The "Tribute to Joel" Story

It was an ordinary day. Stopped at school to check on how the info is coming for the football program that I do every year. I have been printing the football programs for about 25 years now. Used to write all the articles and player bios when I first started, but that job is now done by a parent volunteer to help save on the costs. I stuck my head in the classroom of one of the assistant coaches to say hello and he motioned me to come inside. Classes were leaving out for the day so we had a few minutes to talk. He asked me if I remembered a guy by the name of Joel Shrum who played for Donegal. Joel was a junior the last year I taught school, but I remembered the name from reading about his accomplishments on the gridiron and hybaseball diamond as a junior. One of the top players in his section as a junior. Well, the coach told me he saw on the news that Joel had just been killed in Yemen. Joel was gunned down in his car on his way to teach English to poor students. A group associated with al-Qaida was claiming responsibility for his death, saying he was trying to convert Muslims to Christianity, making him an enemy to Islam and al-Qaida. Joel worked for the International Training Development Centre which was a non-profit, non-governmental organization that has been in Yemen for over 40 years. The organization denied that Joel was trying to convert Muslims. Shortly after his murder, hundreds of youth activists and other protesters in Yemen marched to demand justice for Joel, a 2000 graduate of Donegal High School and father of two young children. His parents said that he went to Yemen in in 2010 to learn Arabic and became passionate about teaching English and business skills to Yemenis. Throughout Joel's life he lived for others above himself. The fact that he was born on Easter Sunday says it all. His mother said he embraced Christianity and devoted himself to helping the oppressed. Since that day when I learned of his death, there have been numerous stories in local and international newspapers calling for justice for Joel Shrum. I recently read a heart-warming story in the Lancaster Sunday News written by Matt Blymier who was a friend and teammate of Joel when they went to high school together. Matt tells how Joel was not only a teammate and friend, but a mentor and brother to many when he played football at Donegal High School in the late 1990s. Joel was as intense on the field as he was gentle and kind off it. Matt tells how he injured his knee in the first scrimmage of his junior year, Joel's senior season. Two hours after the scrimmage the doorbell rang at Matt's house and there stood Joel and a few other players, inquiring about his injury. It was a gesture that Joel didn't even think twice about, but it meant the world to Matt. Joel was a natural leader and his compassion and love for others was evident throughout his life. Matt wrote in the newspaper article that Joel wrote in his yearbook at the end of the year: Thank you for making senior season what it was. I love you brother. That was Joel Shrum. He died doing what he always did, helping others. I never had the honor of meeting Joel in person, but I'm sure I would have been able to tell how special he was if I had met him. People like Joel just ooze passion. Here's hoping he gets the justice that he richly deserves. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.