Hey PPN Family,

The 2024 Summer Olympics have come and gone and I have really enjoyed watching the basketball, volleyball, and the athletics.  I even viewed some sports that I don’t normally follow like golf, canoeing and track cycling because they had Kiwis (New Zealanders) chasing gold.

Overall, both the Aussies and the Kiwis had fantastic Olympics with the Australians finishing fourth with 18 gold medals, and the New Zealanders finishing eleventh with 10 gold medals.  This is especially amazing when we consider that Australia only has a population of 26 million people, and New Zealand only has 5 million people. 

Out of all the stories from these Olympics, one of the most fun ones was that of the Australian Breakdancer Rachael Gunn, aka B-Girl Raygun.  Raygun has become world famous because of her performances with iconic moves like “the kangaroo,” “the sprinkler,” and “the slithering snake” during her dance battles at the Olympics.  The poor B-Girl had to suffer the humiliation of receiving scores of zero for all of her competition dances, and to add insult to injury, she has become the centre of countless videos and memes across social media. 

As I reflect on Raygun’s experience, I really hope that she knows Jesus and believes in God, because then she would know that her worth and value is not based on her breakdancing scores, or on what people say about her on social media, but on the fact that she is a daughter of God and that He loves her so much that He sent Jesus to die for her.

And the same thing goes for us.  We have all had failures and times when we were not at our best, but this does not change the fact that we are still valuable, and precious and worthy because we are God’s children.  Peter highlights just how valuable we all are in 1 Peter 1:18-19 (NIV) where he writes, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

We are valuable, precious and worthy because God loves us and Jesus gave His life for us.  May this truth help us to face our failures with a smile, and a joy that comes from knowing that our failures do not define us – God does. 

God bless,

Roland Talamaivao-Amituanai