Lopez was snatched from his parent’s side at age 6 and taken to a rebel camp. He escaped the camp with three other boys and after running for days arrived at a refugee camp where he lived for 10 years. He was lucky to be adopted by an American family when he was 16 and he came to America and was able to attend a couple of years of high school. His description of the adjustment from a refugee camp to an American household/high school is incredible. He is a gifted runner and he ran in high school, in college, and in the Olympics. He says that his greatest accomplishment was graduating from college. One of the best parts of this book is that Lopez constantly recognizes the hand of God in his life.
When he was in the refugee camp, he ate one meal a day
and it was scant. On Tuesday, it was
garbage day and the workers at the camp threw away their food scraps and all of
the boys would rummage through the garbage looking for things to eat. Here is what he says about this:
“Life may have been hard, but we were happy. Yes, boys died and food was difficult to come
by, but at least no one was shooting at us.
We only ate one meal a day, but for me, coming into the camp at the age
of sic, I accepted this as normal. I
never thought that life was unfair because I had to eat garbage. Instead, I looked at the scraps of food from
the dump as a blessing. Not all the boys
in the camp could do this. I knew some
who chose to feel sorry for themselves, who complained constantly about their lot
in life. What is the point of such
complaining? After all the whining and
complaining is over, you still live in a refugee camp. All the complaining in the world will not
make your life any better. Instead, you
must choose to make the best of whatever the situation in which you find
yourself, even in a place like Kakuma. I
found it easier t maintain a positive attitude when I stayed busy. My friends and I stayed busy playing
soccer. Someone made a ball by tying
together rags from the dump. It did not
bounce like a real soccer ball, but at least we never had to worry about it running
out of air. (pgs. 38, 39)
“I lived through through hardship and death. Yet God never left me. He changed me from Lopez the lost boy to
Joseph. And just like Joseph in the
Bible, He took what was once intended for evil and transformed it into
good. Receiving my college degree along
with the future that degree represents is the ultimate expression of God turning
disaster into a future and a hope, at least so far. The day I graduated from college, I knew
beyond a shadow of a doubt that anything is possible. That’s not just true for me, but for anyone who
is willing to work hard and let nothing stand in the way of reaching their
dreams. “ (pg. 221)
“I’ve reached the end of this book, but my story has only
really started. I feel like I am
standing at the starting line of the biggest race of my life. The gun is about to sound. My opponents surround me, but I am not
nervous. No, I am excited. I cannot wait
to start the race. I cannot wait to take
off, running for joy in a race that will not end until God takes me home.” (pg.
221)
No comments:
Post a Comment