Hopkins 4K for Cancer

July 6, 2005

Kremmling, CO
Today we had a short, relaxing ride from Grand Lake to Kremmling. To make the day a little more interesting, Cheng sent us out on a scavenger hunt and left us to navigate on our own. Instead of our normal cue sheets, we were given a list of objects to find and tasks to complete. Our team was excited when Jennie found a perfectly heart-shaped rock, the first item on the list. Nisha was happy to be handcuffed by a police officer in Kremmling to help us complete one of the other tasks on the list. We had a lot of fun on our ride, and luckily we made it to our destination before some afternoon thunderstorms.
We were kindly greeted by Pastor Doug and his wife Ethel. They prepared an awesome meal for us and shared a story from one of their former congregations in New Zealand. One of the church members had been diagnosed with cancer, and although he was growing weak, he asked to go to church on a particular Sunday. While he was there, some friends helped him stand at the pulpit, where he asked the congregation to take care of his wife since he didn’t believe that he would be alive much longer. To everyone’s surprise, the man gained strength in the following weeks and won his battle with cancer. This man’s story is a powerful reminder that there is always hope, even when it seems that all is lost.

~Jess de Leon