By JEFFERSON WEAVER

When God talks, Daniel Murphy walks.

The Colfax man was reunited with his family this weekend after a cross-country journey that ended at Oak Island. Murphy left Crescent City, Calif., in August – on foot.

Murphy was in Whiteville Thursday. The trip was expected to take 100 to 120 days, but a change of plans along the way accelerated that schedule.

“It’s good to be almost home,” he said.

Murphy, 43, said the trek from California actually started in Oak Island. The husband and father of four was jogging on the beach when, he said, “God told me to do this.”

“This” was a journey of faith across America. A former missionary to Africa, Murphy and his family made five annual trips to Eritrea in Africa before a government crackdown on Christians and new regulations for missionaries there.

“There are Christians there,” he said, “but most of the services were in Coptic Christian churches, and none of the congregation could speak the priest’s language.

“It was like with the peasants in the Middle Ages – they went to church to hear the word of God, but couldn’t understand because it was in Latin.”

Murphy said he and his family went to Eritrea with little money and less knowledge of the territory.

“We didn’t have a translator,” he said. “We had very little to work with but our faith. But God provided. God eventually used us to provide Bibles for these people in their own language.”

Murphy said he was praying for guidance about a new mission field when he felt the call for his cross-country journey.

“The toughest mission field is always at home,” he said.

After much prayer, Murphy left California one morning with the clothes on his back, his Bible and little else.

The trip almost ended as it began, he said.

He had originally planned to walk and run around 30 miles per day. On one of the first days, Murphy had walked around 20 miles. Coming down the back of a mountain, he broke into a run.

“I don’t know if I was feeling proud of myself or what happened,” he said. “I just wanted to run. I was finally on my way.”

Reaching the bottom, he said, “I felt something happen in my leg, and I knew I couldn’t go on.”

Murphy said he called his wife that night, and she advised him to pray about it.

“She said she knew I’d make the right choice if I listened to Christ,” Murphy said.

The next day, Murphy modified his travel technique, although the destination and inspiration were the same.

“I originally planned not to accept rides,” he said. “I knew now that was out of the question. Still, I didn’t hitchhike. I waited for people to offer me rides.”

Murphy said some of those good Samaritans were fellow Christians,while others “hadn’t heard of Christ’s salvation.”

“I took advantage of every one of those rides to talk about Christ,” he said.

Murphy left California with no money, no sleeping bag, a camera, a cell phone, and his Bible.

“My wife wanted me to get a slimline model,” he said, “but this is my Bible. It’s a friend. I can look in here and remember a verse that was special to me at the time, and find it.”

Along the way, people gave Murphy a sleeping bag, small tent and warm clothes (“I almost froze to death one night in the mountains,” he said) as well as rides, meals, and opportunities to share the gospel.

“People couldn’t believe I had taken a step of faith like this,” he said. “I knew God would look after me and supply my needs. I may have been cold, hot, hungry and sometimes thirsty, but I was never truly without.”

Murphy held up a t-shirt emblazoned with his mission statement.

On the front of the shirt is the word “Jesus” while on the back is simply “that’s all.”

“We forget the beauty of that simple message,” he said. “People need to be reminded.”

Murphy slept in the open, in burnt-out buildings, and makeshift shelters when no one offered him a roof for the night. In one place, he said, he had to fight off rats that tried to gnaw his gear.

“I was worried sometimes,” he said, “but it was worth it.”

Murphy had several moments on the road that stuck out in his mind and strengthened his faith.

“I was walking through the redwood forest,” he said, “and there at one of those huge old trees was a roadside memorial. Someone had died in a crash there. I had to wonder if they knew Christ, or if they had gone to hell. Life is too short, and we never know what’s going to happen.”

Murphy, who doesn’t belong to a formal church (he attends “home church” with his wife and their four children) said the differences between denominations have caused some people to become confused about faith.

“It’s really simple,” he said. “Christ is God’s son, who died for our sins, and rose again. If you believe in Him and ask forgiveness, you will be saved. We’ve gotten a long way away from that in too many churches.”

Murphy calls his philosophy the Unity in the Body of Christ.

“We’re all God’s children,” he said, “and He wants us to accept salvation.”

Murphy said he isn’t sure where his ministry will take him next. He said he looks forward to going back to work at the family business.

“We miss the fellowship of a body of believers,” he said. “I think I’d like to be part of a formal church again, as long as they believe in and practice God’s teachings.”

As far as the family, though, Murphy said he knows what will happen when they return home.

“Darla and the kids want me home for a while,” he said, “but if God calls, who am I to refuse?”

For a complete account of Murphy’s journey, go to www.Jesusthatsall.org