Christian World Hiker Mugged in San José

Australian crusader Samuel Clear was on a mission to walk across the globe in the name of Christian unity when he arrived in San José this week and was mugged.

Clear and 12 of his supporters were robbed midday Sunday on a bridge near Hotel Cariari, west of the city, by a group of four armed with long-blade knives.

“We were all excited about doing this walk for Christian unity and we were oblivious to dangers,” said Damien Burger, who was walking with Clear and others when they were mugged for their luggage, wallets, cell phones, and Clear’s passport.

Clear set out on Dec. 14, 2006 from CapeBranco, the easternmost point of Brazil, and walked through South America up to San José. He plans to walk through North America, fly to Russia and walk through Europe to Spain on a 29,000 km journey, according to his Web site www.ymt.com.au/walk4one.

It wasn’t the first time Clear ran into trouble on his hike. He had a shotgun put to his head in Venezuela, a situation he mitigated by explaining to the armed man that he was on a walk for Christian unity.

Clear, a mechanical engineer, told The Tico Times he planned to renew his journey yesterday. Authorities found his backpack with his passport in a field.

“People are like that all around the world; I just happened to run into them here,” he said. “It takes time to get over these sort of things. You just got to keep walking.”