He was a hero a long time before 2014. But in 2014, the world learned of Kailash Satyarthi’s heroism when he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Malala Yusafzai.

Progress toward my goals:

• Marathon: On Track. No change since yesterday.
• Two Square Yards of Earth: Behind Schedule. Made some progress on the outline this morning, but I’m not there yet.
• 100 Posts: Ahead of Schedule. This is my eleventh post of the year, of eight planned by yesterday.

There are places in the world where children’s safety is not taken as a matter of course. There are people in the world who do not feel children should be protected and loved if that cuts into their own profit.

These are the places Kailash Satyarthi works. These are the people he has made it his life’s mission to oppose.

He’s done it well, and long: since 1980, when he chose the defense of children as his full-time work, he and his organization have liberated more than 80,000 child slaves. And according to his web site, he doesn’t stop with their liberation–he has devised a successful program to educate and rehabilitate them after their rescue.

Eighty thousand is a big number. It’s more than will fit in the University of Phoenix stadium, where the Seahawks and Patriots are playing in the Superbowl today. It’s the capacity of AT&T Stadium, in fact, where my Dallas Cowboys play.

So fill Jerry’s World with children, enslave them all, and make one man responsible for liberating them. It’s an impressive accomplishment. More than most of us will ever do.

I, for one, have a hard enough time with my own two kids. Eighty thousand seems like an unfathomably large number.

Eighty thousand of what the Bible calls the least of these. How many of us can claim to have done as much for what we believe in?

His story, his mission, is an incredible one. Watch for this man to continue to accomplish great things.