By Steve Rees —
When Nick Schindler heard the Lord Jesus say He wanted him to carry a cross, the unconventional pastor went to a big-box store – like good carpenters do – for lumber and hardware to build one.
A literal cross – not the spiritual one Jesus commands His followers to carry – is what the Lord had in mind.
Not a carpenter by trade like Jesus, Schindler listened to the Lord for directions: Build the cross using an eight-feet-long post and side bars three-feet wide, He told Schindler.
One hundred thirty dollars later, Schindler added stain to the 75-pound cross he then hoisted onto his shoulder first in Bend, Oregon for a trip the Lord told him would lead to the East Coast of the United States.
There in Washington, D.C. – precisely in front of the White House – the Lord has instructed Schindler to leave the cross. (See ministry information here: Facebook)
From the nation’s capital Schindler, who is 39, will return to Oregon where the Lord told him spiritual revival will break out.
From Oregon Schindler, who at one time was a traditional pastor at two churches in the South, will lift a new cross onto his shoulder for a trip along both sides of the Mississippi River.
He will minister to people along the route as well as in churches that invite him to share about how to evangelize the lost in the public square.
Founder of Redemption Railroad Ministries, Schindler considers it a privilege to carry the cross because it represents the power of God to save the lost and least – a truth he’s observed in a handful of cities since June of 2023 when his pilgrimage began.
Bearing the burden on his shoulder, the cross is a miraculous sign for Shindler whose pelvis was shifted in a rear-end automobile collision in 2015. The destabilization forced him to walk with a cane for a while.
“I went from being essentially crippled at one point in my life to carrying this cross because the Lord’s called me to do it.
“At the end of the day, my feet are inflamed, my legs are yelling at me and my back’s crying ‘stop it,’ said Schindler, who is further burdened by a chronic condition stemming from a period of rebellious living before the cross.
He trained for a year with the cross in the Pacific Northwest before beginning the trek from Oregon to Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado
In what Schindler calls the $100 challenge, anybody who carries the cross for 20 city blocks – roughly one mile – while listening to him share the meaning of the 300-pound behemoth Jesus bore on His shoulders, gets the cash prize.
The only people who’ve accepted the challenge and finished the trek – two members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) – were changed by the gospel Schindler shared with them.
At the start of 2024, Schindler embarked from Idaho along what he now calls the highway of prayer – Highway 30 outside of Twin Falls.
There a woman told Schindler her husband – a diesel truck mechanic – suffered from serious back pain.
Schindler prayed with the man named Armando during a cell-phone video call, calling on the name of Jehovah Rapha, the name for God who is the healer, mender and sewer.
Later that day when the man and his wife met Schindler in person, Armando testified that God had healed his back. Lifting the cross onto his shoulders, Armando carried it into town with Schindler at his side.
During much of August, Schindler’s ministered in Colorado, home to one of his spiritual heroes.
Arthur Blessitt, the world-renown gospel evangelist, reached every continent with a cross he carried during a lifetime of ministry; he is 81.
Like Blessitt’s anointed evangelism efforts, Schindler led a man who had been “praying to the universe” to the Lord Jesus by sharing with him the message of God’s grace, and how believers are justified by the blood of His cross.
Chronically homeless for 20 years in Fort Collins, the 56-year-old man’s adult children are unaware of their father’s plight, said Schindler, who is grateful the man now has spiritual treasure in Jesus.
Schindler’s ministry reaches unhoused people, who were the primary beneficiaries of Redemption Railroad’s compassion and mercy outreach during the pandemic.
As churches shut down and bars remained open in accord with government mandates, unhoused people greatly suffered until Schindler brought choice cuisine to empty bellies and the gospel to hungry souls.
During a season of rest that followed the pandemic, the Holy Spirit spoke to Schindler about issuing a wake-up call to churches that sadly were failing in evangelism – that is, taking the message of the cross into the public square.
“It hit home as I was walking with the cross in downtown Bend, Oregon during Easter weekend. Two young girls asked, ‘Mommy, why is that man carrying a big old cross?’
“The mother turns to the two kids and says, ‘O that’s some weird occultic thing,’” recalls Schindler.
Moved by the Holy Spirit, Schindler spoke to the woman about what Jesus accomplished by hanging on the cross 2,000 years ago.
“In that moment, it became very real to me why the cross is so important for people to see in the public square. We’re living in an age when it’s no longer normal to preach Jesus,” said Schindler.
His other spiritual hero, Evangelist Billy Graham, could be surpassed by soul-winning believers if they commit to sharing the gospel, Shindler believes. He thinks that could lead to revival in America that rivals the Book of Acts.
In Green River, Wyoming, Schindler was walking with the cross when he heard about a man whose barn burned during Fourth of July fireworks.
When he arrived in Rock Springs, the Lord told Schindler to give the man $500 to help rebuild his barn.
Obedient to the Lord, Redemption Railroad Ministries helped. The ministry name stems from the fact that many people have been “railroaded” by life – some by church hurt, others through persecution.
Like the Good Shepherd Jesus, the ministry searches for the one who’s strayed – really, people who’ve been “railroaded” by the enemy’s cruelty of homelessness, abandonment and hurt.
Generous and frugal, Schindler and his wife Lynn live sacrificially in a motor home as he carries the cross.
With a home of their own and modest financial means, the Schindlers nevertheless appreciate the generosity of people who give to further the message of the cross.
“God is using the ministry to wake up people and give an invitation. How will you help somebody carry their cross?”
Schindler believes every believer is called to embody God’s love and help people in need.
