanted to walk to Pyongyang but we only got inside and, you know, 20 or 30 miles into the country.

So, we feel very much at peace. And, the main thing here is that we did what God told us to do. We got as far as everyone could go. Even the porters’”they said the conditions were so bad. There were other people trying to climb and only two out of twenty something westerners got up there today.

So we’re very much at peace. I feel the great glory of God. Everybody is so thrilled. I mean, this is a heavy 45 pound 12 foot cross and everybody on our group has been trying to lug, push, and pull, tug, and get it up. They’ve been getting us great food, and fellowship, and praying with people. So, we’re still up on Mount Kilimanjaro tonight. And then tomorrow we’ll be going down to the gate entrance. I’ll give a report tomorrow night. So we’ll keep it going, but thank you all for your prayers. I’m telling you, I needed them. But I’ve stopped all the hemorrhaging. But Nina also had blood in her mouth. But other than that most everybody’s doing pretty good and we’re here at the camp fixing to have some popcorn and peanuts I think they’ve prepared for us. So, praise God! Glory to God! And, God willing I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Praise the Lord.

October 28, 2003
Itinerary
Start the cross walk at Kibo Hut and climb on to the summit at Uhuru Peak.
Climb from 15,419 (4,700 meters) to 19,341 feet (5,895 meters)
Ascent of 3,822 feet and then 3,822 feet descent back to Horombo Hut for a total 10,924 total feet in one day! About 8 hours to the summit and about 4 hours back with the distance to the top of about 3 miles (5 km) that is 13 miles round trip.
We are to start at midnight to try to get to the top for sunrise over Africa! The climb is rocky and frozen and has many switchbacks, as the way is now steep. The attrition rate on this last section is tremendous with dozens of climbers turning back before the top. At Gillman’s Point the summit comes into view across the crater. The walk around the ream takes about two more hours till one reaches Uhuru Peak. The way is past several glaciers of ice and snow. This is the Glory to God time of prayer and praise!

All I can say is this is the call of God and we are all committed to it. Only God knows how far we will get. All I know is should God will I will reach the top with the cross. Should God will all the team will reach the top and lift the cross up together. The cross will go on with whoever is going up.

It is so cold one must carry the water under our cloths to keep it from freezing.
We then walk back to Horombo Hut to spend the night!

October 25, 2003
Itinerary
Start the cross walk up Mount Kilimanjaro from Marangu Gate to Mandara Hut.
Climb from 6,233 feet (1900 meters) to 8,858 feet (2,700 meters)
Ascent of 2,625 feet over a distance of 5 miles (8 km) about 4 hours time
We walk a winding trail through dense semi-tropical forest and along a stream with viewing of wildlife possible. (Pray for favor with the park officials and the cross)
Spend the night at Mandara Hut. This is a camping place and also some huts. Denise and I will be sleeping in tents outside for fresh air. Few if any windows are in the buildings.

A pilgrim follower of Jesus,

Arthur Blessitt

Luke 18:1