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It has been said that Africans endure the things they cannot change while Americans change the things they cannot endure.
Perhaps that is why it was often the faces of Africans standing atop of the podiums following the endurance races at the Athens Olympics in August of '04. It shouldn’t surprise us that these events were won by African runners. They’ve done it in the past and they did it in Athens.
For these things, and many more, Africans command our admiration and respect. Existing within their strong resolve is often a pride linked with culture, tradition and community. As a people group, they have seen the least amount of internal changes over recorded history. Yet while this might have provided a positive basis for maintaining tribal unity and custom, it has also offered itself, in the past, as a resistance to freedom from spiritual bondage and fears.
Yet, the shrinking of the continents due to increased ease in transportation, information exchange and fertile economies worldwide has brought change to Africa. While the tribal groups seek to adapt to and discover the new face of Africa through education, employment and global opportunities, they are also finding new freedoms through religion and philosophy.
Now is the time to take the hope of Christ to hearts which are open to hear it. Now is the time to take the freedom of a faith that is not bound by ancestral worship or animal sacrifice ~ but by grace. Now is the time for us, a culture bent on change and progression, to relearn the age-old disciplines of endurance and run the race of taking the Gospel of Christ to those nations and tribes who have never yet heard it.
We cannot guarantee that the race will be a sprint. Nor that it will be easy. But we do hope that, like the Africans who ran with endurance to stand atop the podiums in Athens at the Olympics, you will join with us in a race of even greater importance . . . a race for the prize of eternity in hearts of value.
Feel free to roam through the stories and pictures we have posted here. Pour a cup of coffee and stay as long as you please. . .there’s a lot to see.
Whatever you do, we hope you will do it with a spirit of adventure rather than apathy, and a heart of endurance rather than haste. Because it takes real discipline, real giving, real humility and real time for real impact. It takes teams of Christ's followers partnering together in His power to reach others. And the greatest thing is that the rewards at the finish line are much more valuable than any gold, silver or bronze could ever be. They are eternal.
So what do you say?
We'll see you atop the podium!
in Christ,
the Jamisons
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| Brian and Heather Jamison |
Also visit: www.heatheronthenet.com.
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