<p id="E716"><span id="E717" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> </span><span id="E718" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">Many of us have heard of the recent situation involving Olympic swimmers </span><span id="E719" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">Ryan Lochte, Jimmy Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz. These individuals </span><span id="E720" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">claimed that they were assaulted at gunpoint over the weekend by assailants posing as police officers. It was later determined that they lied about their account of what actually occurred.</span></p>
<p id="E721"><span id="E722" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> According to Brazilian investigators, these individuals made</span><span id="E723" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> a stop around 6:00 a.m. Sunday at a Shell gas station. The store owner perceived that they were obviously drunk. The owner told reporters that while they were at the gas station they broke a soap dispenser in the bathroom, damaged a door, tore down a sign and urinated around the premises. </span><span id="E724" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">A Brazilian official reported that the swimmers </span><a id="E725" contenteditable="false" href="https://twitter.com/ossianshine/status/766287109107937280" target="_blank"><span id="E726" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">paid for the gas station damage</span></a><span id="E727" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> in cash. </span></p>
<p id="E728"><span id="E729" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> The fact that these individuals performed these terrible acts, then lied about it – damaging the reputations of </span><span id="E730" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">Rio de Janeiro and Brazil</span><span id="E731" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> – </span><span id="E732" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> is bad enough. Even worse is the response of the Rio Olympics Organizing Committee. Following is the official statement from IOC </span><a id="E733" contenteditable="false" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rio2016?src=hash" target="_blank"><span id="E734" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">#Rio2016</span></a><span id="E735" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> spokesman Mario Andrada:</span></p>
<p id="E737"><span id="E738" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">I do not regret having apologized. No apologies from him or other athletes are needed. We have to understand that these kids came here to have fun. Let’s give these kids a break. Sometimes you make a decision that you later regret. They had fun, they made a mistake, life goes on.</span></p>
<p id="E740"><span id="E741" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">Note: </span></p>
<p id="E742" class="qowt-li-5_0 qowt-list"><span id="E743" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">These four individuals were not challenged to take responsibility for their actions</span></p>
<p id="E744" class="qowt-li-5_0 qowt-list"><span id="E745" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">The actions </span><span id="E746" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">and lies</span><span id="E747" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> </span><span id="E748" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">perpetrated by these</span><span id="E749" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> four </span><span id="E750" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">were</span><span id="E751" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> minimized and diminished</span></p>
<p id="E752" class="qowt-li-5_0 qowt-list"><span id="E753" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">These four adults are referred to as “kids”, suggesting that they did not know any better and were having harmless fun. For the record, </span><span id="E754" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">Ryan Lochte is 32 years old, and the other three are in their 20’s. </span></p>
<p id="E756"><span id="E757" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> It is shameful to see how excuses and explanations are often offered for individuals from certain ethnic, social and economic backgrounds that are not offered for individuals from other ethnic, social and economic backgrounds. More directly, individuals from suburban, white</span><span id="E758" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">/tan</span><span id="E759" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> and/or privileged backgrounds are offered excuses and explanations while individuals from urban, black/brown and/or poorer backgrounds are offered labels of bad, evil, immoral, corrupt, unredeemable, criminal, lawless, uncontrollable, etc.</span></p>
<p id="E760"><span id="E761" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> </span><span id="E762" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">Please allow me </span><span id="E763" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">to </span><span id="E766" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">connect this to what is currently happening in Milwaukee: </span><span id="E767" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">I offer no excuses or explanations for the events that took place in our community on last weekend (including the murders, shootings, fires, looting, vandalism, etc.). I also am not willing to label them bad, evil, immoral, corrupt, unredeemable, criminal, lawless, uncontrollable, etc.</span></p>
<p id="E768"><span id="E769" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> I do ask for your continued prayers as God reveals to Pilgrim Rest who we are and what ministry we are to offer to this community and to the world. I ask for this more than just in response to the events that recently took place. In addition, I ask that you pray for God to reveal to you, personally, who you are and what ministry you are to offer to this community and to the world.</span></p>
<p id="E770"><span id="E771" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> Our community is not all of the negative labels that it has been given. Our community is filled with beautiful, creative, gifted and intelligent people who do not know who they are. That is why they need us to </span><span id="E772" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">be with them and to </span><span id="E773" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">bless them…</span><span id="E774" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman"> They need us to expect greater things for them… </span></p>
<p id="E775"><span id="E776" class="qowt-font1-TimesNewRoman">----- These are not excuses; this is what Jesus would do -----</span></p>
<p style="text-align: right;">~Pastor Childs</p>