Marathons, Africa, Easter, New People, and Mother's Day

Marathon

Over 60 of us are running the Lincoln Marathon and Half Marathon this morning. Lots of family and friends are supporting the runners as well. It is the first race ever for many of the runners and is the culmination of six months of training. If you are interested in training and doing a race this fall, we are investigating participating in the Omaha Marathon, which also includes a half-marathon (13.1 miles) and 10K (6.2 miles). Stay tuned.

Part of the Running for Kids in Africa team getting ready to run

Africa

The reason we are running is to raise money for children in Africa. All runners have paid their own expenses so that one-hundred percent of all donations can go to help kids in Africa. We set an ambitious goal of raising $20,000. We ended up raising over $25,000! To all those who are running and all those who donated, I am so grateful. $25,000 will provide abundant fresh water, nutritious food, education, medicine, and hope for children in Africa. We will continue to raise money for kids in Africa and support missionaries serving in Africa. In the future, I feel God is leading us to partner with a church in Africa, pray with them, financially support them to transform a village, and send teams of people to serve, learn, and worship alongside them. It’s a big dream, but we have a bigger God.

Easter

Last week we had over 1,000 people in worship and in the nursery. This is a new record for us. We have come along way since our worship launch four and a half years ago. Thanks to the dozens of volunteers who served on Easter morning and to all the guests to worshipped with us. Thanks to those at the 10:30 service who stood around for a while until we found chairs for you. We have some innovative ideas how to accommodate our current people better next year and how to welcome additional guests as well.

10:30 Worship on Easter @ The Water's Edge

Are You New?

We have been going through a growth spurt in a last few months and we have a lot of new people. I hope you are experiencing God, connecting to others, and feeling at home. Later this spring and throughout the summer we are going to have some gatherings to meet new people. I hope you will participate in one of these. Joining a serving team is a great way to meet people, serve God, and become an owner of our ministry. We are also going to be starting new small groups and Bible studies in the fall. Check these out in August and September.

Mother’s Day

Next Sunday is Mother’s Day. We have a great worship celebration planned to honor moms. I hope to see next week. And for all the moms out there…thanks for being you.

The best is yet to come…

Craig