Carrying a 12-foot wooden cross 500 miles is difficult enough, but Counties evangelist Clive Cornish has set himself the additional challenge of completing the journey in just four weeks.

The 46-year-old will be walking across Wales, stopping off at Cardiff, Fishguard, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Conwy, Llangollen, Abergavenny and Newport.

He wants to use the walk to pray for his home country and share his faith with the people he meets along the way.

Despite suffering from terrible back spasms and blisters, Cornish is determined to complete the walk by October 6.

It is not the first time he has done this walk. He took the same route in 2003 when he also experienced a lot of pain and discomfort.  However, it was the visible difficulty of the walk that appeared to compel people to stop and talk to him.

"A woman saw me in Cardiff then in Bridgend then in nearby Pyle, so she had to stop and ask me why - a great opportunity to talk about Jesus," he recalls.

"A bus driver said he saw me earlier in the day and wanted to know what I was doing. A passenger shouted 'Why!' I was able to hand tracts to the driver and the passengers.

"A local newspaper sent a reporter who took some details and pictures. He said I had provoked a large response. One guy rolled down his window and asked if I was walking in Port Talbot yesterday.

"When I said yes he wanted to know why. I said, 'To remind you Jesus loves you!' He beeped his horn with great enthusiasm."