When UAB Hospital bought St. Vincent’s Hospital in Birmingham last year, most of the Catholic statues, crucifixes and religious artifacts were removed by the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham.

But there was one item too big to easily remove – a giant steel cross that adorned one of the towers at St. Vincent’s Hospital.

That job was left to a crane company where an employee decided to rescue it from a metal scrap heap. Richard Bradley of Gardendale, who was in a men’s Bible study group with him, said it could be put to use where he was doing mission work in Navajo Nation, at the Cornfields Community Baptist Church in Arizona.

Tony Camardella, a Cullman nurse who formerly worked at St. Vincent’s Hospital, is also a member of that men’s Bible study group. He volunteered to transport the cross to Arizona.

Camardella and his wife, Veronica, run a ministry called People Must Know RV, in which they take their recreational vehicle and gas generator to the aftermath of hurricanes and other storms to help and spread their faith.

Their RV bears signs promoting “The Chosen” TV series, which the Camardellas appeared in as extras in the crowd during the filming of the feeding of the 5,000 miracle.

“The RV with decals draws people in,” Camardella said. “People know if they come to that RV. We’re just there to be a gentle witness.”

In order to be usable as a cross that could be erected in front of a church, the cross needed some work. It needed a back and a base. Sloan Supply Co. of Warrior donated work and materials, building the back. Coyote Coatings in Hueytown built and donated a steel base so the cross could be stood up and bolted down.

The cross was loaded up on Bradley’s trailer in Birmingham. Camardella pulled it with a truck he uses in his stump-grinding business.

He and Veronica left Birmingham to deliver the cross on July 6. “People loved the idea,” Veronica said. “We had people make donations for gas and hotels.”

They drove 1,700 miles and arrived with the cross at the church in Navajo Nation in Cornfields, Arizona, on July 8. “They sang hymns in English and then Navajo as a thank you to us,” Veronica said.

“They served us Navajo tacos with Navajo flatbread,” Tony said. “They made it fresh while we were standing there.”

Bradley is planning to go back to Cornfields soon to pour concrete and stand the cross up and bolt it to the base.

The Navajo were thankful for the gift, the Camardellas said.

The Camardellas showed the Navajo pictures and video of the cross coming down from St. Vincent’s Hospital in Birmingham.

“They were just overflowing with gratitude,” Veronica said. “It was just beautiful.”