Walking tall on a 3,300-mile journey of faith

At a height of 4 feet 8, this man, who began his working life as Little Oscar at the Oscar Mayer meatpacking plant in Chicago, may appear to have been born for the part.

But it didn’t seem that way to Nick Della Valle. With his bachelor’s degree from the University of Tampa, Fla., he left Oscar Mayer and hop-scotched his way across the country before sticking for a time in Nevada, where he became a poker dealer.

That too didn’t last. Della Valle, like so many others, headed for California, where he plied a number of trades, including stints as manager of a pizza parlor and owner of a carpet-cleaning service, until he wound up employed at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. It became the church home for him and the woman who would become his wife.

Given that Lucy Rameriz was born in Mexico City and Della Valle near Pennsylvania, it would have seemed unlikely they would meet and marry.

Lucy, whose mother died of complications 15 days after giving birth, entered the world with one hip not fully developed and one leg shorter than the other. Her right hand, which had no thumb and only three fingers, twisted at her wrist. Her spine bent from scoliosis.

But Lucy was nevertheless born with a love of adventure, so in 1987, with the blessings of her father and her grandmother, she came here to learn English and to get to know our culture. A year later she married Della Valle, who himself had been a sickly child, often in need of doctors.

Like Nick, Lucy worked at the Crystal Cathedral, for Robert Schuller’s “Hour of Power.” She held a variety of positions, eventually becoming simultaneous translator for the worship services of both Schuller and Juan Carlos Ortiz.

Life was good.

Then, when he was about 50, Nick Della Valle says, Jesus struck up a conversation with him. Della Valle began to yearn for a life that was significant, not just successful. He made a self-assessment and discovered he wasn’t particularly talented. He doesn’t sing. He doesn’t dance. He doesn’t play an instrument. Lucy won’t let him near a tool.

All he could do, best as he could figure, was walk and talk. That’s what he told Jesus, and Jesus said, “I’ll take it.”

Whatever it was Jesus had in mind for him, Della Valle figured it had something to do with his size. There just had to be a reason, he figured, for him to be 4 feet 8.

A couple of weeks later he was asked to portray Zacchaeus, the wealthy chief tax collector whose story is told in Luke 19:1-10, for an adult Bible study class.

Of Zacchaeus, Luke writes, “He sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was short of stature.”

To see Jesus, Zacchaeus had to climb a sycamore tree.

And that’s what Della Valle did for that Bible study class. Dressed in 1st century garb, substituting an olive tree for the sycamore, he perched in its limbs and climbed down to tell how the diminutive tax collector met his Messiah. He was a hit.

That’s how the idea he calls “2001 -- A Faith Odyssey” came to him: Dressed as Zacchaeus, he’d walk 3,300 miles for Christ -- 100 miles for every year Jesus walked the earth. But how would he tell Lucy?

“Happy trails, dear. I’ll miss you,” she told him when he did. But God, Della Valle says, had other plans. Though she was scared by the prospect of quitting the jobs that provided them both with much-needed -- and expensive -- health insurance, she felt God wanted her to do as his disciples had done, to leave everything and follow him. Which meant going on the road with Nick.

In 2001, the couple sold all their belongings and took off in a donated truck and trailer with a little money in their pockets and a lot of faith in their hearts. Through Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona -- then back to California -- Nick trekked 3,300 miles.

“God supplied all our needs throughout the entire journey,” Della Valle wrote about the trip. In the last six months, Della Valle walked another 3,300 miles on a more northerly trek that began in Philadelphia.

Lucy is his road team, driving -- this time an RV -- keeping him in food and water, and keeping his costumes clean. Along the way, they talk to people about Jesus. Tiny Della Valle, in his Bible-era clothing, catches people’s eyes.

The couple wants to encourage fellow believers to use their own gifts for the work of GodThey tell about the God they know, the God who will give anyone a second chance and a new beginning.

But they say it’s not about cramming anything down people’s throats. In Texas, during his 2001 journey, Della Valle told a reporter in Floyd County, “It doesn’t belong in their throat -- it belongs in their heart.”

On Saturday, he’ll walk another 10 kilometers for Jesus, this time along Pacific Coast Highway, from Beach Boulevard to Seapoint Street. The walk is an annual event, which Della Valle inaugurated in 2002 with the help of his pastor, Paul Cushman of Open Arms Church in Huntington Beach.

My notes say I found the walk on the calendar of events on surfcityevents.com. But after telling Della Valle that in an e-mail, I couldn’t find it there again.

He’s heard stories like that before. I doubt anything could surprise him less. In April, while he was walking in Lancaster, Penn., he got a call from a Rhode Island newspaper asking if he would e-mail his story to them. How did the newspaper know about his 3,300-mile Christ Walk Across the Nation, Della Valle asked. They didn’t know.

The walk on Saturday is free. T-shirts -- printed on the front with “Christ Powered” and on the back with “God so loved the world that he gave ... John 3:16” -- will be offered to participants for a $10 donation, although no one will be refused a shirt for lack of funds. Anyone can walk, wearing a T-shirt or not. Parking at Pacific Coast Highway and Beach Boulevard is free.

Before the walk, there will be a video presentation of Della Valle performing his Zacchaeus skit.

His book, “3,300 Miles for Christ: 100 Miles for Every Year Jesus Walked the Earth,” will be available, and Della Valle will be there to sign copies. There will be doughnuts and coffee and door prizes.

Water stations will mark the walkers’ route, paramedics will be on hand and rides will be provided back to the start for anyone who can’t walk back.20051013gzerqeke(LA)