{"id":5246,"date":"2025-01-22T18:32:08","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T18:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/?p=5246"},"modified":"2025-01-22T18:32:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T18:32:08","slug":"he-walked-40000-miles-for-jesus-now-hes-gone-home-to-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2025\/01\/he-walked-40000-miles-for-jesus-now-hes-gone-home-to-him.html","title":{"rendered":"He Walked 40,000 Miles for Jesus. Now, He\u2019s Gone Home to Him"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Arthur Blessitt, the man famous for carrying a cross over 40,000 miles across 7 continents, has died as the age o 84. Known as the \u201cPilgrim with the Cross,\u201d Blessitt famously carried a 12-foot, 45-lb cross over 43,000 miles, spanning 324\u00a0countries. Blessitt was an ordained minister by the time he was 20, with his evangelism activities began in the 1960s during the Jesus Movement when he opened a coffee house ministry called His Place. The shop was the original site of the cross until one day Blessitt felt God was telling him to take it around the world. \u201cIf I knew I was going to carry it, I would not have made it so big,\u201d he would say later<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He left on Christmas day in 1969, starting a 56-year journey that would land him in the Guinness Book of World Records for the \u201cWorld\u2019s Longest Walk.\u201d Reflecting on his experience in his book, The Cross, <\/em>Blessitt shared about a world hungry for Jesus. \u201cAfter having carried the cross in every nation, I can say that the world is open to and hungry for the good news of Jesus and the cross. The only problem is that the laborers are few, as Jesus said. My goal has been to get the cross off the wall and into people’s minds and hearts, where they can understand and experience its message,” he wrote.<\/a><\/p>\n

In a Facebook post seemingly written in advance by Blessitt in preparation for his passing, he wrote, \u201cI was just a donkey and pilgrim, lifting up the cross and Jesus and loved the people of the world. What a glorious journey of life with Jesus my Lord and Savior. I\u2019ve really been looking forward to this walk in Glory. These feet that walked so far on roads of dirt and tar will now be walking on the streets of gold. Ready to see Jesus again! I rejoice in Jesus, now, and in the hour of my passing. \u2018Father, into Your Hands Jesus I commit my spirit.\u2019\u201d Blessitt announced gladly that he was \u201chome at last.\u201d<\/p>\n

TBN paid tribute to Blessitt on X. \u201cChristians are the only people who can grieve and rejoice at the same time. Our dear friend Arthur Blessitt, affectionately known as the \u2018Minister of the Sunset Strip,\u2019 has left this earth on his final journey!\u201d \u201cBlessed is Arthur Blessitt,\u201d wrote another user<\/a>. \u201cWhat a life! Walking the world carrying the cross and sharing the message of Christ for decades. May the Creator & Savior welcome you. It’s not a death, it’s a homecoming!\u201d Blessitt leaves behind his wife, Denise Irja Blessitt, seven children, twelve grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.<\/p>\n

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Arthur Blessitt, the man famous for carrying a cross over 40,000 miles across 7 continents, has died as the age o 84. Known as the \u201cPilgrim with the Cross,\u201d Blessitt famously carried a 12-foot, 45-lb cross over 43,000 miles, spanning 324\u00a0countries. Blessitt was an ordained minister by the time he was 20, with his evangelism…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":627,"featured_media":5243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[221,146],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-author","category-religious-leader"],"yoast_head":"\nHe Walked 40,000 Miles for Jesus. 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