FacebookA backpacker has been forced to deny that he’s the second coming of Jesus after being mistaken for the Messiah several times while travelling.
With his long hair, bare feet and staff, Australian native Daniel Christos (seriously?) certainly looks like the son of God but in reality he’s just a former software engineer from Perth, News.com.au reports.
Not that that fact’s stopped people in Nairobi screaming ‘Jesus, welcome back Jesus’ at him when he arrived in Nairobi a fortnight ago and the hashtag #JesusinNairobi helping people track his movements.
FacebookLike the the titular Brian in the Life of Brian Daniel’s denied his divinity posting on Facebook:
I am not Jesus! I have never pretended to be. Every single corner I walk on in Nairobi I have noticed someone either taking a photo or video… while hundreds of times a day I hear people calling out “Jesus”.
In a recent television interview Daniel once again denied his relation to the big man in the sky, providing a rather detailed family history to distance himself from the Virgin Mary.
He explained his decision to become a full time traveller, becoming free of material possessions after he came to the conclusion that ‘traditional life’ wasn’t for him.
FacebookDaniel did admit that he gets why his looks and style of dress have been compared with Jesus but adds that the similarities are just superficial.
He explained:
To be honest I am natural, I walk barefoot and that’s the only link I have with him. I have got a beard, I walk barefoot and I’m happy and people see that and relate it to the picture in the church.
It doesn’t really bother me so much. It’s been happening a long time now.
While the majority of those that Daniel runs into are ‘very friendly’ he has been threatened with crucifixion once on social media and said that he hoped the real Jesus would be treated ‘with a little more respect’ if he ever landed in Kenya.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.