A Cross To Carry
A friend on facebook gave me a heads up that the man with the cross was heading to Syracuse, Kansas. On my way to Garden City I searched for the man carrying the cross. I found him on a blistering hot day and gave him some water. He said, “There’s not a lot of shade in western Kansas.”
I asked to interview him in Syracuse the next day. And what a story.
Roger Gates had a choice, drugs or Jesus. He chose drugs.
He had PTSD from Vietnam, a divorce and a son that died 18 hours after his birth. He asked why him and not me.
This small town Oklahoma kid was lost and battered by the world and fell like many of us do.
He started doing drugs then selling them. Then things escalated.
The day he was arrested he knew. He told his buddy don’t make any sudden movements when they come back in or we are dead.
When the District Attorney asked for 96 years, he threw himself on the mercy of the court and was given 22 years. Gates said, “The Lord gave me 6 years inside.”
A year inside of prison and he knew he needed help. I thought of doctors, teachers and preachers. “I wasn’t mad at God. I just never thought about God or Jesus.”
He had a moment in his cell. Call it an awakening. Call it visions. But God showed him where he should have died numerous times in his life. He felt a heavy weight. He felt Satan laughing at him.
Then on the right side of the cell he saw God the Father himself and heard a stern but gentle voice saying, “You need my son, Jesus.”
“It was the first time I ever called him Father. I gave my life to him even if it meant my death. He placed me in his hands. He saved my life three times in prison. I didn’t like who I was.”
When most people get out of prison they run the other way. Not Gates.
He got out of prison, grabbed a bus to Tulsa and went into the police station asking for the officer who arrested him.
“He thought I was there to get revenge. But I shook his hand and thanked him for saving my life. If I hadn’t gone to prison I wouldn’t be here today. That’s how far I had gone. I was going to die or go to prison.”
The arresting officer’s name was John Crawford and Gates would love to see him one more time.
Looking back he sees the calling on his life. Even when he was on drugs he encouraged kids to get off of them and even helped them stay away from them. A number of them have come back to thank him.
“I found them one at a time, sat down with them and paid for their medical help to get off drugs. All five of them got off and all went through clinic and cleaned their life up. But I still wouldn’t get clean.”
His life has been an amazing journey. When he was 39 he built a cross and felt God say walk and don’t take anything with you. That God will take care of His servants.
He started with three or four walks across Oklahoma. Then felt he needed to walk across the United States.
The first time he did it, it took him a year and two weeks. He started through North Carolina with $5 in his pocket.
He walked through the California desert with no water. A woman came up in a Cadillac, stopped and cracked the window to offer him $20. He thought why couldn’t that money be water. Thankfully a state trooper came by and got him water.
Gates says, “God wants us to lighten the burden of future generations.” He believes he is to build four massive food storage buildings in cases of disaster. He felt God say, “This could cost you your life. I looked up at the Lord and said ok.”
This is his third time walking across the country. This is his second cross. The wheels at the bottom hold most of the weight.
Twice he has walked forty miles in a day.
He built a smaller food warehouse years ago with a chapel inside and told the people, “Don’t abuse it. Don’t come if you don’t need it “ And no one abused it.
He plans on building four twenty acre warehouses. One in North Carolina, California, Oklahoma and near the Canadian border.
These warehouses belong to the people, not the government and not to any one church denomination. He is adamant this is for the people to meet their needs .
“Disasters are coming in the future and He wants to lighten the burden for future generations Instead of churches splitting let’s come together.”
The message he wants to pass to people. “God loves ALL of his people. He cries over those who don’t know him yet He rejoices over those that do. There is coming a day when he will wipe our tears away. If you don’t know the Lord when that day comes it’s the day we will face God. If we don’t choose him it’s eternity. Nobody wants to go to the lake of fire.“
Gates tears up when he says, “Millions are headed to it and don’t even know. If I can reach one more person before I die then I have done a good thing. My journey on this earth is to reach one more person.“
You can mail letters and donations to:
Ministry of Truth
7907 S. 105th St. E.,
Braggs, OK 74423.
He has a friend back home who is receiving and depositing the donations daily. Also, if you give a donation directly to Mr. Gates, he does not keep more than $60-$100 on him at all times, so everything in excess of that, he gets a cashiers check and mails it into the ministry.
Online giving is also available at paypal.me/ministryoftruth101
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Terry Ogden Herndon
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Irvin Henry (Junior) Lewis, Jr.
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Darrell D. Markley
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Dale Lee Simmons
A Memorial Service for Dale Simmons will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 6, 2022, at the Hartman School Gymnasium in Hartman, Colorado,with Pastor Jason Kirkpatrick officiating. Inurnment will follow in the Hartman Cemetery. Per Dale’s request, cremation has taken place and there will be no visitation.
Dale Lee Simmons passed away on July 30, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the age of 81. He was born on February 23, 1941, in Pratt, Kansas, to John and Theda (Carr) Simmons.
Dale grew up in Pratt, Kansas until he was seven years old. The family then moved to Hartman, Colorado,where he played basketball for the Hartman Bears. Dale graduated with the class of 1959, the last class to graduate from Hartman. He was united in marriage to Frances Leah Dennis on August 30, 1959. To this union, four children were born.
When Dale was only seven years old, he began driving a tractor. After his father’s death, Dale took over the family farm at the age of 15. He farmed until partially retiring in 2017. Dale continued to swath hay and operate a grain cart until his passing. Dale served on the Fire and Ambulance Board, Hartman Town Council, and as mayor for several years.
Dale is survived by his wife, Frances Simmons of the home; four children, Denise (Bob) Fazzino of Canon City, Colorado, Dennis (Jackie) Simmons of Hartman, Colorado, Dean (Jessie) Simmons of Hartman, Colorado, and Donna (David) Woodward of Port Orchard, Washington; eight grandchildren, Melissa Swope Woodward, Jeremy (Lindsey) Woodward, Dustin (Grace) Simmons, Kayla (Jason) Kirkpatrick, Dawn (Sean) Kelley, Sean (Krissy) Woodward, Gayle (Clay) Tatum, and Erin (Burley) Jerina; 18 great grandchildren; brother, Robert (Mary Rita) Simmons of Lamar, Colorado; sister, Ginger (Andy) Pittman of Arkansas; many other relatives and a host of friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Karen Cook; and stepfather, Herschel Melton.
Memorial contributions may be made to Holly Fire and Ambulance or the Town of Hartman in care of Valley Memorial Funeral Chapel, P.O. Box 950, Lamar, Colorado 81052. To leave online condolences, please visit www.valleymemorialfc.com.
Kris Elaine (Jost) Jantz
Kris Elaine (Jost) Jantz March 20, 1957 - July 27, 2022 A Funeral Service for Kris Jantz will be held at 9:30 a.m. MST, Friday, August 5, 2022, at the Syracuse Wesleyan Church in Syracuse, KS. Interment will follow in the Syracuse Cemetery. Kris Elaine (Jost) Jantz passed... [More]
Barbara Laureen Fanshier-Phillips
Barbara Laureen Fanshier-Phillips (Daniels), age 83, of The Villages, FL, passed away on July 19, 2022 with her daughter, Shawn Fanshier, by her side. Born January 25, 1939 on the family farm in Kinsley, KS. Barb was a life-long learner with a passion for following her dreams.... [More]
Justin Van Trussell
Justin Van Trussell passed away on Friday, July 1, 2022 at the age of 57 from a motorcycle accident near North Platte, Nebraska. He was born on September 22, 1964 in Germany the son of Ronald V. Trussell and Mona Rae (Alexander) Trussell. Justin began his life in Germany. They... [More]
Dalene Fecht Lewis
Dalene May (Fecht) Lewis passed away on Tuesday, July 5, 2022 at the age of 71 at the Hamilton County Hospital in Syracuse, Kansas. She was born on December 15, 1950 in Garden City, Kansas the daughter of Albert Dale Fecht and Pauline (Finkenbinder) Fecht. Dalene was... [More]
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