But which man? Is it Neil Armstrong, spaceman… the moon… summer 1969? Or maybe, just maybe, it is Jose, a man with an intellectual disability… L’Arche Queretaro, Mexico… and it’s summer 2019! Two men literally a world apart, but with more in common than you might suspect. Check out the parallels:

First: for both Neil and Jose, the impossible becomes possible: the doctors told Jose, when he was a toddler that he would never be able to walk. It was physically out of the question. Fast forward a few years and today… you have guessed it… Jose doesn’t just get himself around his house, doing his daily chores (perhaps not always!), but he now joins in on strolls around the city with friends and love ones.

Second: the personal qualities of both Jose and Neil: armful after armful of sheer guts, patience and determination: how else to cope with the slog of putting one heavy foot in front of the other? At first, with painful slowness, but then with growing confidence…never letting a setback have the last word, always a “let’s try it again.”

Third: great teamwork: for Jose, that’s not NASA, but just as vital: his physio-therapist, his community, the fundraisers who enable him to attend a private school specialising in physical re-education, and independent living skills. Each plays a vital part, each an expert in encouragement and finding solutions.

Finally: IMPACT: Neil Armstrong realised he wasn’t just taking a step for himself, but ‘one giant leap for mankind.’ And Jose? The same!!! No difference! Because each time Jose moves his feet and gets to where he wants to go, the whole human family is taking another step forward. And that includes the international family called L’Arche. In L’Arche, we believe that each person is a leader at the point of their gift. Thank you, Jose for setting the pace for us all today.