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Posted on 02/05/2006 5:42:41 PM PST by rhema
The wife and daughter of Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Mike Holmgren have decided to skip Super Bowl XL in Detroit for something they consider more important -- a faith-based humanitarian trip to Africa.
Kathy Holmgren and daughter Calla are scheduled to leave Thursday (Feb. 2) on a 17-day medical training mission with Northwest Medical Teams -- a relief group based in Portland, Ore. -- to the northwest region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A nurse and obstetrician, respectively, the two will join six other physicians with experience as missionaries.
During the three days it takes to reach the region, the team will travel over marginal roads that narrow to near non-existence, wade through streams and cross rough-hewn and often improvised bridges.
While much of the world tunes into the Super Bowl, the team will begin training the staff of a hospital operated by the Evangelical Covenant Church, the denomination to which the Holmgrens belong.
The hospital is the only facility for 300,000 people in the region, and the staff often must use rudimentary equipment to treat 2,500 patients a month. More than 3.9 million Congolese have died since 1998, most from preventable disease, according to the British medical journal The Lancet.
Kathy Holmgren spent 10 months in the region during 1970 but gave up her dream of being a Covenant medical missionary to marry. Last October, Mike Holmgren's birthday present to his wife was the trip back to the country she loves.
The family did not consider the two women might miss the Super Bowl.
"I don't think we paid much attention to the date," Kathy said. "We are so superstitious that we don't think or plan for it ahead of time.
"As the possibility of our being in the game became a reality, we decided to continue with our plans. The actual game makes me so nervous, so I don't watch anyway, and we feel like this trip is important."
Still, Kathy Holmgren will be waiting for a phone call on Sunday. The group will carry a satellite phone so they can learn who wins the game.
Kathy Holmgren and all four of her daughters graduated from North Park University in Chicago, which is operated by the denomination. The family largely funded the school's $4 million Holmgren Athletic Complex, where teams play football, soccer, baseball and softball.
Wow this is great. You can still watch it anyway. Lots of folk have satellite there. Even my friend had one in her village powered by a gas generator.
A family that obviously has its priorities in
proper order.
God bless 'em.
Probly a good choice.
Looks like the Hawks are gonna lose.
Looks like they made the right choice. P-U the Seahawks are just BAD tonight.
bttt!
LOL
We both might have posted too quick.
An interception and a td and the Hawks are back in the game.
In the light of eternity, tonight is a meaningless game. The potential for changed lives via participation in this trip is the right priority. I applaud the Holmgren family for keeping their perspective in proper balance!
'Bout time. Still don't see me getting my 8 & 8 on the block. HA HA HA.
You betcha. :)
Time well spent and a family that is God-centered. It sure does not get any better than that!!!!! Thank you for the post.
Good for them!
The Super Bowl is rigged! Worst officiating I have ever seen! How much were these refs payed?
God bless their mission! The Super Bowl is fun, but nothing trumps a good deed. :)
This touched me so much! My precious sister just returned from a two-week medical mission in Cambodia. There are so many wonderful people in America.
Maybe that's why they lost.
typical of a bunch of Latte sippin seattleites.
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