Thursday, July 15, 2004

4:59 PM My only regret of the week is that Mike Ditka decided not to run for the Senate. Oh well. He would have put some life into an otherwise dreary campaign. I was ready to organize “Pastors for Ditka.” Maybe next time. We end with one quote from Ditka about gay marriage:

What’s the matter with right and wrong? Talk about right and wrong. It’s either right or wrong. There’s no in-between. And I’m not going to change, and you’re not going to change me, no matter if some judge in the state of Massachusetts or the Supreme Court says it’s right. It’s not right. Wrong is wrong.

So there won’t be any Senator Ditka, but we could use a few people in Washington who speak that kind of truth. 8:15 AM I ate lunch on Tuesday with Will Austin, a young man from Indianapolis who has a vision to provide low-cost transportation for developing countries. He wants to produce the “Model T of the 21st Century.” He purchases wrecked pickup trucks, cuts off the front, keeps part of the frame and the bed, hooks it up to a lawnmower motor, and the result is called a BUV—Basic Utility Vehicle. It’s a three-wheeled device that carries 1000 pounds, goes up to 20 mph, and gets 75 miles per gallon of gas. Best of all, it costs $1000-1500 to make. He envisions thousands of microbusinesses in places like Ghana and Haiti where workers assemble BUVs from the parts on hand. Click here to visit his website. It’s a wonderful idea that could bring transportation to people who could never afford to buy a car. Will is here this week for the conference, he’s a good man who could be using his talents to amass a fortune, but instead has devoted himself to helping the poor. May God bless the BUV and send it around the world. 8:14 AM Just back from a 21-mile bike ride with Larry, a conference attender from Detroit. We zipped along at a good clip and by the time we got back to Maranatha, we were both tuckered out.