It's hard to miss: Kentucky native Gregory Jones is carrying a large wooden cross made of two-by-fours and covered in signatures. His mission is simple … but not easy: to spread the message of Jesus Christ. AFN spoke with Jones recently as he passed through Corinth, Mississippi.
"I was a manager at a local grocery story in Lexington, Kentucky, and I kept feeling this heavy conviction like I wasn't doing enough to tell people about Jesus."
He said that night, he went home and he went into prayer. "And I said 'God, what can I do to reach out to more people in this country?' And as I'm sitting there in prayer, I hear a voice. He says 'drop it all and go', and y'all it scared me half to death …."
He shared that he immediately pulled a Jonah and went down and hid in the boat.
"And I was like 'this is crazy, don't leave your job, don't leave this and all these material things'. And Matthew 16:24 says 'deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.' So, I get up the next morning, quit my job, gave my roommates my car and my check, everything I owned, and left walking with the clothes on my back."
He started his journey on November 22, 2019. Jones said God has provided every step of the way.
"My first day, when I left Lexington, I headed south for the winter, and I stop in front of this gas station to pray. And I said, 'God, I'm scared. I'm hungry. I'm tired.' I had all these thoughts and worries just barreling through my head, and y'all, as I finished praying, I looked down in the ditch. There was a $20 bill sitting there. I moved up ten more feet and picked up $140 in twenties. The last two were in a puddle of ice water. I remember pulling them up out of that cold water."
Jones said he's been walking back and forth across the country ever since that day about five years ago – "and I've never been outside or hungry one single time."
He said he's been to Kentucky to Savannah, Georgia, to San Diego, then back to Kentucky.
"Then from Kentucky to Canada, to the Texas Panhandle. Then back around Lexington on a train to check on my uncle, then around the west side of Mammoth Cave down through Nashville to here so far."
The wooden cross he carries is covered in signatures from people he's interacted with along his journey. "People who just wanted to sign," he describes. "There's pastors of churches where I've spoken. There's Adult/Teen Challenge Savannah."
And when the crosses fill up with signatures, he donates them to churches. So this is not his first cross – not by a long shot. "This is [cross number] 35 on my journey."
He has had plenty of people interact with him. "I've had about 80% good and 20% bad. Had a guy pointed a gun at me in Texas and he said 'If you don't put the cross down, I'm going to pull the trigger'. And I said, 'Don't threaten me with a good time. I know where I'm going if you pull that trigger.' And he shut up and walked away."
He added: "Jesus died for us, man. I'm willing to die for him out here. I'm not afraid. There's no fear."
He also had a bit of wisdom to share: "When God takes out the trash, don't go digging back through it."
Above all, he wants to glorify his Creator. "To God be the glory in all that I do. I have to honor and glorify Him in everything I do. So, I plan on doing this until the day I die."
Related story from WLHR (Lavonia, GA) (February 2020)
Related story from WDHN (Dothan, AL) (December 2020)
