Half Marathon

On October 11th I (Elisabeth) am running the Victoria, BC half marathon.  Although I’ve been an avid runner since high school, I’ve never run this long of a race before.  I’m more than halfway through my training and although I knew I would enjoy the process, I didn’t realize how much fun it would turn out to be. 

Although I am loving this experience purely for the benefits to my body and mind, I also decided I wanted to support a cause in the process and it had to be about helping kids.  I know being a new mom will do this to anyone, but God has laid on my heart a desire to help the weak, defenseless, innocent, and impressionable–and kids are most certainly that.

So, I’ve decided to pray for and raise funds to help former child soldiers in Uganda. I first learned about this during my time doing global HIV/AIDS awareness and advocacy with Acting on AIDS at World Vision.  It tugged on my heartstrings then, but it was just one of many issues we educated our students on.  Now, on my own, I’d like to focus on helping these kids.

The organization I’m partnering with is Pilgrim, a Christian nonprofit based here in Seattle.  I know several people who are involved in this organization and I think they are doing great work in Uganda.

Photo courtesy of World Vision

For those who don’t know much about child soldiering, I’ll try to give a brief synposis.  The conflict began over 20 years ago when a man named Joseph Kony organized the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda.  He claimed that he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to rebel against the Ugandan government. He is clearly not a follower of Jesus, but that of Satan. Part of his plan involves abducting Ugandan children and forcing them to become solidiers, torturers, sex slaves, suicide bombers, and spies.

Thankfully, child abduction for these purposes is not as much of a problem in recent years because the LRA has diminished in it’s power. But there are thousands of kids left behind who are displaced and traumatized, trying to recover from what has happened to them.

Would you please consider coming alongside me and supporting former child soldiers? You can do so in a few ways.

1. Learn more.  A great start is to take a look at World Vision’s FAQ page on child soldiering around the world.  Also, the Invisible Children website gives a history of the conflict in Uganda and how kids are involved.   

2. Pray. I really believe that God hears our desires for these kids to be healed and to meet Jesus, so please do so.  I am making a point to pray for them when I am running.  At the very least, please pray every time you visit this site.

3. Give to Pilgrim’s Beacon College (featured in the video), a place where kids who were formerly child soldiers are receiving an education, medical care, extensive trauma counseling, and hearing the gospel. There are a couple ways you can get involved:

• Give a one-time donation of whatever amount you like.
• Donate a certain amount for every mile I run in training (about 150 miles) or every mile of the race (13.1 miles)

Some of Beacon Colleges specific needs right now are basic improvements to the campus, a library, meeting hall, computer lab, and educational supplies.  Your giving will help make these things a reality for the kids there.

Happy kids at Beacon College

If you want to give, visit Pilgrim’s donation page and enter in the total next to “E Haggard Race” (unless you are doing child sponsorship).  That way I can report back on how much money has been raised.

If you decide to participate in any of these ways, please comment below. Although I don’t have to know you are participating, I would really like to.  Every prayer makes a difference, and every little bit you can give, too.

And as I go through my training, I hope you’ll continue to read about the journey.

Thank you for considering this and thank you to everyone who participates!