With 80 pounds of wooden faith on his back and six followers by his side, associate pastor Jeremy Tackett made the 16.7-mile trek back to Manna Mission in Martinsville, Indiana, this weekend.
For the third year in a row, Tackett traveled down Indiana State Road 37 the Saturday before Easter.
Throughout the journey, the 10-by-6-foot cross, crafted out of pressure-treated four-by-fours, was passed back and forth between shelter members.
The group started with six, added two and then ended with three members to switch between. Tackett bore the cross for a total of 13.2 miles.
The cross only took Tackett one hour to build but has since spent several on his back.
He carries the cross as a way of spreading awareness of Christ and the work God can do in everyone’s lives, he said.
“We’re looking for any kind of response we can get,” Tackett said. “Looking for awareness for Jesus, getting everybody to recognize that cross.”
Tackett has experienced God’s work firsthand as a recovering cocaine, meth and heroin addict, as well as drug dealer.
“The only thing that ever changed my life was God,” he said.
Tackett’s father, Pastor Tom Tackett, founded Manna Mission Operation Outreach Ministries 28 years ago as a shelter that houses drug addicts and former inmates in addition to any transient people.
Jeremy was on the receiving end of the Manna’s services, which provide about 175 meals a day within Martinsville city limits, Tackett said.
Manna’s nonprofit soup kitchen and shelter services add up to $3,000 to $4,000 monthly, Tackett said. Their average church offering, though, is $25.
With money stretched thin, Tackett’s walk doubles as both awareness raising and a fundraiser.
“It gives us a chance to talk about God,” Tackett said. “Where we’ve been in life and what it is God’s done in it. It’s offered to everybody, the same help is offered to everybody. Jesus is there for everybody.”
In years past, his walks have raised $2,000, he said.
“What makes it worth it is when people start to talk and we get an opportunity to be a witness,” Tackett said. “It’s not really about the money.”
Tackett was participating in the seven-mile walk from the United Methodist Church to the Manna Mission in downtown Martinsville when God intervened, he said.
This divine intervention moved him forward, extending the mileage and frequency of his trips with the cross.
Every month Tackett and his 16-year-old niece Kaylee Gammon walk with the cross, taking different routes each time. Gammon’s presence spreads the same message of hope to youths as well, Tackett said
Their Easter route stays consistent though, as they travel from a BP gas station in Waverly back to Martinsville along Indiana State Road 37. This is when they get the most exposure.
This year, two county sheriffs and an Indiana State police officer stopped the group out of curiosity but then encouraged them to continue their voyage.
State Trooper Dustin Starnes even offered the group water and checked on their safety during their pilgrimage, according to an ISP press release.
“The significance of carrying the cross is so that people don’t really see me, it’s to give people hope,” Tackett said. “Through Christ, anything they’re going through in life — it’s possible God can change it.”
