One of a series of posts featuring someone on the outside looking in. Special thanks to Matt for sharing your take on Arvid’s adventures.
When I think of Arvid, I think of passion. When I talk to him, I hear passion. And most importantly, when I see Arvid riding day and night, I see passion. And it’s the same kind of passion I saw in Charles Mulli when I volunteered at MCF last August. The same passion for the street children of Kenya and the same “Okay, God, I’ll do the impossible with Your help” kind of attitude and obedience. It’s inspiring. And it makes me passionate!
I’ve known the word passion to mean excitement and strong emotion and desire – all wonderful things that are used to describe Arvid. But I’ve learned that the word passion, or in Latin patere, was actually coined by 12th century religious scholars meaning to suffer. In fact, they created the word to describe the willing suffering of Jesus.
If you’ve been following Arvid on his ride, it’s not a stretch to make that connection. Since I live in Winnipeg and work in Selkirk, I’ve had the opportunity to see Arvid each day so far. Sometimes it’s a honk and a wave as we pass in opposite directions, sometimes it’s a quick cycle-by as I snap a few photos on the side of the road and other times it’s driving beside him to hear an update on the day. Each time I see him, despite the smile he always wears, I am inspired by his passion – by the suffering he is enduring – for each of the 10,000 wonderful children rescued by MCF over the past 25 years.
Thank you, Arvid, for showing me what real passion is.
Have been thinking of you a lot today and I am wondering how you cope with all this rain?
Praying that the weather could change to pure sunshine for several days and that it would lift you up, give you renewed hope, mental and physical strength.
When things are very tough, remember and be assured that many prayers are penetrating the wet clouds on your behalf.