Running the Race

On Saturday, November 19, I ran in my second 5K and first cross country race. I won't lie: it was extremely brutal. It was very cold and the ground was frozen, but as it warmed up, it began to get quite muddy and a bit slick. I love to run, but I guess I wasn't quite as prepared as I should have been.

At the race was one of the families that I have had the privilege to get to know this year at my school. They are a wonderful family and I am truly blessed to have them in my life this year. The family is made up of some incredible runners. I like to talk trash with them, but even the little one is an incredible athlete.

They finished the race well ahead of me. Totally destroyed me. But here is the best part: As I was coming around the final corner, one of the boys was standing there waiting for me. As I got closer to the finish, the rest of the family was standing there, cheering for me and encouraging me to continue running.

Suddenly, I had a better understanding of Paul's message in Hebrews 12:1. We are to continue pursuing our Christian walk and love of Christ because there is a huge group of people who have gone before us, cheering us on.

Charles Spurgeon is cheering for me.
Peter is cheering for me.
Jim Elliott is cheering for me.
John Calvin is cheering for me.
Jesus Christ is cheering for me.

As one of the kids was yelling at me, "Keep pushing, keep pushing, keep pushing..."

An Urgent Message from World Vision

Many of you may know that I am running a race to raise support for World Vision. World Vision is an organization that I support wholeheartedly and I think you should as well. I received this in my email today.

Dear Friend,

I'm writing today with a different kind of request. Would you take a few minutes to pray? Here's why: There are 750,000 people who could starve to death in the next four months in an area of Somalia that aid agencies have not been able to reach.

This situation is horrific and avoidable. Families are walking 100 miles in search of aid, and often only the strongest survive the journey. In many cases, women are burying their children on the side of the road as they flee. This tragedy breaks my heart.

In the middle of the famine, in South-Central Somalia, we aren't even able to reach these starving children. World Vision had deep, long-term community relationships in Somalia since 1992, but we were forced to leave this part of the country in 2010. Armed groups demanded most aid organizations leave.

It is horrible knowing that we have been prevented from rescuing starving people. Our work elsewhere in East Africa is saving lives, where we are distributing therapeutic food for children, clean water, sturdy tents, and essential medical care.

You can imagine the needs of a family who has walked for days without food and very little water, a mother and a father who have just buried their children. The needs there are great. Yet governments and private donors have provided less than half of what the world needs to adequately respond.

Please pray.

We need safe access to help starving people. We need the resources to adequately care for the half million people now in overcrowded refugee camps. To achieve this, we need a breakthrough.

Please join us in prayer that World Vision and other aid organizations would be able to access the regions in Somalia where three quarters of a million people could starve to death. And pray for the financial resources to complete this job. I know that with your prayer, we can do this. "Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.'" — Mark 10:27 (NIV)

In prayer with you,


Rich Stearns
President, World Vision U.S.

Please be in prayer about this horrific situation. But please do more than just pray. Pour your heart out to God, shed tears over this situation. Imagine yourself in their shoes, but then get up and do something. Donate. Run a race. Support me in my efforts. But, please, do not simply read this, feel bad for a moment, then go about your business. Too much is at stake.

Big Event and How You Can Help

Last year, a friend of mine named Brandan Thomas ran a marathon to raise money for World Vision. For those of you who don't know anything about World Vision, they are a Christian organization that works with individuals around the world to fight the causes of poverty and hunger. A large part of the work they do is through the sponsorship of individual children.

Anyway, Brandan's run has inspired me to do a run of my own. While I am nowhere close to being ready to run a marathon, I will be running a 10K on October 1, 2011, in order to raise money for World Vision. The goal I have set for myself is to raise $500 to go toward helping World Vision. I would love for you to be a part of that goal.

How can you help? There are several ways that I would love for you to partner with me on.

1) Pray. I have never run a race farther than 1 mile before. I am actually very slow and not incredibly athletic. I would covet your prayers as I train and as I am raising money.

2) Donate. Not everyone can run the race, but I would love for you to be a sponsor of me while I run the race. You do not have to make a large donation (but you can if you want), but even a donation of $5 will go to help World Vision. If you would like to donate, you can visit my Donation Page.

3) Share. Please share this information with those around you. Take it to the folks you go to church with. Post it on your Facebook page (there is a link to do so on the Donation Page). Share this blog post with others (that is a very good idea). Do whatever you can to get the word out about this race and what I am doing to raise both money and awareness for the cause of World Vision.

4) Visit. Take some time to visit the World Vision website and get more information about the work they are doing and how you can help. An appropriate verse for what they are doing is Matthew 25:40 - And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I really hope that you will take some time to consider how you might be able to partner with me in this endeavor. I would love to have you become a financial partner, but, most of all, please be in prayer.