“I’m heartsick about the times, when we, as Christians, have not lived according to Jesus’ teachings and created barriers to the faith. But …nameless men and women…humbly and courageously upheld the faith, have served in obscurity, have given their lives to help others”

John D. Woodbridge, PhD, in The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel

I know one person who humbly upholds his faith, serves in relative obscurity and has given his life helping others. Keith Wheeler, from Tulsa Oklahoma, has done so since 1985, travelling the world, meeting people in crowds, sometimes one on one, without introduction, without an entourage, without publicity. He does it because he loves Jesus and wants everyone else to love him.

Others do something like this, but unlike Keith, they don’t do it on foot (after flying into a country by plane, of course.) Nor do they do it carrying a 12-foot-tall, 90-pound cross over a shoulder. But Keith Wheeler does.

Keith Wheeler-from Tulsa to the world

I introduced you to Keith in two previous posts that I invite you to read. In 1985 he began walking around the world carrying his cross. He started in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and returned there when he had walked the entire circumference of the earth.

Then he continued walking until March 2020 when like the rest of us his usual life routine was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. But the pandemic did not stop his ministry, his love for God and people, and his desire for people to know Jesus. He just did it differently.

Keith, the Cross, and COVID

Like millions of others, Keith was infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in early 2021. Fortunately, he had a mild case, not requiring hospital admission, and recovered after the recommended isolation time at his home in Tulsa.

He was well enough to pick up the cross and carry it in Florida on perhaps the most appropriate day of the year, Good Friday. A few months later he started traveling again, although for a limited extent due to worldwide travel restrictions.

The Interview, part 2

In November 2021 Keith was home in Tulsa and I caught up with him by video so we could maintain social distancing. I wrote about my interview with him in an earlier post and continue it here. (KW is Keith, I am AO.)

AO: Keith, have you started travelling overseas again?

KO: Some but mostly staying in the states, a lot of travel in Oklahoma and Texas, and to Central America and Paraguay.

Travel is more difficult due to fewer direct connections, and the need to get tested for COVID so often. If a country requires a 2-week quarantine upon arrival, that’s not a good use of our resources. And it can be hard to maintain masking outdoors when it’s required by the local regulations.

AO: Keith, you called your COVID timeout a precious time with Jesus.
KW: Yes it was. One of my favorite verses is John 13:23, in the King James Version (KJV) ; it says the disciple whom Jesus loved (believed to be John) was “reclining on Jesus’ bosom. I like to think that meant the heart of Jesus, and that’s where I want to be.

AO: What was it like not being able to travel internationally in 2020?
KW: It was a season of adjustment. There were many distractions in the world, but I refused to be distracted by the politics.

My message continued, know Jesus and love people.

AO: Keith, I suspect many people quote to you the scripture about taking up one’s cross. What does that mean to you?
KW: Jesus said to be “born again” once, but several times he said to “take up your cross.” (Matthew 16:24)

To me, there are four aspects to taking up the cross.
First, it needs to involve sacrifice, it has to cost something. It has to be chosen willingly. Next, it needs to bring redemption to others, that is save them from sin, evil, or error. Finally, it has to bring glory to God.

AO: Keith, what should we learn from the pandemic, not just medically speaking, but socially and spiritually?
KW: We have missed the presence of Jesus by insisting on our rights. A story in the Old Testament about Joshua teaches a lesson about this.
(Keith then told me this story)

While Joshua was there near Jericho: He looked up and saw right in front of him a man standing, holding his drawn sword. Joshua stepped up to him and said, “Whose side are you on—ours or our enemies’?”
He said, “Neither. I’m commander of God’s army. I’ve just arrived.”
Joshua fell, face to the ground, and worshiped. He asked, “What orders does my Master have for his servant?”
God’s army commander ordered Joshua, “Take your sandals off your feet. The place you are standing is holy.”
Joshua did it. Joshua 5:13-15, MSG

KW: Taking off one’s shoes is a sign of humility and submission, the very opposite of insisting on our rights.

Meeting Keith and the Cross

That thought has stayed with me, long after Keith and I ended our talk so he could make it to another appointment. Since then, I have watched several of his YouTube videos and listened to other interviews. A few weeks later my husband and I had the pleasure of attending a local church where Keith spoke.

If you think Keith dresses up in a suit and tie to speak in churches-well, guess again. He looked like he had just walked in from the road, although I’m fairly sure he and his wife Nicole drove there. He brought the cross, which is just as big and imposing as it looks in his photos.

Before he spoke, Keith wasn’t backstage drinking coffee. He was in the auditorium, sitting at the far end of the front row, joining us in the singing and worship time, sometimes kneeling as we sang, and occasionally lying prostrate on the floor. Before he started speaking, he invited all of us in the audience to kneel and pray, and as far as I could tell, we all did.

Keith’s message that morning was about the Cross. He said almost everywhere in the world he travels people recognize the cross and what it stands for, but a few times he has gone places where people didn’t know.

Once he was in a large crowd in Nairobi Kenya, so crowded he could barely walk through. Suddenly the crowd parted to allow a blind man being led by a friend to approach. When he reached Keith, all he wanted to do was touch the cross. Then he walked away.

Keith says he should all be like the people in the Bible, John 12: 21, who came to the disciples, asking to see Jesus. Instead, we have taken our eyes off Jesus, off the cross, worrying about masks, vaccines, and election fraud, which he calls distractions.

I was honored to meet him after the service, pose for a photo, and most importantly, touch the cross that has been up to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the tallest peak in Africa. The cross wasn’t smooth and polished; it felt sturdy and rugged, the surface rough, like the one Jesus would have carried. It was a Sunday I will not forget.

You can find Keith at Keith Wheeler Ministries

The Message Bible Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson

King James Version -Public Domain

sharing the HEART of faith, hope, and love

Thanks for joining me to meet Keith Wheeler. I shared another post about Keith, with info culled from his website, social media, and videos. Keith has encountered many situations involving conflict, and one that happened surprisingly right here in Tulsa Oklahoma.

Doctor Aletha