FRESNO, Calif. – Buddhist monks have sat on tall poles to purify themselves and resist temptation. Muslim Shiites whip themselves in grief. Catholics lug wooden crosses as they reenact the Via Dolorosa, Jesus’ suffering on the way to his crucifixion.

For as long as people have had religious convictions, they also have done extreme things as devotions to their beliefs. And it’s no different for folks like Tim Geddert, Stella Juarez and Kenny Cramsey. They, too, do unusual to strengthen their faith.

Geddert, professor of New Testament at Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary in southeast Fresno, Calif., recites all 16 chapters of the Gospel of Mark, by memory, to students and others.

Juarez, 65, former ministry coordinator at St. John’s Cathedral in downtown Fresno, recites the rosary for 15 to 20 minutes nearly every day. Often, she prays a longer version for more than an hour.

Cramsey, 52, foreman for a Fresno construction company, donates blood at every Northwest Church drive. His record is almost perfect since 2002.

Geddert, Juarez and Cramsey say their devotions help them to better understand their faith. Here are their stories:

Memorizing Mark

Geddert remembers getting an uneasy feeling just after completing seminary. He had stopped regularly studying the Bible.

“Even as pastor, it’s easy to be too busy and not spend time with the scriptures,” he says. “I decided I needed to be more disciplined.”

Memorizing Scripture had come easy to Geddert as a youth, but he had never attempted something as ambitious as an entire Gospel.

He chose the Gospel of Mark because it was the shortest.

Geddert mapped out a plan: Study an hour or two a day. Tape-record himself reciting a few verses and then play it back to check how he did. Move on to new verses after mastering a passage.

Six months later, Geddert was able to recite the New International Version translation of Mark. Time required: 1 hour, 45 minutes.

He says his devotion has helped him to better understand the book – so much that he has written a book, “Mark – Believers Church Bible Commentary” (Herald Press, $29.99), and teaches a seminary course, Mark.

Reciting the Rosary

Juarez is called the “Lady Saint of St. John’s.”

She has deep roots with the church and is known for reciting the rosary there.

Married at St. John’s in 1966, Juarez and her husband, Augustine, enrolled their children, Augustine Jr., Carlos and Margie, in church programs at the Cathedral. All three children received their sacraments there.

From 1986-98, Stella Juarez served as St. John’s director of Confraternity of Christian Doctrine classes, which provide the basic teachings of Catholicism to children. She also was coordinator of St. John’s ministries under Monsignor John Esquivel, from 1998-2007. She now works as receptionist in the main office.

She says she was 8 years old when a Mexican woman named “Lupe” took care of her family while her mother, Margarita Sanchez Rocha, was hospitalized with a tumor in her lungs. Lupe taught Stella how to recite the rosary in Spanish.

The rosary is a series of prayers – The Apostles’ Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be to The Father – and mysteries – Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious. After the rosary, Catholics recite the “Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy” prayer.

Juarez remembers Lupe saying, “We have to learn it so mom will get out of the hospital sooner.”

Juarez’s mother not only got out of the hospital, she lived another 37 years before she died in 1988.

Donating blood

Cramsey remembers the Sunday in 2002, when Dean Eller, president and CEO of the Central California Blood Center in Fresno, talked to members of Northwest Church about donating blood and saving lives.

Eller’s talk focused on type O negative as the universal blood that can be safely given to any patient, regardless of their blood type.

Eller tied his message to the New Testament book of Roman 3:25 – that Jesus shed his blood as sacrifice for the atonement of people’s sins. Eller said Jesus’ blood was universal because it is for everybody.

“It stuck with me; I’ll never forget what he said,” remembers Cramsey, who teaches a Sunday class with his wife, Brenda, for 3-year-olds at Northwest. “God put me at this church and at that time to hear that.”

Eller’s message also touched others at Northwest. A men’s group asked the Central California Blood Center to regularly send a bloodmobile to the church, where congregants would be able to donate blood after getting out of services.

Since 2002, bloodmobiles have been parking at Northwest four times a year – and Cramsey is always in line. Donors are allowed to give a maximum six times a year or once every eight weeks.

“God gave me a choice: Take in that message or not do anything with it,” he says. “I couldn’t allow myself to not give back.”

Cramsey says his devotion helps him to better understand Jesus’ death as a sacrifice for the world.

“It’s also so rewarding; it feels good,” Cramsey says. “I look forward to it.”