“5 mules, 2 dogs, Jesus, and me”

BLUE RIVER: Randy Boehmer says “Oregon is the 26th state these mules have pulled these wagons.” Averaging three to four miles an hour to a bale of hay, the Arizona native has been on the road for eight years. “I am out here living a slower paced life trusting God that people will see the Bible verses on the sides of the wagons, believe that Jesus is the one true living God, repent of their sins and ask Jesus into their hearts. There are no diesel trucks and horse trailers following us - it’s just the 9 of us - 5 mules, 2 dogs, Jesus, and me.”

His sheepherder’s wagon was eastbound on the McKenzie Highway this week, after an excursion covering 200 miles of the Oregon coast since the Fall.

A taxidermist for 40 years, Boehmer began to look at life differently when his parents died in 1991. Helping his siblings clean out their belongings caused him to realize all they’d worked for so hard meant little when most of their possessions were carted off to the dump.

When his wife, Lois, passed on he thought harder about all that “Jesus stuff” she believed in. If there is such a place as Heaven, he concluded, she was there, and he wanted to be with her. “I repented of my sins and gave my life to Jesus on March 3, 1999.”

Nearly everything the traveling man owns is in the wagons, included hay for his stock and food for his dogs and himself. He receives some monthly financial help from his church in Arizona, supplemented with help from people along the way.

His mission is has simple goals: “To be where it’s warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer,” Boehmer said. “I’ll continue to do this, traveling in a covered wagon trying to win souls ‘til I die.”

People who’d like to help out can  write to Boehmer at P.O. Box 826, Ashfork, AZ, 86320.

Frank, Jesse, Dick, Jack, and Butch are the mules; Shep and Proverb are the dogs; and the man trusting in God is Randy Boehmer. They’ve all made their way over thousands of miles in the U.S. hoping people will take to heart the Bible verses on the sides of their wagons that read: “Jesus Saves, Just Ask Him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and Thou Shalt Be Saved And Thy House.”

McKenzie River Reflections