This is one of Christie Albaugh’s blogs about our fellow racer Mark Newland who God is calling home to Canada out of his love for his family. We’ll miss you Mark!
Have you ever known someone that really just loves people? When they meet people,
they don’t judge them based on how they look, or dress, where they’re from,
what their hobbies are, or for any other non-relevant reasons; they just
sincerely want to get to know people for who they are and to love them where
they’re at.
I’ve always admired this quality in a person. So often we
judge people without even realizing it. I know I do. And then we rationalize it with overused
excuses such as we just don’t click or
we have nothing in common… but what
we really mean is that we would rather
be selfish than take the time to get to know someone who is different than we
are.
But this blog isn’t about the second kind of person. This
blog is about the first one mentioned: the person who sincerely loves people and
cares for them. This blog is about my friend and teammate Mark Newland, who has
exemplified these qualities better than anyone I know.
In all the places we have been this year, whether it was
visiting a prison or living alongside orphans, there was Mark striking up a
conversation with someone. To Mark, speaking the same language was never
essential to any conversation. He would use whatever hand motions and little
words he knew in order to communicate with them. But the content itself wasn’t
really important, because the mere fact that he was making the effort,
stumbling through his words, and choosing to spend time with these people
showed love way more than any words ever could.
And this love wasn’t reserved exclusively for the various
groups we worked with this year. The love he has for people was also evident in
his relationships within our team. Mark loves our team. He’s all about
seven:eleven. This was one of the first things I noticed about Mark when I met
him back in September at training camp. I could see that as our leader, he had
a strong desire to help us and to love on us in any way that he could. Three
months later, he loved us enough to step down as leader and to encourage
Brandon in his pastoral abilities. But leader or not, his impact did not lessen,
because his role was still the same: to encourage and to love on our team. And
he has done this every day for the past eight months.
I have also seen Mark’s love for the Lord grow more and more every day. He came on this trip
with a great desire to share this love, and it is evident to all, that this
passion and desire has increased during his time on the race. I have seen
Mark’s heart burdened for the lost of this world. In Asia he spent time with prisoners in
Thailand, played volleyball with orphans in Cambodia, loved on the poorest
Pastors in the Philippines, and encouraged missionaries in China. In Africa I
saw Mark come alive and serve the people with everything he had. In Mozambique
I saw him walking the path the Lord had laid out for him, truly seeing through
God’s eyes and feeling His burdens, and the pure joy in his face when he
welcomed Tigre into the family of God. The love of the Lord and his love for
the Lord is apparent in the man that he is and the way that he lives his life.
He truly has a heart of gold.
Mark,
It has been a pure
joy and blessing to live this year alongside you. You are my family, and I love
you like a brother. I am so proud of the man that you are and the man that you
continue to become in the Lord. And even
though we must now say goodbye a couple months early, I am encouraged that your
heart of gold is leading you home to be with your family. Of course your family
here will miss you TONS, but we will be with you in prayer and in thoughts,
anxiously awaiting your arrival for final debrief! I love you and I miss you
already!
This is my prayer for
you Mark…
“We always thank God for you, mentioning you in our prayers.
We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith,
your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord
Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you.”
1 Thessalonians 1:2-4
