Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

CWS

#Run4Refugees Day 6: Closing in on the end

Officially, I have logged 16.9 miles on my quest toward 20 miles on foot this week, and that’s exactly where I want to be because I’m running another virtual 5k tomorrow. Because I’m SO close to 17 miles, I’m going to give you three more reasons today and the final three reasons tomorrow. It’s not too late to donate. I’ve surpassed the $500 mark in donations, which leaves me in awe. Thank you for the support! Donations are matched today and tomorrow, if you’re still interested. And now, on to the reasons!

15. Refugees often travel hundreds of miles on foot or crammed into vehicles or on overloaded boats to reach a place of relative safety. I have a lot of comforts in my life. I start getting uncomfortable if too many people close in on my personal bubble. I don’t know how it would feel to choose this kind of discomfort out of desperation. Logging 20 miles on foot is not comfortable. My legs remind me daily of what I’ve done. Mine is a chosen challenge, not made out of desperation, but it’s reminding me of those whose choices are often between staying in a place that’s unsafe but is home or leaving everything behind and fleeing to a place of relative safety that isn’t anything like home. I can choose some temporary discomfort.

16. I want you to know how much a community is enriched by its refugee neighbors. Lancaster, PA, where I live, has an abundant refugee community, most obviously reflected in the variety of global flavors offered in local restaurants. Refugees live and work in our community. One has written a book about his journey to The United States with a well-known graphic novelist. My interactions with refugees have shown me that I have a lot to learn about hospitality and friendship and community from refugees.

17. Asylum-seekers, like those who arrive at the southern border of the United States, share many of the same plights as refugees. And when I heard reports last month that women were being forced to have hysterectomies, I was overcome with despair. It is far too easy for us to look away or forget that people–children and women mostly–are being detained in conditions we wouldn’t accept for our own children. It’s easy to dismiss it as fake news, but when organizations I trust report on those conditions, from the frontlines, I choose to believe them. I can feel despair, but I can’t let that be the stopping point. Awareness. Support. Advocacy. Running these miles combines all three.

#Run4Refugees Day 4: I’ve got FIVE more reasons I’m logging 20 miles this week

Yes, that’s right. Five. More. Reasons. I’ve logged more than 13 miles on foot this week in support of CWS and their work with refugees around the world. Ten of those miles have been running miles. When I first set out to do this, I had no idea if I could really pull it off. That’s part of the “fun” of a challenge.

Do you know how hard it is to take a selfie with one hand while you’re walking? Hard!

So, here are my next five reasons I’m participating in this challenge and raising money for refugees.

9. Because you can’t judge another person’s journey. As I’m out running, I often pass other runners. Sometimes when we pass each other, I’m walking. Or running slowly. Sometimes I wonder if other runners are judging my progress, even though I can’t recall a time when I was judging someone else’s progress. The truth is, I don’t know anything about any other runner’s or walker’s journey. Maybe they’ve been running for decades and that’s why they’re fast. Maybe they’re just getting started and that’s why they’re walking. Maybe they had an injury and they’re recovering. In this life, we’re all on a journey and some of us have been given a head start. Or we haven’t been sidelined by a catastrophe. We can’t judge the journey of another human being. But we can come alongside and journey together.

10. Related to that, I am drawn to the African philosophy of ubuntu: “I am because you are.” Or “my humanity is wrapped up in your humanity. I believe if one part of humanity suffers, we all suffer, so I’m striving for a world where all can thrive. I believe it is in our best interest as a global community to seek the thriving of every part of humanity rather than hoard wealth or exploit the poor. So, I’m running because I believe refugees are worth my attention and care.

11. I know this because refugees aren’t much different from me. I’ve had the privilege of meeting refugees in person. Most are trying to take care of their families the best they can. Sometimes that means they’ve been separated from the ones they love. Most want to have a safe place to call home, for their kids to have an education, and to use their skills to provide for the things they need like food, shelter and clothing. They have dreams and have suffered and find joy and are doing the best they can. We might come from different cultures and our skin might look different but we have more in common than is sometimes obvious.

12. I run because I can’t forget the internally displaced people (refugees who move within their home country) I met in Kenya. These people were displaced during an election. (No matter how divisive our election get in the States, we do not fear displacement.) My feet touched the dirt where they lived, and I watched children eat hard-boiled eggs and bananas like it was the only meal they’d had recently. (And it might have been.) I stood in the dirt homes of women who wanted us to pray for them (and I felt inadequate to do so). I crossed a dry riverbed to see where they lived. Months later the same riverbed would overflow with water and threaten to destroy the dirt homes sitting too close to its banks. I can’t forget that to build one house able to withstand the floods costs the same as the rent I pay each month. A donation in support of refugees is a small, small price.

13. Because I believe we can create a world where people don’t need to flee their home countries because of violence or hatred or disaster. But doing so will be harder than running 20 miles. It takes endurance and persistence, but it starts with a single step in the right direction. Maybe that’s naive, but I’d rather do a little bit of something than nothing.

More to come! Thanks for joining the journey. And if you haven’t donated yet but want to, you can do so here. If you’re reading this on Sept. 30, donations were being triple-matched until the match pool runs out or midnight Eastern time. Why not make a triple impact?