As many of you probably know, I have committed to two major things this spring, the first is running my first EVER half marathon which, on May 4th will be the longest distance I will have ever run to this point in my life. The second is raising money for the race in honor of a wonderful organization called Urban Impact.
Urban Impact is so much more than your typical Non-Profit after school program. Here is a little bit more about their history and mission for Pittsburgh's Northside Community.
"Urban Impact began as an outreach ministry of the Allegheny Center Alliance Church nearly two decades ago. Wanting to fully restore the lives of the people in the community, the church sought to have a bigger impact on its people. In 1995 Pastor Ed Glover formed Urban Impact as a separate entity in order to focus on practical aspects of community development while providing a spiritual base for the people of the North Side. In nearly two decades we have impacted thousands of children and youth from the North Side and over 50,000 young people nationally through Urban Impact’s various ministries and programs.
Our mission is to do our part in fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission on the North Side of Pittsburgh. By following His model of holistic ministry by investing in the lives of at-risk children, youth, and their families in order to develop mature, responsible followers of Christ."
They offer performing arts classes, recreational sports in competitive Northside sports leagues, and after school homework help/tutoring in order to catch kids up to their grade level in school. I personally will be volunteering not only as a charity runner for their organization, but also will be helping coach a baseball team this spring in addition to participating as a tutor in the evenings .
For years I have felt the tug on my heart to participate in missions work whether here in America or aroad in another country, but until now I haven't had such a clear picture of what that would look like for my life. Often my lack of faith for fundraising and asking people for money has stood in my way, and mostly it's been because I haven't found a cause that I one hundred percent felt called to participate in. Don't get me wrong, I do feel like there is a place for overseas missions work for certain people but never understood or felt right with the concept of doing a "mission-cation" in high school or college I guess because God has shown me the dire need our inner cities are in right here in America and right here in our beautiful city of Pittsburgh.
With that being said, when the opportunity to run for Urban Impact presented itself while I was at dinner with a friend, I knew that was my calling to get involved. I have volunteered through a church with Urban Impact before for their Christmas Dinner program and it truly was one of my most favorite moments in my spiritual journey. Asking for donations is a really hard thing for me to do, but I truly feel that The Lord has called me to fundraising this small amount as a way to not only help the children of northside, but also to stretch my faith as he shows me that raising money for missions can be done.
My goal is $400 by March 31st, 2014, and while it seemed daunting at first, I know God is going to provide the funds as he sees fit for these beautiful children as he helps me physically become prepared for 13.1 miles of running- the most I've accomplished at one time to this point is about 6 miles, so 13.1 is a bit of a scary thought... but I know He wants me to do this, so please pray for spiritual AND physical strength in the upcoming weeks and that God would use this event in my life and in others to show how powerful he is.
All I ask is that you pray about possibly supporting the work of this organization by a small donation via my support page and also pray for continued faith as I train for the race. The money will go towards the organizations over all goal of $60k to help the troubled kids of Northside. Overall, $400 is a small amount, but the work The Lord can do with this foundation is so much bigger, and I am so excited that I will get to be a part of it.
Please join me in praying for this cause and that God's work would be done in northside. If you feel it in your heart to help support my run for charity please visit my fundraising page to submit your donation. Thank you so much in advance for your support and prayers!!
Link to my support page:
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1083687&supId=401845498