Last night, Caroline Bett was not striding around the Olympic Stadium with her fellow Kenyan athletes. Instead, she is living in South Sudan, one of the world’s most difficult places, seeking to share the gospel. Why? Because for Caroline, her athletic hopes had her running in the wrong direction…
“I wanted to be a millionaire. Kenyan runners make a lot of money. They drive good vehicles and live in beautiful houses.”
When my husband, Robert, and our two children moved to Bible college together, I decided to stay at an athletes training camp. My idea was to support my family and especially my husband, for I had seen the lives pastors live on meagre earnings. I wanted to be a millionaire. Kenyan runners make a lot of money. They drive good vehicles and live in beautiful houses.
My background
I was born and raised in a Roman Catholic home. For many years I did not understand what it meant to be a Christian. However, at the age of nineteen I came to know the Lord. Later I got married to my husband who is a believer with a strong evangelical background. He was a farmer and I was a housewife, taking care of our children.
We lived near an athlete’s training camp, and started to offer hospitality to those who were training nearby. Several athletes, including some from overseas, would come to our house for talks and encouragement. We shared about Christ with many who visited us.
Starting to run
One day, a young lady who was an athlete challenged me to consider training. In fact she bought me my first training kit! She encouraged me to run a short distance, so I accepted and began training not knowing the impact it would have on my life. After six months I would go as far as twenty kilometers. After a year and a half I moved out of our home and began living in the training camp.
My husband’s passion for sharing the gospel grew, and he told me that God was calling him to attend Bible college. He and our children moved to attend the college, but I remained at the training camp.
Single-minded
I told myself that I could support mission through my running. I was working extremely hard to support my young family but, I decided that I would give ten percent of my earnings to support missionaries and pastors. I spent more and more time in the training camp which was about twenty five kilometers away from the Bible college. But in my heart I didn’t have peace.
Every time I went to visit my family our young son would cry a lot and didn’t want me to leave. This really disturbed me. During our evening prayer time our young son, when asked to pray, would pray that I would stay with them. Though this really distressed me, I didn’t change my mind and I went on with my training…
Check back on our blog, over the course of the Olympics, for Part Two and Three of Caroline’s story….
