Entering Cleveland
Browns Football Stadium on May 19 at 6.00 a.m. a song plays that I have not
heard for a while.
A rite of Spring
is about to take place, I am about to run a Spring Marathon to benefit the
exploited Children of Cambodia. I picked Cleveland out of many other
Marathons, I had no particular reason. Negative thoughts
are all around me and I wonder if this will be the year that
I cannot finish?
Back to the song
"Let it be" by the Beatles I listen to the lyrics and shake my head
no, for something in these words has struck something very deep within me something,
I cannot explain.
Let it be, let it
be, let it be to me refers to the young children of Cambodia who have been sold
into sexual slavery and to me the words are let it be to the
problem and let them be to the children themselves.
Later on I hear "Whisper words of wisdom" in the same
song. To me they become the worlds words of wisdom. A friend read
my original thoughts on this moment and wrote me her thoughts. I quote
from her now and these exact thoughts were running through my head as I lined
up with more than 22 000 other runners at the starting line.
"We cannot
let it be. We will not let it be. The world`s words of wisdom
are: Let it be. You can`t make a difference. It will never
change. It`s too big. It`s too ugly. Who cares about those
who are half a world away? And to this we say NO. Sometimes NO is a
beautiful world.
In Cambodia I am
told there is a saying "Same same but different." During my
training for the Cleveland Marathon this year I thought of this saying.
Although I was
able to complete a marathon the previous year I realized that every year I am
starting all over again. Any physical benefits from the previous
year are long gone and I must start right back at the beginning.
Mentally which I
believe is half the battle is also a very hard process. During the
recent Chilly Half Marathon my stomach was really upset to the point of
almost illness and I thought of stopping. At the 16 km mark this came to
a head and I was so grateful for the fact I had 5km left at this point and not
26.
The air in
Cleveland is very hot and the wind is against me right from the start. The
start is uneventful, in fact a fellow runner and myself laugh as with so many
runners on a narrow roadway we both take about one minute to move the 200
feet to the official starting line.
4 km mark I am
sweating and the time I see on the timing clocks by the side of the road cause
me concern as I seem to be running much slower than I ever have before. I
laugh again as I realize Cleveland doesn`t use the Metric system so I
have actually ran 4 miles, and I am on pace.
I saw many signs
during the race one in particular caught my attention. " Pain
is temporary. Quitting lasts forever." Harsh maybe, but to me
it strikes a chord as for the first time I run with a sign on my back; a
friend designed for me.
The sign says
"Running 42.2kms To Bring Dignity For Cambodia`s Exploited
Children" And for me anything short of completing 42.2kms on this
day is a failure, this of course puts a great deal of pressure on myself but I
am reminded of the word of Ratanak`s Director Brian McConaghy at a seminar
speaking on behalf of the children in Cambodia. "We cannot take
a girl who has been rescued from a life of slavery, place her in one of
our programs and than tell her after a period of time sorry the funding
ran out we no longer have no room for you." Brian went on to say we
have to commit to these girls until they are healed, however long, however
expensive. I feel the same way about finishing a Marathon. I doubt
if anyone would decide not to sponsor me if one year I quit at the 30 km mark,
but for now I am grateful I have not had to face this problem.
6 mile mark I feel
the sign coming off my back and I place it in my hands and think I may
have to carry it for the rest of the race.
8 mile mark
I cross onto Lorrain and 35 West. I have wondered what my reaction will be
at this part of the race for this area has been in the news quite often in
the last two weeks. Lorrain is the street that all three girls in
Cleveland were kidnapped, one very close to where I now run. That
means the house these girls were kept for over ten years in somewhere very
close by. Sad for such a waste of these girls lives I pray to the
one who can bring true healing to these girls, and I am grateful that I have
picked this Marathon to run for girls being held in similar conditions
as these girls faced many miles away in Cambodia. I
originally thought I may sense evil in this area, but I noticed the people
of Cleveland have started raising funds for these three girls, already $480 000
has been raised, I think of the story how Amanda Barry after ten years of
slavery still had hope for a rescue, she still had the presence of mind to take
her chance for help when it came, I think of the neighbour who helped her, and
I realize Evil has it`s day but Goodness will always have the final say.
11 mile mark the
former sign on my back slips away from me, briefly I thought to go back for it
but is very hot today the temperature will reach 87F or 31C. I think to
myself again I must finish this race. I believe I carried someone`s 11
miles today, possibly another day or another event such as the upcoming Ratanak
5km walkathon others can finish the process of carrying this person the
remaining 15 miles.
13 mile mark and
surprisingly my time is about where I thought it would be, although I was
hoping the wind would relent a bit because it had been against me the whole
race, and in fact would not stop until the 18 mile mark.
15 mile mark I
pass a Old Pentecostal Church who have taken their Worship service outside
and their huge speakers shout out the words to "Lord I lift your name on
high, how I long to sing your praises, I`m so glad your in my life."
I change the next words from "I`m so glad you came to save me" to I`m
so glad you came to save them! I shiver and repeat these words many times
over the next mile.
18 mile mark the
day seems to get even hotter (in fact it is) I see many runners stopping to
walk, in past races I have tried to encourage these runners to keep going,
today I lack the strength to even speak, one runner lies down by the side of
the road. The words "Let them be" come into my head
and I have no response or even thoughts I just keep running.
22 mile mark I
finish my last drink from my own water bottles and walk for 30 seconds to try
to catch my breath, runners are stopping quite often as this is really too hot
of a day to run a marathon on. I am pretty sure if this was my first I would
not be able to finish.
25 mile mark I
hear the roar of the crowd and realize I am almost finished and than my heart
goes out to a fellow runner for I see a runner being taken by stretcher to an
ambulance, one mile to go and he must have collapsed, what a bitter pill this
will be for this man to swallow. I keep running and cross
the finish line and see my time is a little off of what I had hoped for,
and yet I am satisfied. The Boston Marathon is not possible for next
year and that is okay as I will now wait and see what other door will open for
next year.
I meet my
family at our designated spot and from a distance they congratulate me (I say
from a distance because I think I lost 10 pounds of water and Love has
some limits for young girls) Hugging your Father at such a moment is not
one of them.
This is like a
bonus track on a CD these are some of my thoughts from my winter training.
Running down a Ravine all Winter for over three hours of times allows for much
thought. A recurring thought I have is for all of Cambodia`s children to
be set free from the bondage of Sexual slavery. How this is to happen I
don`t know, when this will happen again I don`t know, but I do believe it will
happen.
In the Bible
there are three examples I draw strength from:
David faced
Goliath a nine foot Giant who was an experienced solider and defeated
him. Joshua faced the walls of Jericho and saw them come crumbling
down. Gideon face an enormous army of soldiers and defeated them. In
each story they were asked to use something unusual going into
battle. David used a sling shot, Joshua marched around the walls for 7
days and had a trumpet sounded, and Gideon used torches and lamps. In each
example the enormous enemy had a weakness, a crack in their foundation that was
not visible to the human eye, but was seen by God.
This is a picture
of a tree fallen over one night before I ran. Before it`s fall I would
not have even noticed it as it was one of many trees. These
fallen trees always represent to me the forces behind the exploitation of
children in Cambodia, in that one day they are there enormous and look
impossible to defeat, and than one day they are like this tree, dead and
exposed for everyone to see. My weapons against this evil for now
are my shoes, shorts, and shirt I use when running a full marathon
Not to say that I
am to be responsible for bringing about this fall, this is God`s fight. But
I believe there are cracks in place that I can`t see, but in time this evil
will be thrown out as every other evil regime has in the past.
Stairs and
bridges are structures that allow us to go places we otherwise would not be
able to get to. I have many examples of this when I run down my
ravine. In life sometimes I feel this is also true.
These are some of
the lyrics from a song called Minds Eye by the group DC Talk
In my mind`s eye
I see your face
You smile at me
and show me grace
In my mind`s eye
You take my hand
We walk through
foreign lands
The foreign lands
of life
I have never been
to Cambodia. I have never seen the children I advocate for in
person. Yet, as I involve myself in their lives from a enormous physical
difference I believe God takes me and allows me to see these children up close
in a spiritual dimension. The closest I ever get for now is training
for and than running a marathon.
This next words
are used from a Pink song. I don`t always agree with Pink, but I like
Pink. As Pink is authentic and real, Pink does not hide behind a
mask. Too often my fellow church goers and myself are not as authentic as
Pink.
There is a 16
year old girl in Cambodia. It is the middle of the night and she is
exhausted but she cannot sleep. She is in a program that is set up to
help her overcome a difficult life. She has been is such programs for the
past three years, she is "one of the lucky ones" She was sold
at eight years old and endured five years of Hell until she was rescued.
She sighs so deeply to herself, thinks about the pills she has stored under her
bed, and wonders if it would not just be easier to take them and end her
pain. She had thought she was making progress, but today in the Market
she saw a face she would never forget. She saw a man from a foreign
Country her first abuser, and all of the hard work of the last three years came
undone in this moment. She thought of the unfairness of life as this man
was free to go and ruin other lives while she was a prisoner in her own body,
in her own mind.
There is a man
three thousand miles away from this girl. Something is wrong he senses it
and knows not exactly what it wrong but he senses an urgency he has never
experienced before. He senses hope is going fast and when hope is gone
all is lost. This man has no idea what to do, he feels helpless but
goes to his room to pray. This a "hail Mary" prayer the type of
prayer where we acknowledge our smallness and helplessness and wonder what good
will come about but praying is the only thing that can done so the man
utters this words doubting they will have any effect but he feels he must do
something.
Give her just a
reason
Just a little
bit`s enough
Just a second
she`s not broken just bent
And she can learn
to love again
It is in the
stars
It`s been written
in the scars on her heart
That she`s not
broken just bent
And she can learn
to love again
Again the man
repeats these word unknown to him the girl joins in
Give her (me) a
reason
Just a little
bit`s enough
Just a second
she`s (I`m) not broken just bent
And she (I) can
learn to love again
It is in the
stars
It`s been written
on the scars on her (my) heart
That she`s (I`m)
not broken just bent
And she (I) can
learn to love again.
The
man feels a curtain being drawn over the girl`s life and through his
exhaustion feels he has done all he can do and leaves his room.
1 Corinthians
13:12
For now we see in
a mirror dimly, but then face to face:
now I know in
part, but then I will know fully
Some rewards are
left for those who suffer most. The man will never suffer like this girl
so in his life the screen goes blank.
The girl is fully
awake as someone has entered her room and she knows not who but senses a peace
such as she has never experienced before. This Man speaks to her:
I AM your reason
I AM enough
Just a second
your not broken just bent
And I will teach
you how to love again
Your face is in
my Heart
Your name is
written on the scars of my hands
Your not broken
just bent
And I will teach
you how to love again
The next morning
the girl threw away the pills as she knew she would never need them
again. Her life was not easy and her painful past would come back and
hurt her at inopportune times. But she learned through her pain and her
recovery that she was able to mentor and help the younger girls follow the same
road to recovery.
What she could
have never known was her role was to be later in life. Her story was so
powerful coming from a victim of such a start in life it was used to bring
sweeping change. She told her story many times to powerful Politicians
from other Countries who were moved to tears at her honest, straight
forward approach to the retelling of her story.
She was to be one
of the biggest influences for ending the practise of selling children into
sexual slavery in Cambodia.
Larry
