everyone's talking about michael phelps, the merman who just put a swimming pool on my christmas wish list. but it's usain bolt, the spirited Jamaican sprinter who smiles for the camera as he's crossing the finish line, who inspires me.
ever since i saw chariots of fire, there's something about watching runners that fills me with admiration. i've never really been athletically inclined, have always had two left feet and two crossed-eyes, so to speak. and due to really poor depth perception, i duck when a ball comes my way -- whether it's a baseball, basketball, football or beachball even. so table tennis is out, too. (come on, that sport was created by someone with a sense of humor.)
just about the only thing i found an aptitude for was running, but i'll tell ya, it's a lot easier than it looks ... which is why i have such an appreciation for my friend fred, who is lacing up his shoes for more than just a gold medal. he's helping to change lives.
there is a group of normal folk, like you and me, mere spectators who saw an opportunity to use running as a tool to do something really good. several friends from my church back in new york have signed up for the chicago marathon, and they're not doing it to pass out pamphlets warning of hell, fire and damnation. (thank God!) they're not doing it to raise money for a new garage. and they're not doing it because they're natural born athletes. they're doing it to raise awareness about sponsoring children in rwanda.
many of you know that nate and i took a trip there last summer to help build two houses in the southern province of the country. i would like to say that it was life-changing (and it could still be), but the trip wasn't for me. i took it for you, so that i could come back and tell a story, so that somebody else would be inspired to go there and to come back and to tell a story. it's happening all over the U.S. -- we are getting involved and our collective awareness about the need to live outside ourselves is growing. the one thing i learned over there that i couldn't learn here is that
it is not about me.
if you caught the town hall style meeting with the two presidential candidates last week at saddleback church, hosted by rick warren, you might have noticed that they both referred to the above quote, incidentally from rick's book, The Purpose Driven Life. regardless of which runner wins the presidential race, i can assure you of something i believe you can count on: our country is headed on a road to heal itself. we can all recognize our failings as a culture who is so caught up in its own materialistic success that we have lost sight of what it is to truly live.
it's hard to put into words what i experienced in modasomwa last year -- it's emotionally difficult to even pull those memories out -- a mixture of poverty and hope and gratitude from rwandans. and frankly, it's we who should have been grateful. at our first meeting, the children came out to welcome us with song and dance. there is a stark difference between children who are sponsored and those who are not. children who are not sponsored suffer from malnourishment. children who are sponsored get to go to school so that one day have hope for a better future. they are by no means as healthy as an american child, but they are healthy enough, because sponsorship also pays for food. if you sponsor a child in rwanda (or anywhere, for that matter), you can create a relationship with them, one that will last a lifetime -- beyond the sponsorship.
i want to ask you to sponsor a child in rwanda. chances are that you can afford a monthly gift of $35 that will feed an entire family and provide schooling for one child. we have three children, two in rwanda, one in zambia, who we have sponsored for the last few years. we met two of those children while in rwanda, therese and aphrodice. aphrodice, 7, was extremely shy, and warmed to nate after a couple of hours of male bonding. but therese, 13, greeted us like long-lost family. i'm not even the best at keeping in touch and writing letters as often as i could, and there she was, starved for the attention and love of her american family, dressed in her very best clothing, two sizes too big, proud and exuberantly happy and so very glad to meet me. i wonder now who she will become and what life will be offered to her for the equivalent of night out at the movies, one time a month.
this olympic season, will you join the global community? maybe let my friend fred represent your sponsor child as well in the marathon? if you too were inspired by both barack and mccain's call to live beyond yourself, but you don't know where to start, let me suggest making the difference in one life. imagine what could happen if we all got involved!
dushi mimana
yatu gizumway
kuko kubwachu
tutari kumenyana
(we are all one)
go to www.runningforrwanda.org to connect with and give hope to another child in rwanda
