Running for the Orphans

So I am training for my first marathon, which is October 5th in the Twin Cities.  Training is going well and I have really enjoyed it all, even the long runs. For most of you who know me I have always ran to win titles but this time I wanted to run for something bigger than myself. God says, in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. This time I am hoping to run for a prize heavenwards. Through my marathon, I am hoping to raise funds that will go to my daughter’s orphanage. To help them with food and care for all the children. As God calls us in James 1:27, to Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
As many of you know we are adopting a little girl from the Democratic Republic of Congo. I am hoping to raise money for the orphanage that she is in. The orphanage director is a very sweet man who truly cares about the children. Things are very hard for the orphanages in the DRC right now. In Sept. 2013 the DGM in Congo decided to suspend giving all exit letters to adopted children in the DRC. Our daughter has all the paperwork complete and is ready to come home but is unable to because of the suspension. There are 100’s of families that are in the same situation as us. This does not only affect the children with families, but all the children in the orphanages (as most orphanages count on the money they receive through the adoption to help pay for the food and care of the children). In the DRC most children receive only one meal a day and at times may have to go without. As a mother this makes me sad and more so since my daughter is one of these children. I am hoping that through this I will be able to raise money to help the orphanage be able to buy a couple months’ worth of food, so that my daughter and her friends can be fed.
Please help me to bring food and care to theses children. They are so beautiful and loving.Even the smallest donation will help! Thank you all for your support and love for these children!
And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18:5