I went to my first World Day of Prayer at First Lutheran Church in Morris, MN on Friday, March 5th of 2004. They highlighted Panama as the nation to pray for in this annual event.
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Arthur Blessitt Reaches the Darien Jungle
"Arthur Blessitt, in his quest to carry The Cross around the world, goes to one of the most dangerous places on Earth, Panama's legendary Darien Jungle. There he experiences a moment with God which defines his journey. "God said to me, 'I am grinding you into powder so that I can blow you where I will.' And I said 'God keep on grinding.'"
" The Darien Jungle
Arthur in the JungleTen years after God told me to carry a 12-foot cross around the world, I found myself confronted with one of the world's deepest, darkest, and most inpenetrable jungles.
The famous Darien Gap faced me. Approximately 400 miles of mountains, jungle and swamp ... the only place from Alaska to Argentina without a road; a place of five-layered forest where the sunlight often never gets to the ground. The footing is often wet from heavy rains. The leaves rot slowly and often you stand up to your knees in the decaying leaves. It's hot and humid during the day, and at night it's cold and one needs a blanket. There are deep narrow rivers, rapids, waterfalls and rainfall of about 180 inches a year. Steep cliffs covered in vines, grass and thick brush border the streams. Saw grass, which will cut you to pieces; undergrowth in places that is so thick it is almost impossible to get through. All kinds of disease, leeches, rabies, fungus, mosquitoes, and ticks. The six-foot coral snake, the fer-de-lance snake that often bites feet and ankles and can kill you. The bushmaster, which lives in trees and strikes you in the face or neck with two-and-a-half times the poison necessary to kill. Most of the Darien snakes will kill you in a short time with venom that paralyzes the heart causing cardiac arrest.
There are all kinds of spiders, scorpions, and ants, besides other wild animals like panthers and wildcats. The Darien Jungle is along the narrow stretch of land that joins the South America with to North America. It has a steep backbone of mountains going steeply down to the sea into mangrove Arthur with Cuna Indiansswamps; the few tribes of people are Choco and Cuna Indians. They live along the rivers, but seldom cross between the rivers over land. They just travel to the sea and back in hollowed-out logs called piraguas. The total number of people that have crossed from the Panama Canal to Turbo, Colombia would probably only number in the hundreds.
There are no reliable maps; cuts and scratches are difficult to heal; most of the water and food is contaminated; disease is common.
Now I faced all of this with a 12-foot cross. It is easy to take a ferry boat from Panama to Colombia, or even a small boats that stop at the villages along the shore, but to walk with the cross through a jungle? Of course! Here is the question: Do the unknown circumstances we face cause us to re-evaluate the call? Of course not. I accepted the call of God to walk from Mexico to Colombia. There was never any thought in my mind that I should go around by boat. There is only one way... walk!
Two men came from the United States to help me. I thought it was necessary, but I was to find out otherwise. I shall call them Tom and Jerry. Tom was a doctor from the U. S. who spoke Spanish and brought along all kinds of anti-venom in case of snake bites. He had first aid supplies, enough to do an emergency operation. Jerry was a businessman and a very good friend who had accompanied me on another trip...
I have written a book, "Arthur Blessitt's Street University," preached and witnessed on television and God has now put me in this jungle where He has cut me off from all my interpreters and says, "Now be My witness; love, care, and let the people see the tears. I want you to hurt, to cry and communicate, but I can't get through. This is the way I feel. I want to speak to the people in the world but they can't hear me. I speak the language of the spirit, of life and of heaven. There's a speaking of the language of the flesh, death, hell, and suffering. I cry, I weep, I want to communicate," it seemed God was saying. "Look around at all the people you know in evangelism and in the ministry who are doing great things for God, saving souls, teaching, healing the sick, prophesying, but think for a moment. You know many of them personally and the home life of the great leader is but a shallow shell; the real spiritual life is empty; you know this. Now what they are doing is trying to make things too big for me, bigger and bigger, but I'm interested in their lives, their hurts. I want to heal their frustrations. It is just a disaster, yet they try to lead My people. I want their hearts, their emotions, their love, their interests. Not so much their time or big plans. I'm tired of hearing what people want to do for Me. I just want people to love Me, to love each other... then I will do what I will, for I am God. Everyone wants to plan a crusade or go somewhere, but few seem to have time for Me. Arthur, I'm more interested in who you are than what you do for Me. The world will be blessed as a result of the overflow of our relationship, but some would rather talk about Me than visit with Me or live with Me. Who will wash My feet with their hair? Who will anoint My feet with costly oil? Or, who will give a cup of cold water in My name, or a place to sleep, or visit a prison? Who will speak My name dripping in love? Who will bind up the broken hearted with friendship? Everything must flow from the heart of God or it is in vain, no matter what the result. The question is 'who are you?' not what is the result. We've come to believe that the end justifies the means in Christian circles, that, if people were being saved, we say it's a successful ministry.'
Look at the size of that church, God must be blessing it. Not so, for Paul said, "Lest as I preach Christ I myself be a castaway." Oh, Lord, keep coming, I'm hearing you clearly. Tune me in, I don't want to miss anything you are saying.
"What I'm asking you to do is to obey Me, love Me, follow Me. It doesn't have to be successful, you don't have to have a bigger or better story than ever before, just be My disciple today. Sometimes I teach you, sometimes you share it. Always you live it. You have come this far by obeying Me, loving Me and doing the simple things. The Sunset Strip was the story of little things, like taking drunks home, spending hours with runaways and drug addicts. The walk has been one step at a time, day by day, not with television following you, or a book, or fame. You are now tempted to try to force success. You haven't done it, but you are close. You must succeed, you are the expert. All the people want something. The pressure is to give it to them. But, no, I want you the way you are. Simple, complete and powerful I don't want you to have to be captured on film or spoken of on TV or reported in newspapers; do everything only for me, for the good of the people.... only for the good... not for the glory or the fame. Interest will follow, not because you tried to get it, but it will always be because I did it.
"Like the other day in the heart of the jungle, I got you on television and they will put you in a book or a magazine. You are in My will, you have not gone astray. But be warned... stop and clear everything else from your mind. Serve only Me. Do it only for Me. Let that be the criteria and I will use you to shake the world.....""
*see GoodnewsEverybody.com Movies: The Passion, Crucification, Easter, Resurrection, etc..
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