Mel Pender entered the armed forces right out of school, and was sent to Okinawa. One day, his division had an opportunity to compete in a track meet with a division of Japanese and Okinawa soldiers. Mel, known for his incredible quickness in camp football games, was asked to sign up. Although he had no training in track, he agreed to try. Mel won his event, and discovered that he had a gift for speed, and explosive starts. He went on to win many more track meets in Okinawa.

In 1961, Mel's division was given some time off to visit Tokyo, the future site of the 1964 Olympics. Mel resolved then to qualify for the Olympics. He continued his service in the army, but devoted his free time to rigorous physical conditioning. Although he was gaining great respect as an athlete, as an African-American he faced much discrimination.

Once when Mel was back in the U.S. and dressed in his military uniform, he was refused service at a restaurant, while the white man he was with was welcomed in. To be so blatantly discriminated against in his own country, the country that he was sacrificing to serve, affected Mel deeply. Most of us would be demoralized and discouraged by such treatment, but it just increased Mel Pender's resolve. He decided that he would have to achieve great things in order to buttress his sense of self-esteem. In speaking of the painful experience later, he noted, "In fact, that experience drew me closer to God."

Mel Pender, a man of deep faith, decided that he would rise higher in the ranks and become a commissioned officer. He also decided to pursue his dream of the Olympics. An injury kept him from the 1964 Olympics, but, by the 1968 games, he was ready.

The 1968 Olympics were not long after the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy. Race relations in the U.S. were in turmoil, and the pressure on African-American athletes was tremendous. There was even pressure to boycott the Games. Some of you remember the outcry in those games when Tommie Smith and John Carlos won the gold and bronze medals in their event, the 200-meter dash, and they raised their gloved fists in the air in a protest. The U.S. Olympic Committee immediately took them off the team and removed them from the Olympic village. Mel wore black running shoes to protest their removal.

Nevertheless, the U.S. relay team, of which Mel was a part, set a new world record in the 400-meter relay and won the gold medal. Mel went on to serve on the International Track Association, to get a college degree, to reach the status of captain in the armed forces, to earn a bronze star in Vietnam, and to work as the head track coach at the U.S. Military Academy. He has had many more successes in his business and civic life enough to serve anyone for three or four lifetimes. All because he made a promise to his mother and committed himself to keeping it. Bound by a promise.

Are you striving to fulfill God's promise for your life?

Ron Newhouse