“Be Prepared.”

If you’re like me, you probably couldn’t find Maldives on a world map.

The string of islands, with a land mass about 1.7 times the size of Washington, D.C., is in the Indian Ocean, south-southwest of India, and is described by the nation’s tourism department as having “massive lagoons with different depths and infinite shades of blue and turquoise, and dazzling underwater coral gardens.”

While the nation sounds—and looks—like an island paradise, you may remember the nation’s capital, Male´, was rocked by a bomb blast that wounded 12 tourists last September.

Experts suggest the postage-stamp country is the target of increasing Islamic militancy, which will no doubt perturb those in its visitors’ bureau marketing the picturesque islands.

Yet a recent news report suggests there is a reason for hope in the small nation. A quick-acting Boy Scout thwarted a January 8 assassination attempt on the president of the Maldives.

The 15-year-old scout saw the perpetrator as he drew a knife to strike President Maumoon Gayoom. The young man reached out and grabbed the knife, cutting his own hand but sparing the life of the president.

The attacker was soon subdued by Maldivian security.

Boy Scouts in Maldives are similar to those in the U.S., even sharing the same motto: “Be prepared.”

While I don’t anticipate being so close to a world leader [OK, minor world leader] that I’d be in a position to save his or her life, the notion of preparedness often only seems relevant when extreme weather conditions show up on our television screens.

Even though I don’t think a single scout or even a whole troop of Boy Scouts, backed up by a den of Cub Scouts, are a match for any planned act of violence by extremists, there is much to be said for being willing to get involved. To draw the point even sharper, there is a tremendous value in “being prepared” for whatever the world tosses our way.

In order to be the best prepared to deflect and conquer the temptation simply to go with the flow, we must live out our biblically informed values every day of every year. I like to call that living our values out loud!

By the way, if you’re up for real adventure, $5,000 will get you a great vacation package to Maldives. Just “be prepared,” you never know what you are going to run into.