LORDSTOWN LAYOVER Jesus: Going my way?

The man told police all the signs pointed to Lordstown.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LORDSTOWN -- A hitchhiker who says he's known to acquaintances simply as "Jesus" is only trying to find good Christians to help him along his way, though he says it's not been easy.
"I ask people if they know any good-hearted Christians, and they think for a minute before they tell me, no, they really don't." Jesus said.
Clad in sandals, blue jeans and a T-shirt, Jesus said he's been hitchhiking since July 7, trying to make his way "out west," though he is reluctant to give too many details about his plans.
"I'd rather not say too much until I get closer," he said Monday. "It's for religious reasons. God called me to do this, but I can't elaborate now. It could ruin the whole purpose."
Jesus said friends first began referring to him as such about 10 years ago because of his full, long beard and long hair. Though he does not believe he is the Jesus written of in the Bible, he believes the name helps him.
"If it makes people think about God, then great," he said.
Looking for a ride
Jesus spent Monday at the Petro truck stop on state Route 46, trying to find a ride a little closer to his final destination. He's planned his travels along Interstate 80, and knows which exits have towns within walking distance for him to rest in.
He said that the trip should have started more than a month ago but that several plans fell through for him before he left his home in Maryland.
With his cardboard sign reading "Mark 6:8," he carries only his Bible and a portable radio with him when he tries to find rides.
"I figure I have God in one hand and an ear to the devil in the other," he says.
Mark 6:8 instructs travelers to take nothing with them except a staff: no extra robes and no money in their pockets. Jesus is trying to follow those words, but the journey is providing roadblocks.
He made his was into the Mahoning Valley on Sunday evening, when a motorist offered to take him to Akron. When he realized that route would take him off his planned course, he asked to be dropped off at the 76/80 split.
After walking toward the Ohio Turnpike, he figured God had sent him another message.
"Lordstown," Jesus said, referring to the exit sign from I-80. "I saw that and said, 'Hey, that's for me.'"
Taking a rest
Police Chief Brent Milhoan said his department got a call late Sunday night about someone wandering the parking lot between the village's administration building and the road department buildings.
"They went and looked, but couldn't find him. I don't know where he ducked off to," Milhoan said. "Then later the guys were driving past the tent and thought they saw someone curled up, asleep on the risers."
The tent had been erected for Monday's $1.3 million check presentation to village officials for waterline improvements at the General Motors Lordstown plant.
Upon arriving in the village Sunday night, Jesus spied the tent and tables set up for Monday's big check presentation ceremony and, weary from the road, lay down and fell asleep.
Some time later, Lordstown police rousted him and told him he'd have to go.
"He told the officer when he was dropped off on I-80 he looked down and saw a napkin folded in the shape of a cross," Milhoan said. "That, and when he saw the sign, told him he was meant to come here. But the officer told him he couldn't stay."
Police gave Jesus, who was not charged with any crime, a ride back to the truck stop in Austintown -- "back where I started out from" the day before, he noted.
Has faith
Jesus holds no animosity toward officers, though he says it's set him back a little. He said he knows he will find a way to get where he's going.
"I haven't gone hungry at all, but it is hard finding ways to get from one place to another," he said. "It may not always be convenient or fast, but I will get a ride."
slshaulis@vindy.com