Goodbye to our friend Chris Baillie, another fallen peacemaker.

In light of the past week's events, this blog post is more personal than usual. Thank you for understanding.

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So soon after the passing of our dear friend and fellow activist, Nate Henn, our Resolve family painfully says goodbye to yet another fallen peacemaker and beloved friend, Chris Baillie. On Sunday, Chris tragically fell to his death while hiking with four friends in the mountains of New Hampshire.  Chris was a committed advocate for peace in central Africa, and a remarkable person, who had become a good friend of our Resolve family over the last several months.

After learning about the crisis in central Africa a few years ago through one of his favorite bands, Chris wasted no time spreading the word, raising money, and participating in as many awareness and advocacy events as he could. He was a wanderer by nature, and as he regularly backpacked across the country, Chris made use of every opportunity to tell others about this injustice a world away that had captured his heart, and invite them to join him in the effort for peace.

This past February, my colleague Kenneth Transier and I had the honor of sleeping on the concrete of downtown Oklahoma City for eleven nights next to Chris and dozens of other activists. This Oklahoma Hold-Out was part of an effort to convince Oklahoma Senator, Tom Coburn, to remove a block he had placed on the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, legislation that activists like Chris had been lobbying for since May of 2009. 

Just in time, Chris got word of the Hold-Out while working as a skydiving instructor in Arizona. Without hesitation he packed up his life and trekked to Oklahoma City to join us for the entire 11 days.

Being incredibly resourceful, and with his experience as an avid outdoors-man, Chris quickly earned the nickname McGyver from our motley-crew family of activists that had formed on the concrete outside Senator Coburn's office. Always concerned with our safety and health, Chris gave us nightly training sessions on frost-bite prevention or how to maintain maximum body heat while sleeping in sub-freezing temperatures. And though he owned very little, he freely gave away his own possessions to make sure that others were warm, comfortable, and cared for. As much as he could be described as an adventurer, nature-lover, and outdoors-man, the strongest impression Chris left on those who met him was how he loved with every last drop of himself.

He was a man who lived intentionally and who savored every breath. I wouldn't doubt that being a cancer survivor at age 24 had something to do with that. He didn't ever seem to make choices out of fear, but out of love, freedom, and out of a desire to tackle head-on those things in this world that ought not to be.

Chris' life---and the legacy he hands over to us in his death---have been marked by outrageous generosity, fierce love, and a steadfast hope.
You don't need to have known Chris to be an extension of that legacy.

I am honored to have crossed paths with Chris Baillie, and I feel challenged by the example of his life. It is a challenge to truly live.  Not to be driven by fear, but by love and a desire for justice where there is injustice; healing and hope where there is brokenness.

When all is said and done----and if we have the privilege of time to reflect on our lives before they end----I highly doubt we will regret the stuff we didn't buy or the nights we didn't stay late at the office or the times our lawns were left un-manicured. We will regret the love we didn't share. And keeping that in mind, I'm confident that Chris, and Nate, left this world with no regrets.

So go, and love fiercely.

We miss you, Baillie.
-Lisa