CROSS WALK ALASKA Part Three THE CROSS WALKS BEGIN
Articles By Tom Alexander August 1st, 2019PRAYING FOR ALASKA’S ELECTED POLITICAL LEADERS
God’s number one goal for me whenever I walk the cross in any state and especially at each state capital is for me to hoist that 10-foot, 60-pound cross upright at that state’s capitol mall and pray hard and long for every elected official, and especially its governor and state senators and representatives.
God isn’t concerned about that elected official’s political party. Rather, He is very interested in the heart of that state official. Because if that elected official’s heart isn’t right with God, the people will suffer, and there will be chaos and confusion in that state.
No matter the state, my prayer is always the same: “LORD God Almighty, bless these elected officials with the knowledge of Your will for their lives, and let them make decisions that glorify You and Your righteousness. If they are not willing to govern in righteousness and truth, replace them with those who will.”
BLESSED ARE THE PEOPLE WHOSE GOD IS THE LORD
The Alaska capitol building’s main entrance was under repair, so I walked slightly to the side of the entrance, hoisted the large cross upright by the replica Liberty Bell and prayed for Governor Mike Dunleavy, that (1) his heart would be right with God concerning every decision he makes, no matter what it would take; (2) that he would listen to God’s promptings, as well as being sensitive to the needs and the wishes of the people; and (3) that Governor Dunleavy would be a witness of God’s great love and concerned for all the people of Alaska.
As is my custom, I prayed at each entrance, asking the living God to pour out His Spirit of Righteousness upon all elected individuals and throughout the entire political arena of the state of Alaska, and that each would give their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray loud and long, and people do stand around and listen as I pray. After praying, I always beckon onlookers to come over so I can share why I am praying, as well as the purpose of the cross walk. Often, I get to pray with men and women who have been praying for their elected leaders and their state for years, and who are very happy to join with me in prayer. Such was the case in Juneau.
THE ARRIVAL OF REVIVAL
Everywhere I went, concerned people would join me in prayer for their great state. And, of course, because of their long-time faithfulness in upholding their state in prayer, there is no doubt whatsoever that great revival and great awakening was most assuredly going to take place soon. Revival was in the air!
Before the Alaska Cross Walk would end in five days, I would bring the large cross twice to the capitol building, hoist it upright and pray for great revival, great awakening and great godly sorrow to spread fully and powerfully throughout the entire state of Alaska and all its big and small cities and towns as well.
Alaska is by far our nation’s largest state as far as land mass is concerned. But nothing can stop the Spirit of the living God from reaching each and every person, no matter the remoteness of the village—or the heart! Such is the power—and love—of the one true God.
After praying hard and long at the state capitol building, I headed for a place where thousands of seasonal tourists on cruise ship vacations converge each and every day.
TWENTY THOUSAND PEOPLE A DAY VISITING JUNEAU IN THE SUMMER
Juneau’s Seawalk is a short distance from the state capitol building. It was very easy to spot because of the gigantic cruise ships docked in Juneau Harbor, which is part of the Gulf of Alaska.
I was excited to have such an opportunity to walk the cross where thousands of tourists and vacationers from many different nations would see the large cross. I may not be able to speak their language, but the cross of Christ Jesus DOES speak a language they all would understand—the language of God’s great love in Christ for each of them!
Everybody from the hotel workers to storefront owners had told me that, in these peak summer days, twenty-thousand people come ashore from their cruise ships and visit downtown Juneau.
I could believe it!
GLORY HALLELUJAH, LOOK WHAT GOD IS DOING!
Even though it was a rainy morning, the Seawalk was filled with people wearing rain gear or carrying cruise-ship loaned umbrellas. The large cross, of course, is God’s great attention getter. Although I had brought plenty of special two-sided tract cards to hand out, my first thought was: “I’m going to need a lot more of these tracts!”
I felt like what a fisherman must feel like in a freshly overstocked lake, only in a spiritual sense.
Every now and then as I walked the Seawalk, I would hoist the ten-foot cross upright and pray loud and long. What happened each time I did this was quite inspiring.
I always expect fellow Americans to approach me and ask about the cross walk, but I was amazed at the large number of tourists from other nations who would come up and start conversations about what I was doing. It is easy to forget that other countries have born-again believers who are just as on fire for Jesus and concerned about their fellow countrymen and the need for great revival as we are here in America.
“You should come to Norway and walk the cross.” “We need you to do this in the Philippines.” “Are you planning on coming to England and doing that?” “We’re a Muslim nation but it sure would be great if you can come to Egypt, too!” “Have you thought about walking the cross in Russia?” “Maybe one of these days you can bring the cross to Canada.” “Mexico could use you there as well.”
THE CRU SHOWS UP—CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CHRIST—BECAUSE OF HOME DEPOT!
As I walked the cross and prayed for the people living in Alaska and for all who were on the five huge cruise ships, that each would come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, I felt the Shekinah glory of the God of glory falling like gentle rain upon the entire Seawalk and city. Praising the LORD with songs and thanksgiving as I walked, I saw three young people heading for me. One of the young adult women shouted softly, “We heard about you from our friend who works at Home Depot. He said you would be here today!”
Isabel, Gabby and Andrew had big smiles on their “faith.” “You mean Davis?” I asked. The trio nodded their heads in unison. Davis was also with Campus Crusade for Christ, and he was working at Home Depot for the summer as well. CRU missionaries hold down jobs as well whenever they are on missionary assignments. Davis had come up as I was constructing the cross and mentioned that he was part of CRU. Davis had also mentioned that he would let all the CRU group know that I would be on the Seawall today. That’s why they were here.
The four of us had a pleasant talk about Jesus and their experiences in Juneau. They all would be in Juneau a total of ten weeks. Next week would be their last, and each would head off back to the state they came from, no doubt filled with God’s grace and with exciting and inspiring stories to share about their work in Alaska’s state capital.
GOD’S GOT AN ARMY, NOT AFRAID TO FIGHT. SOUL-DIERS OF THE CROSS, WARRIORS OF THE LIGHT!
I was struck by their enthusiasm and their faith in Jesus. After praying with them, I continued north as they walked south down the Seawalk.
All I could think as I walked was, These are some awesome and amazing on-fire-for-the-Lord youth!
And then, more CRU missionaries showed up!
And each CRU member wasn’t timid about their faith in Jesus Christ. What a joy it was to watch them take up the cross, walk a bit with it, and then pose for pictures.
(note: I can’t remember all the names of these awesome young people, but here are a few of them with the cross.)
I was walking on air and enjoying these young people to no end. Listening to their stories, and how the cross had effected them, encouraged them, motivated them and blessed them was quite invigorating to the cross walker. The truth is, I fell in agape-love with all these young adults. I was amazed at their contagious faith in Christ Jesus!
And even though they each shared how wonderful it wa that I was walking the cross and praying for Alaska and the people living in this great state, I believe my faith was stirred up more than all of theirs put together—simply because of what they were doing and had been doing the past eight or nine weeks in Juneau!
Faith doesn’t make sense. It makes miracles! And here were 11 walking miracles of a group of 45 CRU members walking the cross along this huge and beautiful Seawalk for all the people to see. There is not doubt that God was smiling down on us all as the name of Jesus Christ continued to softly, gently but loudly be proclaimed throughout the Harbor!
WE WILL NEVER FORGET THIS TIME WITH YOU
I would walk the Seawalk two more days before leaving for California. In my heart, I wanted to stay another week, just to walk the Seawalk, meet the rest of CRU, and minister to and pray for all the people on those daily cruise ship vacations.
The falling rain so gentle and misty, the sheer beauty of the terrain, the beyond-average friendliness of the people living in Juneau, the shopkeepers I met and became friends with, the hotel staff and guests who bent over backwards to accommodate my cross walking needs, and, well, the overall excitement so many openly expressed about the cross walk. All this and more made leaving Juneau a little bit harder than other cities we’ve been to. Just as awesome, the angelic encounter and miracle mentioned in Part One is one I will never ever forget.
But the biggest joy I felt were the words of some of the CRU missionaries: “We will never forget this special time with you. Our faith was kindled greatly, and this has inspired us to go back home and continue what we did here in Juneau.”
All of us saw lives changed, lives transformed, lives healed, lives encouraged, lives come alive again, and lives set on fire by faith in Jesus. And I, for one, look forward to one day returning to Juneau, as well as cross walking other cities of the Last Frontier as well. Amen.
Next up: Part Four—MY LAST DAY IN THE LAST FRONTIER
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