Special Olympics Sunday

Dimitri Kouri, Vice President of our Teen SOYO group, gave the following sermon on Special Olympics Sunday.

Good morning.

Today in the church is known as Special Olympic Sunday. Most of you probably don’t fully understand what Special Olympics is. Before I left, I had no idea either. Over the summer I went to the Antiochian Village to coach Softball at the Special Olympics. Basically, it’s a camp that takes place at the Antiochian Village where people with mental handicaps can come together and play sports. The winners of the sports then progress to the states level, and then from there, the nationals, and after the nationals, the internationals. These athletes must suffer from mental retardation, live in Pennsylvania and be older than 13 years old. Over the summer, I was a coach at the Special Olympics.

Even when I first arrived at the Village, I had no clue what to expect. SOYO teens from all around the country attend as coaches. I learned from the others that every cabin has 2 coaches. One coach is a SOYO coach, and another is from SOPA, which stands for Special Olympics Pennsylvania. Also, the cabins usually have two to four campers. All but one of the campers in my cabin had Down's Syndrome, which was by far the most common disability. I could not believe how happy they were.

One camper, Michael, was 42, had Down's Syndrome. He was legally blind, legally deaf, and could barely walk. He couldn’t talk in sentences that were more than three words, but when I let him listen to music off my mp3 player, he could name the band and the name of the song - no matter what song it was (he was very partial to the Eagles). He was always smiling and never was upset. I couldn’t understand what he had to be so happy about, but it made me look at myself and say, "What do I have to be upset about?" If the people at the Special Olympics can make the best out of their lives, why can't we?

The motto of the Special Olympics is “Let me win, but if I cannot, let me be brave in the attempt.” I think we can all learn from that. To me, it says that we should try our best at whatever we do, but if something unexpected happens, we shouldn’t make a big deal about it. We should look to God and have him show us the way.

Special Olympics is so important to them. It’s a place where they can have fun, avoid the stares, play with their friends, and get away from their busy lives. It’s their favorite time of year. They look forward to going every year. One athlete, Bobby, had to leave a day early. I’ve never seen anyone cry that hard. He genuinely hated leaving. Today the teens will be giving out icons as a token of our appreciation for your support in this wonderful program. Also, there will be a luncheon in the hall, and all the proceeds will be going to the Special Olympics. In the 25th chapter of Mathew, the Bible says “whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me.” When we help someone in the special Olympics, we help Jesus. For more information, go to http://www.specialolympicspa.org/, or www.antiochian.org/specialolympics2005. Thank you.

Icon of the "Great Saints of the Church of Antioch" that the Teens passed out

Our youth collecting for Special Olympics