By Beverly Lomosad
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations. – Jeremiah 1:5
Dikembe Mutombo never intended to embark on a pro-basketball career when he arrived as a 21-year-old freshman at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. in 1988. He set his eyes on becoming a medical doctor and going back to his native Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, where an estimated 70% of the people have little to no access to health care. His plan, however, took a turn after he got recruited to play college basketball. That paved the way for him to enter the National Basketball Association. With his defensive prowess, he excelled in the world’s premier basketball league and established himself as a franchise player over 19 seasons of a pro career.
Standing 7-feet-2-inches tall, Dikembe was a giant “in the land of the giants,” as the NBA is often described. He was a giant of a man, too, off the basketball court. He poured millions of his own money to build a hospital named after his mother. When it opened in 2007, the 300-bed Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center was the first modern medical facility to be built in Kinshasa in nearly 40 years. Dikembe also established the Samuel Mutombo Institute of Science and Entrepreneurship, a pre-kindergarten-to-Grade 6 school named after his father, which opened in 2021.
Can one person – you – make a difference? The Bible is replete with stories of how God starts with one person when He determines to do a great work. God built a nation out of Abraham (Genesis 12:2). With Noah, God started all over again with humanity (Genesis 8:15-17). With Queen Esther, God orchestrated a plan to save the Jews ahead of a royal edict to annihilate them (Esther 4:16). On and on down through history, God, by His unmerited favor alone, made a giant out of a person – from Joseph, to Moses, to Rahab, to David, to Jonah, to Nehemiah, to Paul – to bring about His plan. Dikembe, at 58, succumbed to brain cancer on Sept. 30, 2024. In the service celebrating his life, speakers, including former U.S. president Bill Clinton, saluted him for his humanitarian work. As he concluded the celebration, the Rev. John Hull spoke of Dikembe’s faith in Jesus Christ, noting how he lived out the words of the apostle Paul: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
CALL TO ACTION
A life with God starts with a relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
- PRAY OUT LOUD: “Father in heaven, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe that he died on the cross for my sins. I ask you to forgive me of all of my sins. I believe in my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with my mouth that Jesus is my Savior and Lord. Amen.”
- WHAT’S NEXT: Be part of a good, Bible-based church.