God's Helping Hands: Kevin-a-thon
This past Saturday was Eric's Activism Day. I started off my morning by donning a vibrant, Astrobright "terra green" shirt and walking 4 miles to raise money for the ministry of God's Helping Hands. This year was the fifth annual Kevin-a-thon. The Kevin-a-thon is a special fundraising event honoring the life of Kevin Cain, the son of Lisa and Brian Cain. Lisa and Brian are the directors of God's Helping Hands. Kevin spent his life teaching people how to live with the debilitating effects of muscular dystrophy before stepping into the New Creation 5 years ago. This year's walk doubled the participation from last year. One hundred people from the metro Detroit area sported the terra green to walk to raise money to help end hunger in our community.I spent most of the walk catching up with my good friend and partner in ministry, Josh Graves, reconnecting and journeying with his parents, Phil and Cathy, and getting to know his older sister and precious niece (Kelly and Lexi). It was a wonderful time, especially because of the deep connections that I have with the Graves through my extended family. They are some of my aunt and uncle's best friends. I was also able to meet Andy. I have heard for months about Andy, Josh's marathon partner (read: "marathon coach"). I look forward to getting to know Andy better in the near future. I could tell immediately that he was a committed disciple and good lay theologian. (Josh says of him: "He's the best, absolute disciple of Jesus.") Since we are expecting, I am keeping my eyes open to find men who live their discipleship in their family lives, who model the sacrificial submission of Christ as husbands and the loving parenthood of God to their children. I need men to mentor me in what in means to live the life of faith as a father and to nurture children in faith. (Pray for me as I continue to search for those mentors in my life.)
Not only was the walk a great time to raise money for and awareness of GHH, it was also a great chance for me to connect to people, to develop a solidarity with people in the extended Body of Christ, and to learn more about some of the dysfunction and deficiencies in our churches. It was a wonderful start to the day.
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Invisible Children: Global Night Commute
At five o'clock, I was pulling back into the Rochester Church parking lot to join 300 globally conscious men, women, and children to march, picket, and raise awareness of the tragic and atrocious situation in northern Uganda. Each night thousands of children commute miles from the villages of that region into the city of Gulu to seek safety and shelter from the Lord's Resistance Army, a militant resistance and rebel group who kidnaps, brutalizes, rapes, and enlists these children in their war. (If you have not seen the Invisible Children movie documentary, run, don't walk, to the nearest showing or order the video on line. You may want to consider showing the video to your community of faith or sponsoring a showing with other churches in your area. You WILL be changed.)
Nearly 60,000 people across the country joined together to "commute" to their community
downtowns, march for awareness of these children, and spend the night sleeping out in the open air to try to find some solidarity with children who live in a different world, so many miles away. Our group marched its way through the downtown area of Rochester Hills, MI. Rochester is at the financial heart of one of the richest counties in the nation. As we journeyed through the downtown, we made our way past consumers of specialty shops, patrons of fine dining establishments, and sippers of gourmet coffee. Our signs were reflecting off of business windows, undoubtedly disturbing the patrons inside, who were undoubtedly trying to enjoy their fresh seafood, steaks, and pastas. (I know, I all too often sit in the booths of those very establishments.) On our walk we were greeted by honks, waves, and cheers on the one hand; indignant screams and "you're number one" gestures (if you know what I mean) on the other.After the "commute", we spent time writing letters to the President and to local politicians, pleading for their thoughtful and productive intervention for the sake of these children. It was beautiful to see godly mothers helping their sons and daughters write letters to President Bush, university students expressing their idealistic activism, and jaded professors penning pleading words on behalf of these beloved children of God. Though written hastily, hopefully these letters will make some difference in raising the awareness of the plight of these children.
Here is the text of my own hastily written letter:
29 April 2006
In the midst of our campaign to rid the world of terror, a greater terror than in anything in the Middle East plagues the cities and bush country of northern 
Resistance ArmyÂ’s campaign of kidnapping, enslaving, and enlisting children in their own war is an atrocity far too great for us to continue to ignore. Our self-serving, self-absorbed myopic vision of the world is tragic, if not damning. If we truly car about terror, we must intervene in this dark world where boys and girls are terrorize in the light of day and haunted in the dark of night. If we truly long to leave no child behind, we must realize that this sentiment and slogan is not simply about education, but about childrenÂ’s very lives and childhoods being stolen. Please, for the integrity of your administration and for our nationÂ’s place in this global situation, intervene and help bring an end to this chaos.
Grace and peace,
Eric Magnusson
All in all, I had a glorious and transformative weekend. I am thankful that my Saturday, a day that we usually reserve for ourselves, was spent on behalf of others.
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