Generic, very modest Christians walk across America for some vague reason

This is one of those posts where readers really need to be able to see the art that ran with a specific newspaper story, but that isn't possible because of copyright issues.

So let's start off by saying that you need to go take a look at The Denver Post story, the one with this headline: "Family ends hike across America at Union Station on Saturday."

OK, so you surfed over and looked that the photograph. What did you see?

With that in mind, here is the top of the story:

With 45-pound packs on their backs and a lifetime worth of tales, an Alabama family strode in front of Union Station on Saturday afternoon, marking the end of their walk across America.

Cheerfully sporting a broken collarbone, Jennifer Sunde said it was her idea to embark on the American Discovery Trail with her husband, Chris, and 18-year-old daughter, Katlyn.

The trail is more than 6,000 miles long and connects cities like Washington, D.C., and Colorado Springs with national and state forests, parks and historical sites. The motive of the trek was to spread love and encouragement to whomever they met along their journey while enjoying the sites.

"We are Christians," Sunde said. "We're told to love one another, so we wanted to show everyone that someone out there loves you no matter your religion, social status, class and so on."

Once again, think about the photo. Again, what did you see?

Describing the family, The Post team went with this:

The women wore long skirts and dresses with hair wraps for modesty and hiking sandals for most of the trek. They each went through about four pairs of shoes.

Along the way, the family encountered freezing temperatures, high altitudes, rattlesnakes, desert heat and more. They started their walk on the East Coast in March 2014. When they made it to Denver in November, they were greeted with enough snow to deter their trip.

Here is my question: Jennifer Sunde simply says that they are Christians, but we know nothing about the Christian flock what they call their own. Does that matter, in this case?

Based on appearance, one would assume that there are Mennonite or even Amish roots here somewhere. At that point, the simple "love one another" message takes on special meaning.

However, the only family that I can find online with this set of names is a Sunde family in residence at a United Methodist camp. Is this the same family?

I know that I am dealing with stereotypes here, bit modestly dressed United Methodists -- including women in head coverings -- strike me as interesting.

Who are these people? Did anyone ask them specific questions about their faith and how it linked into the form and substance of this particular pilgrimage?

Why not ask? I imagine that, looking at that photo, many readers were curious. How about the journalists involved in the story?


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