I still remember the first time I went to a village in Zambia...we had waited a long time to meet the people and to see the place where we had raised funds for in order for the people there to be able to build a first school building for their community...and yet to be honest, those first hours were really a bit overwhelming...it was unlike any place I'd been before and there were the usual struggles with language and culture differences that left me feeling a bit like an outsider despite the immense joy I felt and the Zambian people felt in celebrating how God had brought us together in a Kingdom way for Kingdom purposes...
But after some village tours, welcome speeches and dances, and exchanges of thank yous and gifts we walked down a dusty village trail to a 120 yard long by 75 yard wide piece of African dirt where for me everything suddenly became comfortable and usual...we put on soccer jerseys and played a full match against a local village team scoring goals on wood frame goalposts at the edge of a field where the grass grew instantly longer as you stepped off the soccer pitch...this game was something that was familiar and loved by both teams playing and I found myself playing without inhibition and talking to Zambian players without some of the same fears and questions I had been struggling with just minutes before...although I must confess I have never played a game since where someone with a megaphone on the sidelines was screaming out the play by play of the action on the field interspersed with comments like "We will defeat HIV!" and "AIDS has no chance of beating us now that we have education!" in between the announcements of who had scored the latest goal...
Soccer did then and has for several more years connected me in community with friends in Africa in a unique and surprisingly strong way...and I have watched soccer become a vehicle of community and service for people in obvious need and people with plenty of stuff all around them...soccer has allowed me and hundreds of students to help provide AIDS education programs, health care and food and clean water, new shoes and uniforms and equipment, and the chance to share the story of the Gospel in a long term ministry and community development partnership for close to a decade now...
So when some of the coaches and players in the Cornerstone University men's soccer program began to ask some questions about how they could as a program use their sport to help change the world as an outgrowth of what God was up to in their own lives, I immediately thought of an idea our ACTS poverty and justice group on campus had heard about called Night of Nets...the idea was to host an event that would highlight the devastating impact of malaria upon African kids and their families while seeking to raise resources for the purchase and distribution of life-saving and malaria-preventing bed nets to those at great risk of catching the disease from mosquito bites...
We came up with the Night of NETS event where we would invite people attending both the CU men's and women's games to pay a $6 admission charge that would purchase a bed net for a family on the other side of the world...and we ended up creating a website and other opportunities for people to get involved in the cause as we sought to change the lives of 1000 families in Zambia because of the playing of a game that is revered and treasured in the African culture...and as we host this event, we will strangely once again through the beautiful game called soccer experience community with people who we have very little in common with on many levels...and it gives us a wonderful opportunity to use athletics and serving the poor to create a truly community event for our own college community...we are expecting that we might see the largest crowd to ever watch a soccer match on our campus and we hope that students who have never really understood the beauty of soccer and the reality of the health crisis created by malaria can do both on a 120 by 75 yard piece of grass on our campus that day...
It is tough to try and draw people together physically, socially, and spiritually on a campus like ours where so many students are doing so many different things...many live off campus, many have extra jobs, and many come from different economic and denominational backgrounds...but we all desperately long to be part of something fun and significant together...and that's why I think athletics and service are so valuable in bringing us together to celebrate the gifts of those in our community and the power of coming together to share gifts with others outside our community...
And that's why I've had Saturday September 25 circled on my calendar for the past several months as a day I couldn't wait to experience...and to my joy and amazement, many other folks on our campus are feeling the same way...soccer players are inviting old teammates and family members to come see them play; students are planning to sleep under bed nets outside the night before the game to raise awareness; people from other parts of the country are supporting our project; and flyers about this day are literally plastered everywhere you look on our campus...
Only a God like ours could create a game to be a conduit to most perfectly connect people like me with people like my Zambian friend Fordson...and that's why for me Soccer and Bed Nets are a strangely perfect combination...and I can't wait to deliver these bed nets in Africa to villages in May with some of our CU soccer players before we play a match together in the African dirt...and we'll be thinking of the community we represent back at CU and in the body of Christ as a smile creeps over our faces and a tear rolls down our cheeks...and the Kingdom, the community of Jesus, made up of soccer players from both Grand Rapids and Zambia, will break forth in a most beautiful and blessed way...
For more information on the CU Night of Nets event that is part of World Vision's ACTS to End Malaria campaign you can check out their website for this special soccer fundraiser match at: www.cunightofnets.com
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
NIGHT of NETS Event Info
A CU Special Event: NIGHT of NETS—Saturday September 25th
“The Beautiful Game Helps Make a More Beautiful Life for the Children of Africa”
Come see the CU men’s and women’s soccer teams play on the CU soccer field at 12 pm (MEN’S GAME) and 2:30 pm (WOMEN’S GAME)…
You are encouraged to pay a $6 admission fee that will change the lives of families in Africa forever…the $6 price of attending a soccer game will purchase a bed net that will help prevent the spread of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa where the disease is the leading killer of children in the region… and the nets will be distributed on a CU trip to Zambia this May…
You can check out more details at the Night of Nets event website: www.cunightofnets.com
You can donate even if you can’t come to the game…money can be brought to Chip Huber in Spiritual Formation or you can donate on-line (checks made out to World Vision)
We will see you at the soccer match and please invite your friends to this CU event where you can make a life-changing difference while supporting our athletes!
“The Beautiful Game Helps Make a More Beautiful Life for the Children of Africa”
Come see the CU men’s and women’s soccer teams play on the CU soccer field at 12 pm (MEN’S GAME) and 2:30 pm (WOMEN’S GAME)…
You are encouraged to pay a $6 admission fee that will change the lives of families in Africa forever…the $6 price of attending a soccer game will purchase a bed net that will help prevent the spread of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa where the disease is the leading killer of children in the region… and the nets will be distributed on a CU trip to Zambia this May…
You can check out more details at the Night of Nets event website: www.cunightofnets.com
You can donate even if you can’t come to the game…money can be brought to Chip Huber in Spiritual Formation or you can donate on-line (checks made out to World Vision)
We will see you at the soccer match and please invite your friends to this CU event where you can make a life-changing difference while supporting our athletes!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Summer of 2010 Reading List
The whole crew of CU students will be on campus in just a few days...and the next few weeks of my life are ones with just about every minute filled with activity and conversation and people...and the moments to read beyond emails and ESPN scores are few and far between...but I did grab a few moments to read during the summer season...and here's some of what I read in a top 10 list of the books and articles and words...
Africa United: Soccer, Passion, Politics, and the First World Cup in Africa by Steve Bloomfield
The Slow Fade: Why You Matter in the Story of Twentysomethings by Reggie Joiner, Chuck Bomar, and Abbie Smith
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life by Donald Miller
Cultural Intelligence: Improving Your CQ to Engage Our Multicultural World by David Livermore
Playing the enemy : Nelson Mandela and the game that made a nation by John Carlin
Warrior Princess: Fighting for Life With Courage and Hope by Princess Kasune Zulu
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson
The New Shape of World Christianity: How American Experience Reflects Global Faith by Mark Noll
*And way, way too many online and magazine articles about every dimension of the 2010 World Cup Experience...although, I never tired of reading them all, to be honest...
Africa United: Soccer, Passion, Politics, and the First World Cup in Africa by Steve Bloomfield
The Slow Fade: Why You Matter in the Story of Twentysomethings by Reggie Joiner, Chuck Bomar, and Abbie Smith
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life by Donald Miller
Cultural Intelligence: Improving Your CQ to Engage Our Multicultural World by David Livermore
Playing the enemy : Nelson Mandela and the game that made a nation by John Carlin
Warrior Princess: Fighting for Life With Courage and Hope by Princess Kasune Zulu
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson
The New Shape of World Christianity: How American Experience Reflects Global Faith by Mark Noll
*And way, way too many online and magazine articles about every dimension of the 2010 World Cup Experience...although, I never tired of reading them all, to be honest...
Saturday, August 7, 2010
MONTANA TALK #3 Notes
Notes and Quotes below...
DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE ON PURSUING ANYTHING BUT JESUS…
To Know One Thing:
“You don’t have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference in the world. But you do have to know the few great things that matter, perhaps just one, and then be willing to live for them and die for them. The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by one great thing. If you want your life to count, if you want the ripple effect of the pebbles you drop to become waves that reach the ends of the earth and roll on into eternity, you don’t need to have a high IQ. You don’t have to have good looks or riches or come from a fine family or a fine school. Instead, you have to know a few great, majestic, unchanging, obvious, simple, glorious things—or one great all-embracing thing—and be set on fire by them.”
John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life
Are you listening to the call of Christ on your life?
THE CALL OF THE SAVIOR: The voice of Jesus has become a sure beacon ahead of me and a blazing fir within me as I have tried to figure out my way and negotiate the challenges of the extraordinary times in which we live. It allows us to find and fulfill the central purpose of your life. OS GUINNESS
Jesus invites you to do these things and live this life:
*EMBRACE HIS CHARACTER
*SACRIFICE YOUR LIFE
*FOLLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT’S LEADINGS
*IMPACT THE WORLD
*SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS
I JOHN 5:4-5…Every God-begotten person conquers the world's ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world's ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.
There is nothing more compelling, more satisfying, more demanding, more overwhelming, more significant than a life lived following, loving, and serving the Lord Jesus. CHIP HUBER…after 4 decades of life
DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE ON PURSUING ANYTHING BUT JESUS…
To Know One Thing:
“You don’t have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference in the world. But you do have to know the few great things that matter, perhaps just one, and then be willing to live for them and die for them. The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by one great thing. If you want your life to count, if you want the ripple effect of the pebbles you drop to become waves that reach the ends of the earth and roll on into eternity, you don’t need to have a high IQ. You don’t have to have good looks or riches or come from a fine family or a fine school. Instead, you have to know a few great, majestic, unchanging, obvious, simple, glorious things—or one great all-embracing thing—and be set on fire by them.”
John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life
Are you listening to the call of Christ on your life?
THE CALL OF THE SAVIOR: The voice of Jesus has become a sure beacon ahead of me and a blazing fir within me as I have tried to figure out my way and negotiate the challenges of the extraordinary times in which we live. It allows us to find and fulfill the central purpose of your life. OS GUINNESS
Jesus invites you to do these things and live this life:
*EMBRACE HIS CHARACTER
*SACRIFICE YOUR LIFE
*FOLLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT’S LEADINGS
*IMPACT THE WORLD
*SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS
I JOHN 5:4-5…Every God-begotten person conquers the world's ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world's ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.
There is nothing more compelling, more satisfying, more demanding, more overwhelming, more significant than a life lived following, loving, and serving the Lord Jesus. CHIP HUBER…after 4 decades of life
MONTANA TALK #2 Notes
Notes and Quotes Below...
Spend Your Life Chasing the Things That are Eternal
What do you think you will care about 50 years from now? What things in your life today will still be important to you?
4 Things That are the Stuff of Eternity…and of Ultimate Worth…
The Kingdom of God—A FUTURE EVENT AND PRESENT REALITY
Luke 17:21; Matthew 6:10; Hebrews 12:28
People—DO WE TRULY PUT OTHERS FIRST?
John 13:34-35
The Body of Christ—WE ARE LIFETIME MEMBERS…
Matthew 16:18
Our Souls—THE VERY HEART OF WHO YOU AND I ARE…
Matthew 16:26; I John 3:2
Most people are not satisfied with the permanent output of their lives. Nothing can wholly satisfy the life of Christ within His followers except the adoption of Christ’s purpose toward the world He came to redeem. Fame, pleasure, and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of His eternal plans. The men and women who are putting everything into Christ’s undertaking are getting out of life its sweetest and most priceless rewards. J. CAMPBELL WHITE
Only one life, twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last…
A PRAYER FOR THE COOL GENERATION…from the book Don't Waste Your Life:
O God, who will get in their face and give them something to live for? They waste their days in a trance of insignificance, trying to look cool or talk cool or walk cool. They don’t have a clue what cool is. Of course we cannot use the word cool to describe true greatness. It is a small word. That’s the point. It’s cheap. And it’s what millions of young people live for. Who confronts them with urgency and tears? Who pleads with them not to waste their lives? Who takes them by the collar, so to speak, and loves them enough to show them a life radical and so real and so costly and Christ-saturated that they feel the emptiness and triviality of their CD collection and their pointless conversations about passing celebrities? Who will waken what lies latent in their souls, untapped—a longing not to waste their lives? O that young and old would turn off the television, take a long walk, and dream about feats of courage for a cause more precious than anything else in their world. If we would dream and if we would pray, would not God answer? Would He withhold from us a life of joyful love and mercy and sacrifice that magnifies God and makes people glad in God?
RESOLUTIONS OF JONATHAN EDAWRDS…
RESOLUTION #5: Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can…
RESOLUTION #6: Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live…
RESOLUTION #17: Resolved, that I will live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die…
RESOLUTION #22: Resolved, to endeavor for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of…
Risk is right. And the reason is not because God promises success to all our ventures in His cause. There is no promise that every effort for the cause of Christ will succeed, at least not in the short run. John the Baptist risked calling King Herod an adulterer when he divorced his own wife in order to take his brother’s wife. For this John got his head chopped off. And he had done right to risk his life for the cause of God and truth. Jesus had no criticism for him, only the highest praise (Matthew 11:11). Paul risked going up to Jerusalem to complete his ministry to the poor. He was beaten and thrown in prison for two years and then shipped off to Rome and was executed there two years later. And he did right to risk his life for the cause of Christ. How many graves are there in Africa and Asia because thousands of young missionaries were freed by the power of the Holy Spirit from the enchantment of security and then risked their lives to make much of Christ among the unreached peoples of the world! And now what about you? Are you caught in the enchantment of security, paralyzed from taking any risks for the cause of God? Or have you been freed by the power of the Holy Spirit from the mirage of Egyptian safety and comfort? Do you men ever say with Joab, “For the sake of the name, I’ll try it! And may the Lord do what seems good to Him?” Do you women ever say with Esther, “For the sake of Christ I’ll try it! And if I perish, I perish”? JOHN PIPER
What will be the legacy left by you on our campus at the end of this school year? Your college career? Your days on this earth?
Spend Your Life Chasing the Things That are Eternal
What do you think you will care about 50 years from now? What things in your life today will still be important to you?
4 Things That are the Stuff of Eternity…and of Ultimate Worth…
The Kingdom of God—A FUTURE EVENT AND PRESENT REALITY
Luke 17:21; Matthew 6:10; Hebrews 12:28
People—DO WE TRULY PUT OTHERS FIRST?
John 13:34-35
The Body of Christ—WE ARE LIFETIME MEMBERS…
Matthew 16:18
Our Souls—THE VERY HEART OF WHO YOU AND I ARE…
Matthew 16:26; I John 3:2
Most people are not satisfied with the permanent output of their lives. Nothing can wholly satisfy the life of Christ within His followers except the adoption of Christ’s purpose toward the world He came to redeem. Fame, pleasure, and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of His eternal plans. The men and women who are putting everything into Christ’s undertaking are getting out of life its sweetest and most priceless rewards. J. CAMPBELL WHITE
Only one life, twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last…
A PRAYER FOR THE COOL GENERATION…from the book Don't Waste Your Life:
O God, who will get in their face and give them something to live for? They waste their days in a trance of insignificance, trying to look cool or talk cool or walk cool. They don’t have a clue what cool is. Of course we cannot use the word cool to describe true greatness. It is a small word. That’s the point. It’s cheap. And it’s what millions of young people live for. Who confronts them with urgency and tears? Who pleads with them not to waste their lives? Who takes them by the collar, so to speak, and loves them enough to show them a life radical and so real and so costly and Christ-saturated that they feel the emptiness and triviality of their CD collection and their pointless conversations about passing celebrities? Who will waken what lies latent in their souls, untapped—a longing not to waste their lives? O that young and old would turn off the television, take a long walk, and dream about feats of courage for a cause more precious than anything else in their world. If we would dream and if we would pray, would not God answer? Would He withhold from us a life of joyful love and mercy and sacrifice that magnifies God and makes people glad in God?
RESOLUTIONS OF JONATHAN EDAWRDS…
RESOLUTION #5: Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can…
RESOLUTION #6: Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live…
RESOLUTION #17: Resolved, that I will live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die…
RESOLUTION #22: Resolved, to endeavor for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of…
Risk is right. And the reason is not because God promises success to all our ventures in His cause. There is no promise that every effort for the cause of Christ will succeed, at least not in the short run. John the Baptist risked calling King Herod an adulterer when he divorced his own wife in order to take his brother’s wife. For this John got his head chopped off. And he had done right to risk his life for the cause of God and truth. Jesus had no criticism for him, only the highest praise (Matthew 11:11). Paul risked going up to Jerusalem to complete his ministry to the poor. He was beaten and thrown in prison for two years and then shipped off to Rome and was executed there two years later. And he did right to risk his life for the cause of Christ. How many graves are there in Africa and Asia because thousands of young missionaries were freed by the power of the Holy Spirit from the enchantment of security and then risked their lives to make much of Christ among the unreached peoples of the world! And now what about you? Are you caught in the enchantment of security, paralyzed from taking any risks for the cause of God? Or have you been freed by the power of the Holy Spirit from the mirage of Egyptian safety and comfort? Do you men ever say with Joab, “For the sake of the name, I’ll try it! And may the Lord do what seems good to Him?” Do you women ever say with Esther, “For the sake of Christ I’ll try it! And if I perish, I perish”? JOHN PIPER
What will be the legacy left by you on our campus at the end of this school year? Your college career? Your days on this earth?
MONTANA TALK #1 notes
SOME NOTES AND QUOTES BELOW...
Don’t Waste Your Life on the Things that Don’t Matter
A HUGE QUESTION FOR THE WEEK:
What does it mean to waste my life? That is a burning question. Or, more positively, what does it mean to live well—not to waste life, but to…? How to finish that sentence was the question. I was not even sure how to put the question into words, let alone what the answer might be. What is the opposite of not wasting my life? “To be successful in a career”? Or “to find the deepest meaning and significance”? Or “to help as many people as possible”? Or “to serve Christ to the full”? Or “to glorify God in all I do”? Or is there a point, a purpose, a focus, an essence to life that would fulfill every one of those dreams? JOHN PIPER
I JOHN 2:15-17…Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
Popularity and Status—ISAIAH 40:6-8
We all know if we are in or out, don’t we?
Achievements for Reward’s Sake—LUKE 6:12-16; I COR 3:11-13
How much of your life is trying to prove yourself worthy?
Our Bodies and our Looks—I TIMOTHY 4:8
We all need an extreme makeover, don’t we?
Possessions and Money—MATTHEW 6:19-24; 25:14-30
“Every time we give we remind ourselves of several things: God is on the throne; All that I have is from Him; I do, in fact, trust God; I’ve been given an awful lot—JOHN ORTBERG
The overwhelming needs of our world issue a call to us for strategic living…we must realize that when we spend our resources on our own private wants and concerns, it leaves fewer resources for the Kingdom’s crucial and central concerns of great importance…and God has given each of us the chance of a lifetime in His appointment of us as His Kingdom resource managers…
“At these moments, when the trifling fog of life clears and I see what I am really on earth to do, I groan over the petty pursuits that waste so many lives—and so much of mine. Just think of the magnitude of sports—a whole section of the daily newspaper. But there is no section on God. Think of the endless resources for making your home and garden more comfortable and impressive. Think of how many tens of thousands of dollars you can spend to buy more car than you need. Think of the time and energy and conversation and leisure and what we call “fun stuff.” Or think about how we view our clothes. What a tragedy to see so many people obsessed with what they wear and how they look. And add to that now the computer that artificially recreates the very games that are already so distant from reality; it is like a multi-layered dream world of insignificance expanding into nothingness.” JOHN PIPER
Let us consider this final advice as a manager of God’s Trust He’s given in your one life: choose your investments carefully; compare their rates of interest; consider their ultimate trustworthiness; and especially compare how they will be working for you a few million years from now…RANDY ALCORN
Don’t Waste Your Life on the Things that Don’t Matter
A HUGE QUESTION FOR THE WEEK:
What does it mean to waste my life? That is a burning question. Or, more positively, what does it mean to live well—not to waste life, but to…? How to finish that sentence was the question. I was not even sure how to put the question into words, let alone what the answer might be. What is the opposite of not wasting my life? “To be successful in a career”? Or “to find the deepest meaning and significance”? Or “to help as many people as possible”? Or “to serve Christ to the full”? Or “to glorify God in all I do”? Or is there a point, a purpose, a focus, an essence to life that would fulfill every one of those dreams? JOHN PIPER
I JOHN 2:15-17…Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
Popularity and Status—ISAIAH 40:6-8
We all know if we are in or out, don’t we?
Achievements for Reward’s Sake—LUKE 6:12-16; I COR 3:11-13
How much of your life is trying to prove yourself worthy?
Our Bodies and our Looks—I TIMOTHY 4:8
We all need an extreme makeover, don’t we?
Possessions and Money—MATTHEW 6:19-24; 25:14-30
“Every time we give we remind ourselves of several things: God is on the throne; All that I have is from Him; I do, in fact, trust God; I’ve been given an awful lot—JOHN ORTBERG
The overwhelming needs of our world issue a call to us for strategic living…we must realize that when we spend our resources on our own private wants and concerns, it leaves fewer resources for the Kingdom’s crucial and central concerns of great importance…and God has given each of us the chance of a lifetime in His appointment of us as His Kingdom resource managers…
“At these moments, when the trifling fog of life clears and I see what I am really on earth to do, I groan over the petty pursuits that waste so many lives—and so much of mine. Just think of the magnitude of sports—a whole section of the daily newspaper. But there is no section on God. Think of the endless resources for making your home and garden more comfortable and impressive. Think of how many tens of thousands of dollars you can spend to buy more car than you need. Think of the time and energy and conversation and leisure and what we call “fun stuff.” Or think about how we view our clothes. What a tragedy to see so many people obsessed with what they wear and how they look. And add to that now the computer that artificially recreates the very games that are already so distant from reality; it is like a multi-layered dream world of insignificance expanding into nothingness.” JOHN PIPER
Let us consider this final advice as a manager of God’s Trust He’s given in your one life: choose your investments carefully; compare their rates of interest; consider their ultimate trustworthiness; and especially compare how they will be working for you a few million years from now…RANDY ALCORN
Monday, July 12, 2010
HOW AFRICA WON THE WORLD CUP by Dayo Olopade, Washington Post
A great closing article as the world cup leaves South Africa, and a continent seeks to continue to grow and move forward in the days and years to come...
The first African World Cup didn't belong to Africa, at least not on the soccer field. Of the six African nations that made it to the quadrennial tournament, five fell early -- to indiscipline, tough competitors and heartbreaking missed opportunities. The plucky and focused Black Stars from Ghana were a bright spot for the continent, but when Sunday's final is over, the new FIFA champion will not be African.
Still, winning games isn't everything. For one month of one South African winter, the tournament brought an international celebration to a continent more widely known for malnourished bodies, grandstanding leaders and the ravages of AIDS. Rather than indigence, the world saw balls sailing into the net, crisp tackles, sweat. Ten gleaming stadiums and the collective warmth of 50 million South Africans offered thousands of football pilgrims the time of their lives.
In a year that marks five decades of independence for 17 African countries, from Somalia to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the cup doubled as an anniversary party. "Just the fact that African teams can compete, defeat and be defeated on the world's stage is wonderful," Carmen Arendse, a South African psychologist, said while watching Ghana's quarterfinal match against Uruguay.
There's an earlier sentiment that still rings true, as well. In a 1960 speech, Patrice Lumumba, the first Congolese prime minister, made a remark that fits the occasion: "We are going to show the world what the black man can do when he works in freedom."
Even before I had my passport stamped in Lagos late last month, airport ads for telecommunications giant MTN reminded me what the cup means for the continent. With images of star footballers Michael Essien of Ghana, Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon and John Obi Mikel of Nigeria ran the tournament's slogans: "Let's go Africa." "United we score." "Today is a good day to be African."
And it was a good month. While the petty crime that is common in Johannesburg didn't disappear, there were no major incidents of violence at the fan parks or outdoor screening areas. Dignitaries such as former president Bill Clinton and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, not to mention Mick Jagger, came to see the beautiful game at the bottom of the world. In every African city I visited, a raucous, family atmosphere prevailed. At game time in Lagos, traffic cleared, strangers crowded around television sets indoors and out, and alongside the news of the world, chatty conversations on the state of play looped constantly on the radio.
In Johannesburg, the "Jabulani" ball, designed specially for the tournament, graced pickup games outside bars and on dirt patches by the highway. In the poor and sprawling township of Khayelitsha, black South Africans live far from the shadow of Cape Town's shiny new stadium -- but during Ghana's fatal match against Uruguay, several men and even a few women celebrated by sporting jerseys from Brazil, South Africa, Liverpool and beyond.
The World Cup didn't just feel universal -- it was. According to market research company InsideView, some 80 percent of the world's population has watched "at least some part" of the competition -- and 600 million are expected to tune in to Sunday's battle between Spain and the Netherlands.
The global spotlight also created some unexpected common ground. The Black Stars may have done more for continental solidarity than staunch pan-Africanists such as Kwame Nkrumah, the father of contemporary Ghana. The team was adopted wholesale by South Africans, whose squad had been eliminated, and by millions more Africans on the continent and in the diaspora who hoped for a showing to rival the great footballers of Europe and South America. In Observatory, a student neighborhood in Cape Town, fans like me who normally identify as Nigerian, Kenyan, Congolese or South African chanted, "Up Ghana!"
When the team's best chance at making history clanged off the crossbar in the closing seconds of its quarterfinal, the upbeat drone of vuvuzelas gave way to groans. "We had the chance," said one Zimbabwean observer who backed the Ghanaian squad. "We just didn't execute."
That is the simplest explanation for the disappointments among the African teams competing this year. And they perhaps mirror the disappointments that have stalled the continent's political and economic progress. Similar to the lack of strong primary and secondary education systems on the world's youngest continent, not enough attention has been paid to youth development in soccer. The sub-Saharan teams' reliance on foreign coaches with little skin in the game echoes the broad mistrust in local leadership and institutions. And the perennial "brain drain" among the smartest African graduates correlates with the flight of top talent to European soccer clubs.
Perhaps fittingly, Ghana's breakout performance came after its investment in a championship under-20 team and two years of training under its (foreign) coach -- and despite being without its star player, Michael Essien of British club Chelsea.
Though athletic victories have eluded African fans, progress has not. In South Africa, many of the 44,000 police officers deployed to watch over the throng of foreign visitors -- Argentine and German, British and Brazilian -- will stay in their positions, armed with better skills, equipment and federal coordination. The upgrades to the transit and telecommunications infrastructures will last as well. And though the "white elephant" stadiums in less-trafficked towns such as Nelspruitt and Polokwane will be a sorry reminder of FIFA's misplaced zeal, regional tourism is slated to rise -- and South African President Jacob Zuma has declared that "after this, employment will go up."
While it may be decades before less-wealthy African countries are prepared to host the tournament, the World Cup has been an essential engine for African self-confidence. This is particularly salient in South Africa, whose racial traumas still live in plain sight. As fellow competitors Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon celebrate their half-century of independence (Ghana broke with Britain in 1957, and Algeria with France in 1962), South Africa is catching up in terms of full freedoms. De facto segregation by race and income persists -- especially on the scrubbed beaches of Cape Town.
Of course, spending money on elaborate new stadiums doesn't address the economic disparities that can inflame tension, but the very sight of white Afrikaners rooting for black strikers is a salve of sorts. "Apartheid consciousness for white society is rugby or cricket," says Gareth Colenbrander, a Western Cape resident who supported the Ghanaian team. "2010 consciousness is football."
Before Ghana's Black Stars departed South Africa, they greeted thousands of fans in Soweto and had lunch with former president Nelson Mandela. Though they weren't leaving as champions, they were leaving as heroes.
For many others I encountered, the official outcome was beside the point. Africa wasn't just the world's poorest continent -- it could compete. Perhaps the best assessment came from a wistful Ghanaian fan, who passed on a Zulu phrase to carry home: Hamba phambili. Move forward.
The first African World Cup didn't belong to Africa, at least not on the soccer field. Of the six African nations that made it to the quadrennial tournament, five fell early -- to indiscipline, tough competitors and heartbreaking missed opportunities. The plucky and focused Black Stars from Ghana were a bright spot for the continent, but when Sunday's final is over, the new FIFA champion will not be African.
Still, winning games isn't everything. For one month of one South African winter, the tournament brought an international celebration to a continent more widely known for malnourished bodies, grandstanding leaders and the ravages of AIDS. Rather than indigence, the world saw balls sailing into the net, crisp tackles, sweat. Ten gleaming stadiums and the collective warmth of 50 million South Africans offered thousands of football pilgrims the time of their lives.
In a year that marks five decades of independence for 17 African countries, from Somalia to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the cup doubled as an anniversary party. "Just the fact that African teams can compete, defeat and be defeated on the world's stage is wonderful," Carmen Arendse, a South African psychologist, said while watching Ghana's quarterfinal match against Uruguay.
There's an earlier sentiment that still rings true, as well. In a 1960 speech, Patrice Lumumba, the first Congolese prime minister, made a remark that fits the occasion: "We are going to show the world what the black man can do when he works in freedom."
Even before I had my passport stamped in Lagos late last month, airport ads for telecommunications giant MTN reminded me what the cup means for the continent. With images of star footballers Michael Essien of Ghana, Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon and John Obi Mikel of Nigeria ran the tournament's slogans: "Let's go Africa." "United we score." "Today is a good day to be African."
And it was a good month. While the petty crime that is common in Johannesburg didn't disappear, there were no major incidents of violence at the fan parks or outdoor screening areas. Dignitaries such as former president Bill Clinton and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, not to mention Mick Jagger, came to see the beautiful game at the bottom of the world. In every African city I visited, a raucous, family atmosphere prevailed. At game time in Lagos, traffic cleared, strangers crowded around television sets indoors and out, and alongside the news of the world, chatty conversations on the state of play looped constantly on the radio.
In Johannesburg, the "Jabulani" ball, designed specially for the tournament, graced pickup games outside bars and on dirt patches by the highway. In the poor and sprawling township of Khayelitsha, black South Africans live far from the shadow of Cape Town's shiny new stadium -- but during Ghana's fatal match against Uruguay, several men and even a few women celebrated by sporting jerseys from Brazil, South Africa, Liverpool and beyond.
The World Cup didn't just feel universal -- it was. According to market research company InsideView, some 80 percent of the world's population has watched "at least some part" of the competition -- and 600 million are expected to tune in to Sunday's battle between Spain and the Netherlands.
The global spotlight also created some unexpected common ground. The Black Stars may have done more for continental solidarity than staunch pan-Africanists such as Kwame Nkrumah, the father of contemporary Ghana. The team was adopted wholesale by South Africans, whose squad had been eliminated, and by millions more Africans on the continent and in the diaspora who hoped for a showing to rival the great footballers of Europe and South America. In Observatory, a student neighborhood in Cape Town, fans like me who normally identify as Nigerian, Kenyan, Congolese or South African chanted, "Up Ghana!"
When the team's best chance at making history clanged off the crossbar in the closing seconds of its quarterfinal, the upbeat drone of vuvuzelas gave way to groans. "We had the chance," said one Zimbabwean observer who backed the Ghanaian squad. "We just didn't execute."
That is the simplest explanation for the disappointments among the African teams competing this year. And they perhaps mirror the disappointments that have stalled the continent's political and economic progress. Similar to the lack of strong primary and secondary education systems on the world's youngest continent, not enough attention has been paid to youth development in soccer. The sub-Saharan teams' reliance on foreign coaches with little skin in the game echoes the broad mistrust in local leadership and institutions. And the perennial "brain drain" among the smartest African graduates correlates with the flight of top talent to European soccer clubs.
Perhaps fittingly, Ghana's breakout performance came after its investment in a championship under-20 team and two years of training under its (foreign) coach -- and despite being without its star player, Michael Essien of British club Chelsea.
Though athletic victories have eluded African fans, progress has not. In South Africa, many of the 44,000 police officers deployed to watch over the throng of foreign visitors -- Argentine and German, British and Brazilian -- will stay in their positions, armed with better skills, equipment and federal coordination. The upgrades to the transit and telecommunications infrastructures will last as well. And though the "white elephant" stadiums in less-trafficked towns such as Nelspruitt and Polokwane will be a sorry reminder of FIFA's misplaced zeal, regional tourism is slated to rise -- and South African President Jacob Zuma has declared that "after this, employment will go up."
While it may be decades before less-wealthy African countries are prepared to host the tournament, the World Cup has been an essential engine for African self-confidence. This is particularly salient in South Africa, whose racial traumas still live in plain sight. As fellow competitors Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon celebrate their half-century of independence (Ghana broke with Britain in 1957, and Algeria with France in 1962), South Africa is catching up in terms of full freedoms. De facto segregation by race and income persists -- especially on the scrubbed beaches of Cape Town.
Of course, spending money on elaborate new stadiums doesn't address the economic disparities that can inflame tension, but the very sight of white Afrikaners rooting for black strikers is a salve of sorts. "Apartheid consciousness for white society is rugby or cricket," says Gareth Colenbrander, a Western Cape resident who supported the Ghanaian team. "2010 consciousness is football."
Before Ghana's Black Stars departed South Africa, they greeted thousands of fans in Soweto and had lunch with former president Nelson Mandela. Though they weren't leaving as champions, they were leaving as heroes.
For many others I encountered, the official outcome was beside the point. Africa wasn't just the world's poorest continent -- it could compete. Perhaps the best assessment came from a wistful Ghanaian fan, who passed on a Zulu phrase to carry home: Hamba phambili. Move forward.
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