Eric Liddell, the British runner and Christian whose story was told in the Oscar winning movie Chariots of Fire (1981), declined to enter his 100 meter race in the 1924 Olympics in Paris because the races were being run on Sunday. Because Sundays were set apart to worship God, this meant he would never run on a Sunday. Instead he ran a race for which he had never trained for on another day.

First he ran the 200 meter race, winning a bronze. Then, to everyone’s amazement he entered the 400 meter race and “ran them off their feet”, winning the gold in 47.6 sec., and setting a world record. This record was unbroken for 12 years.

After his triumph, Eric Liddell returned to China, where he was born, to serve as a missionary and teacher. He lived in China with his wife and daughters until the Japanese invasion, when the true mettle of the man once again became visible. He sent his family to safety, but refused to abandon the Chinese People.

In 1938 he heard of a wounded Chinese soldier lying helpless in a temple, 20 miles from the mission hospital. He cycled for 20 miles over rough terrain to get there and then found another injured soldier, who had survived Japanese execution. He manufactured a makeshift cart to help push both men to hospital.

John Keddie’s acclaimed Running the Race, a biography that places Liddell’s sporting life in the religious context in which it was lived, has been published in Mandarin.

Liddell was interned in a Japanese camp, where he became the leader of the desperate men, women and children incarcerated there. When a prisoner exchange was made, he again refused to leave, sending a pregnant woman in his place.

A fellow internee, Stephen Metcalfe, later wrote of Liddell: He gave me two things. One was his worn out running shoes, but the best thing he gave me was his baton of forgiveness. He taught me to love my enemies, the Japanese, and to pray for them.

In the Far East, Li Airui, as Liddell was known, was considered a God-inspired and heroic man. He is still greatly loved by the Chinese for his heroism and compassion during the Japanese invasion. Liddell’s remains is at the Mausoleum of Martyrs at Shih-Chia-Chuang, 150 miles south-west of Beijing, where China honors 700 selected individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice in the liberation of China from the Japanese.

It is impossible to predict the influence of a man or woman. Liddell’s inspiring example of courage and love continues to grow. It is estimated that there are between 50 million and 100 million Chinese Christians in China who have heard his story.

[Note: Here are some of the links about Eric Liddell.]

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4f14924d01009y55.html

http://blog.tianya.cn/blogger/post_read.asp?BlogID=1734740&PostID=15106375

http://liulimin.blshe.com/post/965/280877

http://news.enorth.com.cn/system/2008/07/23/003585044.shtml

http://baike.baidu.com/view/1210093.htm

http://www.gnci.org.hk/beta/gospel/read_gospel.php?gospel_id=45

http://www.chinesetheology.com/ChinaChurch/EricLiddell.htm

http://www.022net.com/2008/7-23/482652332864547-3.html

http://www.chinacourt.org/html/article/200807/25/313852.shtml

http://tj.news.cn/ztbd/liairui/index.htm

To order<Running the Race>, in Chinese,online: http://book.360buy.com/10099338.html

Discussion Questions:

1. Have you ever heard of Eric Liddell or Li Airui before? How did you hear about him?

2. Have you seen or heard of the Oscar winning movie Chariots of Fire?

3. Is there someone who inspires you -- who you think is a great person?

4. Please describe this person and what you admire about him or her.

5. Who else comes to your mind when you think of someone, like Eric Liddell, who has left a legacy of courage and love for other people?