The Rio Olympics opens tomorrow. Many athletes will compete
for an Olympic crown. Some do so in team events, others solo. The solo ones
will be on their own. On their own the moment the gun goes and they start the
100 meters, or whatever their event. In some cases, literally seconds or
minutes from glory. Others like Andy
Murray will be alone on the tennis court for match after match as their attempt
to defend their Olympic title. Some great explorers have also ‘gone it alone’.
You can read about their solo attempts to sail around the world, travel to the
south pole, climb Mount Everest. All these people exhibit tremendous courage
and determination over many weeks and months. They train hard. They dig deep
and motivate themselves when the going gets tough. But there is another side,
one that is hidden from the limelight, but none-the-less essential. Their
support team.
The support team is not with them during the actual event, but
is alongside during the build up, the training, the fundraising, the
preparation. The support team is the athletes/explorers foundation, their
bed-rock. Without their support team the explorer or athlete would not get very
far.
Helen Keller once said , ‘Alone
we can do so little, together we can do so much.’
Helen Keller was born June 27th 1880, and died in
1968. She was apparently the first deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor of arts
degree. Helen was born with the ability to see and hear, but contracted an
illness (presumably meningitis) aged 19 months which left her both deaf and
blind. She became a suffragette, a political activist and writer, publishing 12
books and several articles; and several films/documentaries have been made
about her.
I like her quote, ‘Alone
we can do so little, together we can do so much’ because, as I ponder the athletes assembling
in Rio, and reflect on my time at Mercy Ships it seems to sum it all up. I am
the person who quit my job 4.5 years ago and went to work in Africa. Alone. I
am the one without a salary far from home. Yet so many people have made my
journey possible. While I do it alone, it is also true to say, we do it
together. Prayerfully, financially, emotionally, professionally - numerous people have supported me, and I am
very grateful for every single person’s support. No gift, no email, no word of
encouragement, no prayer lifted to the heavens, nothing was ever too small.
Everything was counted, and nothing was found wanting.
So it is with mixed emotions that I announce that I have
decided to leave Mercy Ships at the end of the year. I will have served here
for 5 years and I feel it is time for a new chapter. I shall return to London
to work at Great Ormond Street Hospital, which is a world famous children’s
hospital and I am delighted to have such a wonderful job prepared for me.
However, that is the future, and so returning to the present
- I still have 5 months of work with Mercy Ships. In less than two weeks we
will arrive in Benin. I have been to Benin twice before and it was there that
God really gave me a heart for Africa, so it is poignant that in many ways,
where my journey began, it will now end. ‘End’ for this season at least, as I
hold the future loosely.
And so, in closing this months blog, thank you for your
support on my journey, ‘Alone we can do
so little, together we can do so much’ . Until next month….
