It was the first day of 7th grade French class, and Mrs. (Mme.) Smith wanted us to pick more of a French name for us to be called in that classroom. She had us open our textbook to a list to choose from, and one stood out for me: Dikembe. Sports viewing was a beloved time-consumer for me during those days, and it was always fascinating to grapple with how the best could dominate a game, especially at the professional level. And so it was with Dikembe Mutumbo, one of the greatest defensive forces of nature standing under any basketball hoop to ever play. After his National Basketball Association (NBA) career drew to a close (18 seasons in all), he recorded the second most blocked shots in the sport’s history, many of which would precede his famous finger-wag to indicate that the opposing team better try to score anywhere beyond so many feet of radius from his 7’2’’ towering frame.
But what made Dikembe all the more fascinating was where he came from, perhaps one of the most dreaded places to live in all the world: the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was one of those countries that would sometimes pop up in our prayers of intercession during worship: one of those places that seemed to be so beyond hope due to horrifying genocide and pandemic-level disease that all we could do was lift up our seemingly feeble attempts at prayer. How Dikembe not only survived, but thrived from those most dismal circumstances is beyond my comprehension; more impossible to grapple than how he could contort his body to defend the basketball iron.
And yet, he did, including with a stop at Georgetown University, one of the most prestigious colleges in our country. Of course, it helped that he had developed an international reputation of playing a game with spectacular talent, but his gifts carried over to the classroom as well. Because of his first-hand experience with so many of his friends dying in the single-digit age bracket, he wanted to study medicine, in hopes of helping the just-as-precious-part of humanity that seemed to be so easily overlooked by the rest of the world.
The automatic judgment would be that he left them all behind when he moved up the athletic ranks to the American professional basketball league, but he never forgot the land and the people from where he emerged with a joyful smile and the most contagious laughter. In due time, he would become the NBA’s first Global Ambassador, not to mention serving various roles with the United Nations, CDC Foundation, and UNICEF. However, perhaps his most important contribution to humanity, especially to those for whom many of us can only offer seemingly feeble attempts at prayer, was the establishment of The Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital, named after his mother who died because medical transportation wasn’t available to get her the help she needed when enduring a stroke.
Ever since its inception in 2007, the desperately needed modern medical facility amidst the slums of Congo’s capital has provided care for hundreds of thousands of Congolese just-as-precious children of God, many of whom would not have had access otherwise due to financial hardships or limited supply of prescription or other forms of life-saving medicine. It was Dikembe’s ultimate hope in life not to reach Hall of Fame status in the NBA, but to ensure that more children of the Congo not only survive, but thrive in a place that the rest of us would have absolutely no interest in even visiting.
Unfortunately, Dikembe Mutombo succumbed to brain cancer at 58 years young earlier this week, but he leaves behind a legacy that reaches far beyond the basketball court. Part of his life journey was an impact of his Baptist faith shaped by his family, who always insisted on opening doors to help family and friends who may have had no where else to turn. And while many throughout the world have watched a country endure the most dismal circumstances imaginable, offering up seemingly feeble attempts at prayer, it certainly helps that others are willing to stay in a place that appears to be beyond hope and insist on being part of the answer to those most desperate prayers. Dikembe may have been one of the most dominant centers in a game that continues to grow in international popularity, but he believed in lifting up the center of the Gospel for all children of God: that nothing is meant to happen in this life to separate anyone from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord, not even the most dismal circumstances this earth can unleash. Well done, good and faithful servant! Well done, indeed!
In Christ,
Pastor Brad
For an interview focused on life beyond basketball with Dikembe Mutombo, you are encouraged to view this TedMed Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiwVyJWbcMs