In 2015 I took up a position as a Methodist deacon at West Wickham Methodist Church. There I met an inspirational member of the congregation, who from the age of 50 to the age of 60, had decided to do an annual charity fundraiser using her skills as a former PE teacher, walker, traveller and all-round fitness fanatic.
When I turned 50 she challenged me to take the baton from her but I am super unfit, hate any kind of sport, don't like physical challenges and could not think of anything I could do to follow in her footsteps in quite the same wonderful way. However, on 17 June 2021 I attended an immersive exhibition by Hope Health Action, a charity based at the Coney Hill Baptist Church in our area, which I have got to know through our Churches Together in West Wickham group.
As I left the building following a heartbreaking yet hopeful insight into life for refugees from South Sudan's civil war, I was reminded of the challenge my congregation member had set me 3 years ago. I also remembered that during 2020 and all the uncertainty of Covid condiions and repeated lockdowns, she had used her own holiday savings to sponsor herself on different walks each month for different charities.
I felt it was important to make a contribution to the work being done by Hope Health Action in BidiBidi refugee settlement in Uganda and decided that the one thing I could do (even though I am unfit and don't enjoy it that much) is follow not only in my congregation member's footsteps but actually be willing to walk at least the 25 miles some refugees had fled from their village that was under attack to the Ugandan border.
Twenty-five miles is not much (only 56 300 steps at a slow 3 miles per hour) so I decided to make a further commitment to try to do at least 300 000 steps (about 138 miles at 3 miles per hour) during the month of July.
I registered a JustGiving page via the Hope Health Action website and was good to go! Here it is if you want to donate to the cause or sponsor my daily walks:
To read:
Micah 6:8 (NIV)
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
To reflect:
What does it mean to 'walk humbly' with God?
What would you do if your suburb, village or city were under attack?
What lengths would you go to to find safety?
A prayer:
May I journey humbly with you, O Lord, as I undertake the tasks I have to do each day, and those I feel convicted to fulfil through your particular calling. And may I consider what it might be like to walk in someone else's footsteps to find safety, lest I judge too quickly and show mercy too seldom. AMEN
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