A message of love: York, SC man carries cross as symbol of his witness
Steve Grant of York, S.C., bears a heavy cross.
He says God told him to “lead people to glory” by helping save lost souls. He believes by building a cross and carrying it everyday, people will understand.
The message he shares is love.
“When Jesus was on that cross at Calvary, it wasn’t nails that hung him to the cross, it was love,” Grant said. “That same love is what keeps that cross on my shoulders every day.”
So he carries the 10-by-6-foot, 45-pound cross on his shoulders, hunched over, grunting and huffing, often switching shoulders.
Grant carries the cross a little over four miles up and down Liberty Street, starting at Walgreens across from Walmart. He turns around at Path thrift store on Congress Street and heads home.
Grant carries that mission into grocery stores and places throughout York.
“I will go in Walmart right by the cash registers, in the meat department and up and down the aisles, I’ll go,” he said. “And I’ll have prayer circles right in there.”
It’s hard to drive through York and not see him.
Employees at Bojangles have brought him gift cards. One man at an auto parts store brought out a bottled water.
Huddle House food server Jessica Acker said her kids have asked about Grant.
“Do you think it was heavy when Jesus did it?” she once told her kids. “To do what he does, to still have the smile he does on his face?”
“Sharing the gospel” is what Melissa Currie, another Huddle House employee, said Grant is accomplishing. “That’s what we’re supposed to do.”
Grant said he knew decades ago that he would build the cross. He started building it in April of 2018 and started carrying it the following September. He has not taken a day off since May 19.
He carried it through the heat of the summer, cold winter and rainy days. He carries it on Sunday when many people are in church.
He said God showed him the route. He calls this his Living Cross Ministry.
“God started telling me about it 29 years ago,” he said. “It’s like, how can I do this? How can I walk over four miles with this great big cross and I can’t even walk 50 feet with nothing?”
He said he was reminded of Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.” That’s his favorite Bible verse.
The first cross he built was too small.
“I thought to myself, it wouldn’t be much of a difference if I made it 8-by-5 and take a little bit of weight off,” he said.
He said God told him it wasn’t big enough. The wood started twisting, he said. It shocked him.
“Then God spoke to my heart and says ‘now build the cross,’” he said. “And I started building it the way he told me to start building it.”
Grant added a couple features to ease his burden.
The bottom of the cross has a small wheel, and he included a rod to prop it up if a passerby wants to talk, or pray. The cross has an L-shaped cushion that sits across his shoulder. The top of the cross has a sign that says “Powered by Jesus the Christ.”
Grant was so excited to carry the cross, he was planning to take it to Charlotte and Gastonia.
“God said ‘no, carry it right here in York, as my son spread the whole world from the little town of Nazareth,’” he said. “‘So I’m going to reach the whole world through you and this cross through this little town of York.’”
He straps a pack on his leg for bottled water, an English Bible, a Spanish Bible and prayer books for children. He also carries religious tracts and a notepad to write down phone numbers of people he witnesses to.
Grant said his efforts are all about self-sacrifice and his unquenchable desire to witness.
“The Bible talks about ‘we shouldn’t worry.’ God made me realize that if I do his will, I don’t have to think about any other concerns. He’ll take care of all of my concerns. Just get out there and tell them about my son Jesus.”
One concern the Navy veteran had was his back. The 64-year-old said he needs surgery, but can’t afford it.
“I hurt so bad every day,” Grant said. “It hurts to turn over in bed. But the power of God’s love and what I’m doing is so precious, so priceless.”
Grant said he lost 72 pounds then gained 30 pounds of muscle, quit his medications and started taking vitamins. Doctors told him his heart is healthy.
“I remember it, I said ‘Father God,’ I said ‘Lord, I’m taking my youth back,’” he said.
“It doesn’t matter how much it hurts. There’s been days when I have had to hold my breath, doing everything I could to keep from crying because the pain was so heavy. But it didn’t matter because I know where I am going. I don’t care what I’ve got to go through in this lifetime because my future is secure. My mission is to tell people about Jesus.”
Grant said he’s not planning to quit.
“I’m just a poor man financially, but I’m one of the richest people I’ve ever known spiritually, and I’m not saying that as a brag,” he said. “God wants people out witnessing all the time, all over the world, the word of his son Jesus.”
This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 4:00 PM.
