By Denise Duelley, Ritchie Gazette & The Cairo Standard
HARRISVILLLE, W.Va. — Have you ever seen a set of three crosses dotting on a hillside as you travel the country roads of Ritchie County?
They are placed in several locations around this area, and represent the Cross of Jesus, as well as the crosses of the two thieves who died on either side of Him. Luke 23:32-43 talks of the two others, who were criminals, and were led away to be put to death with Jesus.
The Lenten season is upon us, and Holy week will be here next week, followed by Easter.
What brought this topic to mind was finding an article in the Ritchie Gazette when the crosses – which represent redemption, repentance and rejection – were being placed locally.
According to the Bible, there were three crosses on Calvary’s hill. One man was dying in sin – he did not accept Jesus. The other man was dying to sin – he trusted Jesus as Savior; and the middle cross held the One dying for sin.
One night in 1984, Bernard L. Coffindaffer, a Methodist preacher from Craigsville, WV, told his wife he had a vision, in which God spoke to him about erecting a series of three wooden crosses along roadways around the world. He was told what to do: get manpower, materials and plant crosses. He worked “like a dog”, as the report stated, 18 hours a day for 35 years.
