The ambassador and the athlete for Africa, part 3

Sudan, Africa’s largest country, has been in crisis for the last fifty years. It’s a land of two identities—Arabic and Islamic to the north but African and Christian/Animist to the south. The death toll is uncertain over this past half-century, but some have estimated it’s greater than World War II. Much of the conflict can be summarized as oppression of the rich north on the poorer (but resource-rich) south. That is until January of this year.

A landmark vote for secession took place, and the southern Sudanese voted 98% in favor of independence. The past six months haven’t been enough time to establish a stable and unified new government, but at last, the day of independence came. Today.

Read the AP story.

Both Ambassador Gration and Luol Deng were in attendance in the capital city for the celebration today. My dinner host on Tuesday night and his celebrity guest spoke extensively about the challenges South Sudan will face. Infrastructure. Government buildings. Education. Anti-corruption tactics. And most significant, high expectations from a hopeful and impatient populace. I know very little about Sudan, but I was fascinated by their real and honest conversation about the future for South Sudan.

Luol Deng and his former-diplomat father hope to contribute to the rebuilding process of their homeland. That is why they are here. American hero Scott Gration and his wife Judy (testimony to the adage “Behind every great man is a great woman”) hope to help the process of peace and growth in South Sudan from their strategic positions in Kenya. That is why they are here. I’m here to teach and care for kids of people who help grow God’s kingdom all over Africa, especially in places like South Sudan.

And last Tuesday night, it was a treat of my lifetime to be all together with these exceptional people at this extraordinary time in history.

(Gration, right, and Deng, left, discussing basketball and Sudan on Tuesday evening)

The ambassador and the athlete for Africa, part 2

My first thought when I knew I’d be meeting on NBA superstar Luol Deng on Tuesday? What will I wear?

Dinners at the ambassador’s house aren’t a weekly occurrence for me. Do I dress up? But since this was going to be a small gathering with an athlete, should I dress casually? And if I dress casually, do I incite the possible anger of the guest of honor?

Do I dare wear my North Carolina shirt to meet a former Duke player?

Deng’s current team will forever be associated with their most legendary player—UNC graduate Michael Jordan. Adults from my generation think of one number and one team when we think about the NBA—23 and the Chicago Bulls. Since the Michael Jordan era ended, the Bulls have had a largely mediocre decade, but this year’s team cruised through the first two rounds of the playoffs until they ran into the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals (the Bulls’ first since Jordan’s last championship in 1998).

Who was an integral part of the Bulls this year? Sudanese-born small forward Luol Deng. (Read his Wikipedia bio.)

After all the guests had arrived (five Kenyan sports representatives and two other Embassy employees), the Ambassador arrived with Deng and his two colleagues. The well-planned dinner party began with appetizers on the veranda with introductions. The delectable buffet of chicken and beef medallions was next, and while the students and I didn’t get seated at the main table, we could still overhear the conversation among Deng and Ambassador Gration. The topic? Sudan.

Gration is well-versed on Deng’s home country’s turmoil, but Luol has lived through the turmoil firsthand. As a small child, his diplomat father fled the Second Civil War north to Egypt. And Egypt is where his older brother and he learned to play basketball. Their coach was none other than Manute Bol, an iconic 7’7’ tall NBA center from Sudan. A few years later, the Deng family found themselves in the UK, where soccer was a tad more popular than basketball. Luol was every bit as talented on the pitch as he was on the court, but with his massive size, pursuing a future in basketball (just like his older brother Ajou who played for UConn) seemed like the logical course of action.

He played four years at Blair Academy, a boarding school in New Jersey, and he was elected a McDonald’s All-American as a senior high school and widely regarded as the second best player in the country after LeBron James. In his one year at Duke, he made it to the Final Four, but then was chosen seventh in the 2004 NBA draft. Now, seven years later he’s the backbone of the team, with consistent scoring, relentless defense, and a great attitude (he won the 2007 NBA Sportsmanship Award).

One of the reasons my evening with Deng was so enjoyable was his humility. He answered questions knowledgably but without arrogance. Despite the fact that he makes over twelve million dollars a year, he was as willing to listen as he was to talk. He signed Bulls clothing and pictures for us and willingly posed before he headed back to his luxury hotel for the night (me and him pictured above).

I didn’t wear my UNC shirt that night, but I had to admit to him before he left that I was a Carolina fan, not a Dookie. He smiled and said, “If I’d have known that, I wouldn’t have signed any of that stuff for you.” I laughed and replied, “As much as I hate to say it, you Duke guys do a lot of great stuff for the world.”

The whole reason Deng was in Africa was testimony to that. More on that tomorrow…

The ambassador and the athlete for Africa, part 1

Have you ever got a phone call that makes you drop everything and go? Too often these calls are of the traumatic variety, but I got one on Monday of the thrilling kind.

A friend of mine (I’m going to leave this part vague to be respectful of the person’s privacy) called me and invited me to the United States Ambassador to Kenya’s house to meet professional basketball player, Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls. I actually didn’t scream “YES!” right away. We are in the middle of finals week here at Rift Valley Academy, and there are a thousand things to be done before the end of the year next Thursday.

But God’s timing for this little treat was perfect, and my schedule was just open enough to attend. After classes closed on Tuesday, we (a group of three of us) drove the hour to the Ambassador’s house in Nairobi to return early in the morning on Wednesday before proctoring my final exam.

The ambassador’s wife welcomed us in and showed us around. The grounds were meticulously beautiful, and the home was a perfect blend of Kenyan style and American elegance. But the truly exceptional part of the home itself is its residents.

Judy, the child of an English and Latin teacher at Rift Valley Academy and graduate of RVA herself a few decades ago, married a former classmate from RVA—Scott Gration—after reconnecting in New Jersey as young adults. His military career (a Major General in the Air Force) took them around the world as they raised their children. Scott played a key part in defining the military strategy for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. (Read more about Gration on Wikipedia.)

And now, somehow, God led them back to Kenya.

After a two-year stint as Obama’s U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, Gration was appointed as the Ambassador to Kenya (a strategic southern neighbor of volatile Sudan). A Swahili-speaker since birth who grew up in the Congo, the former missionary kid returned with oodles of political experience to the land that so shaped his youth. Who better to serve as Amabassador?

Despite their role as state representatives, the Grations see their position as God-ordained. They use their platform and hospitality to show love and grace to all who enter their palatial home.

Today, it was three nobodies from a small school in the hills of Kenya, and one huge somebody—a 6’9” huge somebody to be exact—who were the guests in their home. As if meeting the ambassador and his wife wasn’t enough of a treat, we’d get to meet NBA superstar Luol Deng.

More on Deng’s story tomorrow…