The Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast was held in Innisfail last Thursday where attendees listened to guest speaker Lyndon Rush talk about his Olympic Bobsled experience.
Rush and the other three members of his four-man bobsleigh team captured a bronze medal in the 2010 Whistler Olympics. During the breakfast Rush spoke about how he has been inspired by prayer to reach his goals.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God,” is a biblical quote from Philippians that has led Rush though a lot of challenges in his life and his career.
When he flipped his bobsleigh in the two-man competition in Whistler, the incident that put him out of medal contention, thanksgiving was one of the virtues that helped him deal with the loss and helped him to come through to medal in the four-man race.
Rush talked about how he prays with his teammates before every race and even the team members who are atheists don’t mind the tradition.
“No one complains about having to pray before a bobsled race,” joked Rush, about his sport that sends athletes barreling down an ice covered track at speeds in excess of 150 kilometres an hour.
Rush was recruited to be a brakeman on the Canadian bobsleigh team after playing football for the University of Saskatchewan and eventually became a pilot on the team. He now lives in Sylvan Lake and is planning on competing in the next Winter Olympic Games.
At the prayer breakfast put on by the Innisfail Chamber of Commerce, ministers form all different congregations and denominations gave thanks and prayed for those in need, those who serve others and for all members of our community.
“It was my first time at the prayer breakfast I had never experienced one before so I found it interesting and it was nice to see so many people there,” said Jim Romane, Innisfail mayor.
Around 40 community members attended the breakfast that was held at the Innisfail Legion on Thursday, March 31.
