TWO MEN are taking on an enormous journey to spread the message of their faith.

Alan Saunders, 55, and Mike Vickers, 53, are ministers for their respective parishes in England, but have decided to take on the task of walking from Wrexham to Swansea, sharing the message of Christianity along the way.

In addition, while travelling the mammoth 130-mile journey, the pair will be carrying a 12-foot cross with them.

The walk started earlier this week, with the two of them currently travelling through Oswestry.

The Leader:

Alan Saunders carrying the cross through Slovenia earlier this year

Mr Saunders, said: “We are both ministers for parishes across the border, but we decided we wanted to take on this challenge because we’re trying to spread our message throughout the entire world.

“We do this between us 4 or 5 times every year, walking from one destination to another. This year alone we’ve been to Slovenia, Montenegro and Croatia, carrying our cross with us all the way.

“The first few times I completed one of these walks, I felt a great sense of accomplishment, but now it’s more about meeting people and helping people.

“We try to plan the best route possible, although sometimes we do take detours or get lost, but along the way we meet all types of colourful characters who ask us what we’re doing, they want to talk to us about our message and help anyone who needs our help.

“It’s in so many different locations as well, we may talk to people in city centre’s or we’ll talk to people in the middle of nowhere, we comfort people who may have lost a relative recently, or we pray for those they know are sick.

“The overall purpose of what we do is to spread the Christian news across all of Europe and we think we do that.”

The Leader:

Alan Saunders and Mike Vickers

The duo has titled their walks ‘Cross the Nations’, which began in 2008 when Mr Vickers walked from the top of Scotland to the South Coast of England.

Since then, and joined by Alan Saunders, and they have walked in over 20 nations and claimed to have seen countless miracles of salvation and healing.

Mr Vickers added: “The Christian Church has had some bad press over the years which has been misrepresented.

“Our aim is to simply tell people about the good news, give them hope, and make them realise that there is a God that loves us, waiting for us after we pass.

“We’ve met some great people over the years, and I’ve managed to keep going this whole time despite having major heart surgery, as well as carrying a 20kg cross and a 15kg bag every time, so as long as I can keep going, I’ll keep going.”