Patrick Styles caught in crossfire while walking for Jesus

Having embarked on a 10 000km journey around the country, Patrick Styles (57) of Rustenburg recently found himself in the middle of a shootout, which forced to him to halt and then reroute his mission.

Patrick left his home on August 22 to travel across the country by foot, carrying a giant wooden cross on his back. His main goal was to spread God’s love and light wherever he went and to minister to those who requested him to do so, or sit down and chat to locals. He has been doing these walks for the past five years and decided to use the South Coast route this year.

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When Patrick arrived in Scottburgh, he made several friends along the way and even had his first altercation with a local who didn’t believe in what Patrick was doing. “I was definitely upset by the whole situation as this had never happened to me before, but my wife told me that you had to go big or go home and realise that not everyone was going to like what you were doing,” he said.

This was Patrick’s first negative experience, but what followed was worse. After leaving Scottburgh, he continued his walk as usual. Then it was brought to our attention by a local Scottburgh man who is still in touch with Patrick, that he had been caught in the middle of a shootout in Bizana in the Eastern Cape. Fortunately, Patrick was unharmed.

I was walking through Bizana when a robbery was in progress at a nearby shop and a shootout began between the robbers and the police.I went to a filling station, which was the closest place to take cover, but the robbers decided to target that as well.

While Patrick tried to flee from the filling station, the robbers approached him and tried to take his cross. He held onto it with all his might, but they still managed to steal some of his belongings, including the lights on his cross.

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Police told Patrick that it was not safe for him to continue his walk through the area as the next time he found himself in the middle of a shootout, it could result differently. He then changed the course of his journey, walked all the way to Mooi River, was fetched by a friend and taken back to his home on a farm in Rustenburg last Friday.

I am grateful to God that I was unharmed and, after I’m done fixing my cross, I will continue to do my walks. I plan on getting back on the road by December and will use a different route that will take me through Bloemfontein and East London.

One thing Patrick mentioned before he left Scottburgh was: “I never walk alone because Jesus Christ is always with me,” and he stuck to that after walking out unharmed from the shooting.

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