Zacchaeus (Nick and Lucy)

[Paul Newfield]

Last year (April 2001), as I was driving from New Orleans, La. eastward,
toward Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, I noticed a short, bearded man dressed
in Arab garb walking toward me, along the sholder of the highway, and he
was wearing a 4" wooden cross on a leather thong suspended from his neck,
and he was carrying a pilgrim's wooden walking staff.  He had no backpack.
He walked very purposefully.

I am not one to let such an unusual occurance go un-investigated.  I zoomed
past him, then slowed and turned and turned again so that I would have a
second chance to encounter him.  I pulled over to the side of the highway
and waited for him to approach.  "Good Morning, I'm curious, Do you mind
telling me what you are doing?  This isn't something I see every day."

"I represent Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) of the bible.  I am a minister, and I
decided to walk across country for Christ."  His name was / is Nick Del
Valle, and with the support and contributions and prayers of friends and
supporters, he would walk 3300 miles across the United States of America --
100 miles for each year that Christ lived on this earth.  He had started at
St. Augustine, Florida.

"You have no backpack!  How do you live?", I asked.

"My wife is driving a truck with a fifth-wheel, and a camper attached; it
is our home for the next year.  She is somewhere up ahead, looking for
church yard or a camping place where we can spend the night.  When we can,
we give the story of Zachaeus to church groups along the way"  I told Nick
of my own pilgrimage across Spain to Santiago (humble by comparrison).  I
wished him God's Speed and left.

The next morning when I was again driving toward Bay St. Louis, I saw his
truck and camper parked at a crossroads.  I stopped and introduced myself
to Lucy Del Valle, Nick's beautiful wife and companion.  Nick will tell you
that his journey is like a pocket watch -- that he is the face that
everyone sees, and Lucy is the inner works.  She is what keeps the whole
thing going...

We visited again before they left the area.  They are very special to me.
And they have continued to walk...  Across Louisiana, across Texas, across
New Mexico, and across Arizona...  And we have E-corresponded somewhat over
the past year.  I treasure their brief acquaintance and I count them among
my friends.


On Sunday, April 14, 2001, I received the following message from Zacchaeus,
 "168.4257846739 miles to go, Peregrino!  We hope to be back at the Crystal
Cathedral on April 28th, 2002.  Right now we're in Ramona, CA.  Keep those
prayers a'comin'.  Blessings,  Nick & Lucy"

If anyone out there runs into Nick and Lucy in the next couple of weeks,
tell them that the Perigrino from Louisiana says Hello.


Paul Newfield  (pcn01awebdsi.com)
<http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~brasscannon>


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