I just watched women’s bobsled. It’s a wonderful thing to watch your friends win Olympic medals. Of all 6 girls on the 2 man podium, I know all of them. 3 are Christians, another is very close to becoming one.
But man is it fun to celebrate your friend’s success!!!
On one of the first nights I mentioned something to one of these gals (silver medalist) about what she’d do when she won a medal.....I quickly retracted and explained true success is being the very best that you’re capable of becoming and not focussing so much on results or other competitor’s performance. It was neat to see the team’s celebration as they finished 1-2. However, through all the months I’ve followed some of the Canadian team’s drama and prayed them through some very tough times.
Pray for the gal that is close to becoming a Christian. It doesn’t take long for even an Olympic medal’s joy to fade. When that is over, then you’ve still got the reality of some tough life circumstances to deal with. But I’ve seen what the pinnacle of athletic success can do to your life perspective. You realize that all you’ve striving for and now acheived, still doesn’t satisfy. That whole in the heart can only be filled by the Creator.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
LAST NITE IN THE VILLAGE
My time is coming to a close here as a sport chaplain in the athlete village. On my last day I had a nice visit with Brent, whom I’ve known since I helped coach him in the “Racing Rabbits” xc ski program over 10 years ago. Ironically, I’d just spent the day earlier with his parents watching the men’s 4x10km relay. Part of being a sports chaplain also means ministering to families and volunteers.
When Brent came by the Faith Centre he brought with him an athlete I’ve been hoping to meet. A young gal named Brittany. She’s pretty much the only Canadian xc skier on the nat’l team I don’t know. It’s funny how sometimes you have to go a long ways away to meet someone that lives, trains and competes just minutes from your own door. But often it’s the common ground that brings us together. I shared with them what some of the opportunities they had to grow spiritually via the small group meetings, pre-comp chapels ad 1 on 1 mentoring meetings (both here and at home). They both seemed receptive.
Funny how being at your first Olympics makes you maybe more open to things you normally wouldn’t consider when in the more familiar surroundings. I think the Olympic experience opens people up in many ways...bringing them out of their normal way of viewing their world.
There has been a Lithuanian skier named Mantis coming by a lot. We’ve had a lot of good talks about skiing, faith and life...well mostly skiing. I think he’s opening up spiritually. He comes by because their room is in the same building. In the process of our visits I’ve been feeding him some of our Sport/Faith material....sport New Testament and DVD with athlete testimonies. Small seeds that hopefully will sprount. Today we exchanged emails. I’m sure our paths will cross again.
When Brent came by the Faith Centre he brought with him an athlete I’ve been hoping to meet. A young gal named Brittany. She’s pretty much the only Canadian xc skier on the nat’l team I don’t know. It’s funny how sometimes you have to go a long ways away to meet someone that lives, trains and competes just minutes from your own door. But often it’s the common ground that brings us together. I shared with them what some of the opportunities they had to grow spiritually via the small group meetings, pre-comp chapels ad 1 on 1 mentoring meetings (both here and at home). They both seemed receptive.
Funny how being at your first Olympics makes you maybe more open to things you normally wouldn’t consider when in the more familiar surroundings. I think the Olympic experience opens people up in many ways...bringing them out of their normal way of viewing their world.
There has been a Lithuanian skier named Mantis coming by a lot. We’ve had a lot of good talks about skiing, faith and life...well mostly skiing. I think he’s opening up spiritually. He comes by because their room is in the same building. In the process of our visits I’ve been feeding him some of our Sport/Faith material....sport New Testament and DVD with athlete testimonies. Small seeds that hopefully will sprount. Today we exchanged emails. I’m sure our paths will cross again.
THE BROTHERHOOD
It’s been a tough couple of weeks on the track here in Whistler. After Nodar’s tragic death on the opening Friday, there have been crashes galore. Some spectacular and others just downright embarassing. One of those came with one of the Christians regularly visiting our faith centre. The 2 man bobsled was to be Jeremy’s swans song before he retired from international sport (he also competed for the Aussie rugby Wallabees). His run started freakeshly disastrous when an elastic band holding his steering ropes broke. He struggled to get in as he groped for the all important steering mechanism, then hit the wall hard and flipped over on the very first turn. This resulted in sliding down the entire track tipped over on the sled’s side and even upside down.
The next night Jeremy came into the evening Bible study looking absolutely as dejected as anyone I’ve ever seen in my life. The normally gregariously friendly Jeremy didn’t stick around making it impossible to console him. However, the next night there were 3 bobsled pilots at the meeting...Jeremy included. Afterward they all three huddled up and for the longest time encouraged one another. As chaplains, we all just kept our distance knowing that nothing we could say would compare with the encouragement only one of their own could give. One of whom himself also crashed though he was a favorite to win and was in the medals when he went over on the 50/50 turn (you only have a 50/50 chance of staying upright).
Jeremy has to decide if he’s going to compete in the 4 man. He’s never had a 4 man run down this track and given the danger factor he’s got to keep his crew’s safety in mind. It’s a tough decision. As a chaplain I did lead the 3 in prayer for him concerning wisdom for this as he was off to a meeting to decide if he’d compete or not.
The next night Jeremy came into the evening Bible study looking absolutely as dejected as anyone I’ve ever seen in my life. The normally gregariously friendly Jeremy didn’t stick around making it impossible to console him. However, the next night there were 3 bobsled pilots at the meeting...Jeremy included. Afterward they all three huddled up and for the longest time encouraged one another. As chaplains, we all just kept our distance knowing that nothing we could say would compare with the encouragement only one of their own could give. One of whom himself also crashed though he was a favorite to win and was in the medals when he went over on the 50/50 turn (you only have a 50/50 chance of staying upright).
Jeremy has to decide if he’s going to compete in the 4 man. He’s never had a 4 man run down this track and given the danger factor he’s got to keep his crew’s safety in mind. It’s a tough decision. As a chaplain I did lead the 3 in prayer for him concerning wisdom for this as he was off to a meeting to decide if he’d compete or not.
A GREAT STORY OF FORGIVENESS
While on duty in the athlete village this week I popped in on an old friend, Greg, who once coached the Canadian Nat’l Nordic Combined team. Greg now coaches with the surprisingly strong USA Combined team. He told me a story of forgiveness on his team that in some ways gives a clue to their success.
During last year’s World Nordic Champs in Liberec, Czech the Americans were the favorites to win the team relay in this forever European dominated sport. But when they got to the start Billy Demong could not find his race number bib anywhere. He frantically searched and searched. It may seem like a small thing, but the race orgainizers wouldn’t let him jump, hence the whole team was disqualified.
In the end he found it down his pants leg. It had slipped down and he never thought to look for it there. It’s one of those things that at the time seems so cruel and unfair (one of the athletes on that team would never have another chance medaling at a major event), yet after enough time you can laugh at its absurdity.
Though only one year has passed and the Olympic team relay for Nordic Combined is today the guys are able to laugh about it. What I find impressive was the team’s attitude. They made a conscious decision to forgive Billy and move on. There have been no hard feelings and the boys have decided to just look ahead. Once again they are the favorites and let’s hope they don’t disappoint.
Another great story of forgivness deals with a mutual friend of Greg and I with one of his former co-coaches. Jen-Dro Meyer was tragically killed in a car accident several years ago now. Jen-Dro had been seeking for God and making some moves to believe in Jesus. I found out at the memorial service that just 1 month before his death he indeed had decided to trust in Christ to forgive his sins and give his life to Him. It was an incredible relief to me, because I knew he was moving close, but I wasn’t sure.
Forgiveness is beautiful thing and the basis for all quality relationships....especially the most important relationship of all..that with our Heavenly Father. One that goes on for all eternity.
During last year’s World Nordic Champs in Liberec, Czech the Americans were the favorites to win the team relay in this forever European dominated sport. But when they got to the start Billy Demong could not find his race number bib anywhere. He frantically searched and searched. It may seem like a small thing, but the race orgainizers wouldn’t let him jump, hence the whole team was disqualified.
In the end he found it down his pants leg. It had slipped down and he never thought to look for it there. It’s one of those things that at the time seems so cruel and unfair (one of the athletes on that team would never have another chance medaling at a major event), yet after enough time you can laugh at its absurdity.
Though only one year has passed and the Olympic team relay for Nordic Combined is today the guys are able to laugh about it. What I find impressive was the team’s attitude. They made a conscious decision to forgive Billy and move on. There have been no hard feelings and the boys have decided to just look ahead. Once again they are the favorites and let’s hope they don’t disappoint.
Another great story of forgivness deals with a mutual friend of Greg and I with one of his former co-coaches. Jen-Dro Meyer was tragically killed in a car accident several years ago now. Jen-Dro had been seeking for God and making some moves to believe in Jesus. I found out at the memorial service that just 1 month before his death he indeed had decided to trust in Christ to forgive his sins and give his life to Him. It was an incredible relief to me, because I knew he was moving close, but I wasn’t sure.
Forgiveness is beautiful thing and the basis for all quality relationships....especially the most important relationship of all..that with our Heavenly Father. One that goes on for all eternity.
EDINA CONNECTION
While watching the last xc world cup before the Olympics in Canmore I noticed that one American skier really stood out....Caitlin Compten. Yesterday she came into our faith centre. It was really fun to discover that we have a tonne of connections. She has been calling Minneapolis her home now for awhile. As we compared notes she shared about her coaches, Piot and Ahvo...2 close friends of mine. But the most amazing fact of all was that when I revealed to her my “cake-eater” status (those of you from Edina know what I’m talking about), she suddenly gushed on about how Edina was her favorite training area. All the roller ski routes she pounded out were the same ones I’d honed my ski endurance on years ago.
As we continued to discuss mutual friends both in MN and in the ski world it was clear that we shared the most important connection of all...faith in God. Caitlin is probably early on in her faith walk, but her approach to training and life is the same in her faith. Strong, sure and focussed.
It’s clear that our paths will now continue to cross as she’ll need a place to stay when she competes in Canmore and we’ll probably race each other in the Birky!!
As we continued to discuss mutual friends both in MN and in the ski world it was clear that we shared the most important connection of all...faith in God. Caitlin is probably early on in her faith walk, but her approach to training and life is the same in her faith. Strong, sure and focussed.
It’s clear that our paths will now continue to cross as she’ll need a place to stay when she competes in Canmore and we’ll probably race each other in the Birky!!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Cool Runnings
I was last in Whistler for int'l bobsled training week last Nov. While there I met an American bob pilot had had just become a Christian. John had experienced a couple of life changing events and God was there for him. My Lake Placid counterpart, Derek, was there for him and one of the guys I mentored, Brock, pushed John in 4 man.
While in Whistler we did some Dupps discipleships. Dupps is a tiny hole in the wall Mexican restaurant that serves incredible food. The Americans and Canadians worked a deal with them that if they'd put a Dupps sticker on their sled, the crew gets free meals. For usually broke (and always cheap) bobsledders, Dupps becomes their second home. Of course during the Olympics the sponsor stickers have to come off unless the company pays out big bucks to the IOC.
But more on Dupps discipleship... it was with Brock and John that I was last in Dupps. John had that spiritual glow of a new Christian. He was just so pumped about his new faith. The kind of joy that is truly contagious.
I was talking to John last night after our daily fellowship and bible study meeting. He told me that the new Christian joy was still there and wasn't showing any signs of fading (even though it's been several months now). Surprisingly, John told me that before he was a Christian his emotions were outwardly quite up and down. This really surprised me as I've only ktnown the Christian John and he's always full of joy.....even after yesterday's bad training run.. That's because true joy is independant of life's ups and downs.
You can cheer for John. He pilots USA #2 I believe. He's been bobsledding since he was 9. Well, at first he just went in the sled with his dad. John won the Lake Placid 4 man world cup this year, so he's definately a contender.
While in Whistler we did some Dupps discipleships. Dupps is a tiny hole in the wall Mexican restaurant that serves incredible food. The Americans and Canadians worked a deal with them that if they'd put a Dupps sticker on their sled, the crew gets free meals. For usually broke (and always cheap) bobsledders, Dupps becomes their second home. Of course during the Olympics the sponsor stickers have to come off unless the company pays out big bucks to the IOC.
But more on Dupps discipleship... it was with Brock and John that I was last in Dupps. John had that spiritual glow of a new Christian. He was just so pumped about his new faith. The kind of joy that is truly contagious.
I was talking to John last night after our daily fellowship and bible study meeting. He told me that the new Christian joy was still there and wasn't showing any signs of fading (even though it's been several months now). Surprisingly, John told me that before he was a Christian his emotions were outwardly quite up and down. This really surprised me as I've only ktnown the Christian John and he's always full of joy.....even after yesterday's bad training run.. That's because true joy is independant of life's ups and downs.
You can cheer for John. He pilots USA #2 I believe. He's been bobsledding since he was 9. Well, at first he just went in the sled with his dad. John won the Lake Placid 4 man world cup this year, so he's definately a contender.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
WHAT I DID TODAY
Well today is a landmark birthday for me. I’m almost a little embarrassed to say how old I am now. Forties were ok....fifties are old, man. I can take some consolation in that yesterday I had a day off and went backcountry skiing with some of Whistler’s most robo skiers. With my smaller boards I had a hard time on some unbelievable steep couloirs...pitches that we’d never ski in Alberta because our snow would never hold at that steepness....but on the ups the only guy faster was my Canadian Nat’l ski teammate, Alex. At one point I was tempted to tell ‘em, “hey guys tomorrow I turn 50!” But I didn’t.
In the Olympic village I looked UP my old friend Greg P. Whom I’d met when he coached Canada’s Nordic combined team. Greg has always seemed open spiritually. Now he’s coaching the US team. Then I finally ran into Dawa Sherpa of Nepal. Dawa and I hit it off 4 years ago in Italy at those Olympics. We’d ski together, take meals, etc. Of course I’d feed him some gospel material. As a former Buddist monk I wasn’t sure how hard to present Jesus. We’ve had some good talks, but I hope to go deeper.
I’m planning on joining Lyndon Rush for dinner. Deb said I can splurge on my birthday as it costs 25$ to eat with the athletes and not in the worker bee cafeteria. Lyndon is a guy I meet up with each week for discipleship when he’s in town (which is pretty hit and miss when you’re travelling the world cup bobsled circuit). The other night he was sharing how unbelievably great it is to have our Olympic chaplaincy. I’ve been helping him to try to lead the Christian (and pre-Christian) bobsledders in fellowship and bible study meetings on the bob circuit. It hasn’t been easy, but here he can just relax and be ministered to. He's been loving it!
We have a set schedule each day for bible study, fellowship at 9 in the a.m. and 8 at night. We really hold these to ½ hour knowing that an athlete will be more likely to come when it doesn’t go on all night. These have been really great times and pretty well attended. Gotta go get ready for my turn leading tonight.
In the Olympic village I looked UP my old friend Greg P. Whom I’d met when he coached Canada’s Nordic combined team. Greg has always seemed open spiritually. Now he’s coaching the US team. Then I finally ran into Dawa Sherpa of Nepal. Dawa and I hit it off 4 years ago in Italy at those Olympics. We’d ski together, take meals, etc. Of course I’d feed him some gospel material. As a former Buddist monk I wasn’t sure how hard to present Jesus. We’ve had some good talks, but I hope to go deeper.
I’m planning on joining Lyndon Rush for dinner. Deb said I can splurge on my birthday as it costs 25$ to eat with the athletes and not in the worker bee cafeteria. Lyndon is a guy I meet up with each week for discipleship when he’s in town (which is pretty hit and miss when you’re travelling the world cup bobsled circuit). The other night he was sharing how unbelievably great it is to have our Olympic chaplaincy. I’ve been helping him to try to lead the Christian (and pre-Christian) bobsledders in fellowship and bible study meetings on the bob circuit. It hasn’t been easy, but here he can just relax and be ministered to. He's been loving it!
We have a set schedule each day for bible study, fellowship at 9 in the a.m. and 8 at night. We really hold these to ½ hour knowing that an athlete will be more likely to come when it doesn’t go on all night. These have been really great times and pretty well attended. Gotta go get ready for my turn leading tonight.
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