BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND (ANS) -- New Life City Church is often referred to as “The Church on the Wall” as it is located on the main Dividing Wall in Belfast; it's a church that not only reaches out to both sides of the wall, but to the entire City of Belfast and beyond.

Pastor Jack McKee on the final day of his 40 day vigil on October 24, 2009 on the peace line Belfast (Photo: Gareth Irvine Photography).

And now Jack McKee, the senior pastor of the church, is planning an extraordinary marathon cycling and cross-carrying peace trip across America, to show how Catholics and Protestants can work together under the shadow of the cross of Christ.

“New Life City Church is a large warehouse that literally straddles the 20 foot concrete dividing wall in Belfast, with the building on one side and half on the other side,” McKee explained. “We have people coming to church from both sides.

“My life has been threatened several times and I've been shot at numerous times. I've even had my car bombed and destroyed. Our home has been attacked at 3.30 in the morning while my wife and I were in bed.”

Yet despite all of this, Pastor McKee, who has many times risked his life as has a peacemaker during the “troubles” in Northern Ireland that claimed so many lives from both sides of the divide, has told the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net) that he is bringing four cyclists to the US; two from the Catholic side of the wall and two from the Protestant side.

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“We will be doing a venture called Cycle CROSS America from Santa Monica, CA, to Jacksonville, FL, ending with an event called CU @ the CROSS in Washington DC on Thursday October 25, 2012. I will be bringing a 7 foot cross with me that I carried for 40 Days and at other times around the Dividing Wall in Belfast.

“We will launch the cycle part of the trip from Santa Monica Beach in Southern California on Saturday, September 22 at 11 am. At 2 pm I will do a Cross Walk along most of Sunset Blvd where Arthur Blessitt started out in the 1960's (I brought Arthur to Belfast in June 2011 and walked with him through Belfast). I will do several Cross Walks in cities across America while the lads are cycling.”

A firey scene during the 'troubles' in Belfast

Pastor McKee went on to say, “Northern Ireland has experienced serious conflict since 1969 during which time over 3,700 people lost their lives, while tens of thousands were seriously injured and maimed. Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, has been a divided city with many concrete walls across the city keeping communities apart. There are genuine aspirations for these walls to come down, but much work still needs to be done.

“Cycle CROSS America will highlight the need for these walls to come down and will encourage Americans to support our efforts in building good neighbor relations that will lead to the pulling down of these walls.”

As part of Cycle CROSS America, and using the same cross he has carried before, Jack McKee will do a “Cross Walk” in several cities across America. These will include Los Angeles, along the length of Sunset Blvd, and then possibly Phoenix, AZ; Las Cruces, NM; San Antonio, TX; Alto, TX; New Orleans, LA; Jacksonville, FL, and the Nation's Capital, Washington, DC (other places will be added).

In Washington, DC, McKee and the entire Cycle Team will be escorted by “Rushing Wind Motorcycle Ministry” through Washington DC to an event called CUv@ the CROSS (www.cuatthecross.com) when Jack McKee will do a final Cross Walk close to the White House (exact spot to be confirmed).

Jack McKee and Arthur Blessitt joined by others in carrying crosses through Belfast.

In 2002, Pastor Jack carried a 7 foot cross for 40 days around both sides of the main dividing wall in Belfast for the purpose of lifting the cross as a symbol of peace above the gun - a symbol of division and war. In 2005 he carried the same cross through his own community in defiance of local terrorists who, that very day, had murdered a friend of his by shooting him 7 times.

In 2009, with the same cross, he did a 40 Day Cross Vigil while standing between the main dividing gates in this same dividing wall for three hours each day. This year, 2012, Jack and several other men will again stand between these same gates for another 40 days with the same cross to promote peace between the divided communities.

To contact Pastor McKee, you can e-mail him at: pastorjack@btinternet.com and more details about the trip can be found at: www.cyclecrossamerica.com 

Dan Wooding, 71, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 49 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and he hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on the KWVE Radio Network in Southern California and which is also carried throughout the United States and around the world. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries. Dan recently received two top media awards -- the “Passion for the Persecuted” award from Open Doors US, and as one of the top “Newsmakers of 2011” from Plain Truth magazine. He is the author of some 45 books, the latest of which is “Caped Crusader: Rick Wakeman in the 1970s.” To order a copy, go to: http://www.amazon.com/CAPED-CRUSADER-Rick-Wakeman-1970s/dp/1908728302/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335474883&sr=1-1 .