Carrying 50-pound cross, man on journey of hope, salvation

Tom Helling has put his past behind him and taken to the road carrying a 50-pound cross to share his message of hope and salvation with everyone as he walks from Maine and Mexico.

After 23 years spent in addictions to “everything the world has to offer,” Helling’s life changed one night when, he said, “I found the Lord seven years ago on the back porch of a halfway house.”

“I was addicted to alcohol and drugs and had even smuggled drugs, but for some reason God saved me,” Helling said Thursday on a two-night stop in Danville.

Life didn’t immediately become easier with his conversion, however.

“I was in a battle with the flesh and the spirit,” he said. “I tried to stay clean and even helped a guy start a church in Tucson that was a Bible-based, 12-step program. But I got distracted with all the church activities, a relationship and my own construction company and got into a cycle of relapses, which made me feel guilt and shame.”

A year ago, after being “clean” again for a while, he became addicted to his work, which, he said, became as bad of a distraction as any he had experienced.

“When I found myself headed down that path, I thank God he woke me up,” he said.

He decided to begin the walk, which had been on his heart to do for several years. Giving his business to one of the men who worked for him and his personal possessions to another friend, he flew to Milwaukee and built the cross in his brother’s garage.

Next on the itinerary was a 38-hour bus ride to Bangor, Maine, where he got off the bus with $20 in his pocket and “scared to death.”

On the bus he had met a blind man who was headed to the Appalachian Trail. He decided he wanted to walk with Helling for a while, so they headed out.

“He had camping gear and was more road-wise, and I took a lot of advice from him,” Helling recalled. “I think God put him there for me.”

Amazingly, however, Helling has only had to spend three nights camping out since he began his journey in June.

“I didn’t know if I would be drinking puddle water, eating road kill and camping in weeds, but people give me things when I need them,” he said. “I haven’t had to ask a person for anything.”

Helling said that most people have been good to him as they pass him on the road, waving and honking their horns and giving him money, food and water.

Indeed, after he finished the interview and went to pay for another night at the hotel room in Danville, he found an envelope that had been left for him with $100 inside.

Some people have threatened to run him down with a truck or yelled profanities at him, but he just for-gives them and hopes God blesses them.

His cross is covered with messages of hope and good wishes that people he has met along the way have written.

Helling figures it will take him at least another year to reach Mexico since he has plans to meet his fam-ily in Atlanta for Thanksgiving and then fly to his mother’s for Christmas.

Then he’ll hit the road again, and after that, his plans are open.

“I don’t know what I’ll do for sure,” he said. “I’ve started writing a book, and I want to give encourage-ment to people who are stuck in addiction and those Christians who are struggling and don’t know why.”

All he owns in the world he can now carry in two bags strapped to the bottom of the cross, and that’s just fine with him.

“I have nothing but what’s in this room, but it’s more than I’ve ever had and more than I ever need,” he said, adding with a laugh, “Sometimes I even wish it was lighter.”http://media.godanriver.com/registerbee/images/uploads/102409cross.jpg