A man carrying a cross through downtown Suffolk isn’t your usual Saturday afternoon fare along North Main Street.

But Melvin Voyles is in town, and he’s been carrying a cross across the country off and on for the last 25 years to send a message.

“We’re taking the cross into the crossroads of the world, coming across in love to those who cross our path,” he said on the sidewalk in front of the post office on Saturday.

Some padding protects Voyles’ tattooed shoulder and orange, button-down shirt from wear and tear. Earrings — a series of chains in his left ear, a combined menorah and Star of David in his right — dangle from his ears. His black-and-white baseball cap is emblazoned with “John 3:16” and carries a pin that reads “X-sinner.” In warmer weather, his shoulder tattoo is visible near the cross.

With his wife, Alice, their granddaughter, Hannelori, and their local friends, James Bowen and Elizabeth Hartberger, the group started at the intersection of Main and Washington streets on Saturday. They made it to Cookout, where they got lunch and prayed with two young men, both of whom made the decision to give their lives to Christ, Voyles said. He pointed to their signatures on his wheeled, red-and-black cross, with Saturday’s date attached.

The group then started making its way back, attracting a crowd at stopping points and asking to pray with everyone they met.

The Voyleses are from Arizona and have been in several states with their cross, stopping in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.

“Jesus died for you,” the cross proclaims. It’s also emblazoned with two Bible verses: Isaiah 53:5, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” and Romans 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

The next verse, Romans 10:11, says, “Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”

“We are all ‘whosoevers,’” Voyles concluded, after quoting all of the scriptures from memory.

He said he hopes that even people he doesn’t get to talk to about his unusual ministry will be affected by it in a positive way.

“I hope it opens up a conversation in the car,” he said.