A Little Bit About A Lot of Things

Here is Sunday's Column

Response Team 

Last Sunday I shared a dream about creating a Mission Response Team. The goal of this team is to go serve people who are recovering from natural disasters. In the last few months, help has been needed all over the country. My dream is to have dozens of people register to serve in this ministry. This pool of people would be contacted when a disaster happens and those who are able will go serve hurting people together. This ministry will obviously start small, but my prayer is that it will turn into something big. If you are interested in being a leader for this ministry, contact celeste.ellis@faithwestwood.com. Join me in praying for this ministry as it develops.

Team World Vision 

On next race will be the Omaha Marathon (26.2 miles), Half-Marathon (13.1 miles), and 10K (6.2 miles) on September 25th. We had 63 runners finish the Lincoln Marathon and Half Marathon and raised over $26,000. We will be releasing information in the next week or so as we are still working out a few details with World Vision and the Omaha Marathon. 

I encourage you to join the team. You can walk, run, or do a combination of the two. Spend this summer getting fit and help support kids in Africa! Check out our web site: www.runningforkidsinafrica.com.

Summer Slump 

The Water’s Edge is having a great year so far. Our average adult attendance is 453 per week (up 30% from last year) and our average kid’s Sunday school attendance is 104 per week (up 48% from last year)! Typically churches see less people in worship during summer months. Memorial Day is next weekend. Then school gets out for the year. I want to challenge you to do a few things this summer that will keep us thriving as a congregation and as individuals.

1. Try out the 9:00 worship experience. The service has grown in the last six months. It is identical to the 10:30 service. You can be done at 10:00 and have the rest of the summer day to enjoy.

2. Invite a guest to worship and introduce them to me and to some other people. Things are a little more laid back in the summer and this gives us an opportunity to get to know new people better.

3. If you are out of town or your child has a game early on Sunday morning, you can watch the sermon on YouTube. Visit www.watersedgeworship.com. You can also subscribe to a podcast if you prefer an audio version.

4. Do the daily Bible readings and study questions. You can always find them at on this site.

5. Register for E-Giving. People who give electronically report that it is easy and it helps them be consistent.

6. Register to be on a volunteer team. We have a few more opportunities in the summer. Email jill@watersedgeomaha.com (adult teams) or nancy@watersedgeomaha.com (the kid’s team) to volunteer.

The best is yet to come…

Craig

WEtv - Running For Kids in Africa

Ten thousand runners ran the Lincoln Marathon and Half Marathon on May 1st. Sixty-three of those runners were on the Running For Kids in Africa team. Most of the sixty-three had never run a race before. Sixty-three finished their race.

The group had four goals when it started in November. 

1. To raise money to support kids in Africa.
2. To embrace a healthier lifestyle.
3. To forge existing friendships and to create new friendships.
4. To help people achieve a dream.

Watch five stories of how God changed lives through this ministry.

If you are interested in joining us for our fall marathon, half marathon, or 10K - visit our web site: www.runningforkidsinafrica.com.

The Marathon

Running for Kids in Africa. We were an eclectic group of runners.

Some of the team before the race

One of the runners had lung cancer a few years ago. Post-operation, he never dreamed one day he would be running a half-marathon. Another of the runners is the fastest Nebraskan ever at 10,000 meters. He’s not as fast as he was twenty years ago when he won a national title at Wesleyan, but his love for the sport and for people is contagious. One marathoner smoked two packs of cigarettes per day in December. These five months have changed his life and maybe saved his life. One woman has run the Boston Marathon five times. Forty-five runners had never run a race before. One of our runners placed in the top ten in the marathon. The other sixty-two didn’t. 

Sixty-three of our runners started the Lincoln Marathon or Half-Marathon. Sixty-three finished. The hours and hours of training during the cold, icy weather paid off. The miles and miles of sweating on the treadmill are now worth it. I was proud to wear my bright orange shirt yesterday. I knew the people wearing the same shirt in front of me and those behind me had given and were giving their best. 

One of our runners, Bill Draper, was not able to run the marathon because he suffered a severe brain injury about three weeks ago. Thirty-six hours before our race we ran Bill’s race for him. One hundred and seventy five people: runners, children, friends, family, and supportive strangers from the church showed up and ran or walked a lap in Bill’s honor. It was a beautiful thing seeing the church be the church. I drove to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital after the marathon and gave Bill my finisher’s medal. The medal is his now as he takes the beginning steps to his marathon of recovering. 

I have run in the Drake Relays against Olympians in front of 20,000 fans. I’ve run the Boston Marathon with 25,000 other runners. As I look back, this was my most rewarding experience as a runner. We raised over $26,000 for kids in Africa. If nothing else happened that would have been more than enough. Kids will get fresh water, nutritious food, education, medicine, and hope. 

But something else did happen. Friendships were forged. Strangers become supporters. Husbands and wives trained together. Dads ran with their daughters. God gives us each other and we all now understand that better. 

People embraced a happier lifestyle. Collectively, the runners lost hundreds of pounds. Hearts and lungs various other muscles have become stronger. 

But the thing I loved the most was seeing the fearful be transformed into a finisher. Running a half-marathon or marathon seems like a daunting task. And it is. Six months ago, many didn’t know if they could do something like this and were fearful. Yesterday, the runners did this and were finishers. Through Christ, more is possible in life that what we believe. 

Amanda doing her first half marathon

Four typically skinny distance runners

Allison on her way to breaking two hours!

Jamie and April - Training Partners and Friends

Jessica finishing her first marathon!

Michelle and Emily - Mother and Daughter - Finishers

The Nech's before the race

I think those hands are always attached to the hips

Rick Perez running down the Hauptmans

Ray and his girls. They ran great! After Ray paced them, he went 
out and paced a marathon runner. Over 30 miles for the day!

Jessica and Stacey celebrating post-race

The Vances and the Clements

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

Running for His Life

Jason Phipps is running for his life. Literally. He started smoking at age nine. In mid-December, he decided he needed to quit smoking. A few days later, he made another decision: to join up with Running For Kids in Africa and run a marathon. Could he make two drastic changes in less than six months?

Without making any changes, Jason saw his future filled with physical dysfunction and illness. He also dreamed of a new life. A healthier life.

Jason is no longer a smoker. On Sunday he will become a marathoner. 

Jason talks about his first steps. He shared about his biggest challenges and biggest rewards. And he reflects on where God fits in this story.

Running for Kids in Africa

Here is a story that run in the Nebraska Messenger about our Running for Kids in Africa ministry. When the story was written, we had raised $15,000 of our $20,000 goal. Yesterday we reached our goal and now have over $21,000 going to kids in Africa. Over 60 runners, many of them first-timers, will be running the Lincoln Marathon and Half Marathon on May 1st. One runner on the team ran the Olathe Marathon last Saturday and three runners ran the Boston Marathon yesterday.

The Rev. Craig Finnestad is an experienced runner, having competed in numerous marathons over the years. He’s seen many of his friends run to raise money for various causes, and one day last year he had an epiphany of sorts.

“I thought, ‘I want to do that, but I want to do it through church,’” he said. “I’ve always had a heart for Africa and its people.”

That is how Running For Kids in Africa came to the Water’s Edge, the United Methodist Church Finnestad serves in Omaha. Though the congregation has many runners amongst its members, Finnestad still wasn’t sure what to expect one Sunday last fall when he presented the idea to form a team to run either the 2011 Lincoln full or half marathon, all in the name of raising money for kids in Africa.

“I was thinking we may have a couple of dozen runners sign up,” said Finnestad. “We ended up having almost 80 say they were on board; that totally exceeded all of my expectations.”

Almost 80 percent of those who are participating have never before run a half marathon (13.1 miles) or marathon (26.2 miles). Most of them are doing the half; Finnestad is among those who will be running the full.

They’re doing their fundraising through Team World Vision, a program of World Vision that enables athletes to raise awareness and funds for communities in need through their athletic events. The program provides each runner with a fundraising page; some runners have raised more than $1,000. The race is May 1; the team has currently raised nearly $15,000 of their $20,000 goal.

“I believe we’re going to meet our goal,” said Finnestad, “I’m very optimistic.”

There will be an opportunity at the Water’s Edge in April for non-participants to donate or sponsor a runner and/or child in Africa.

While raising money for and awareness of hurting kids in Africa is the primary reason for running, Finnestad had additional goals for wanting to implement a running ministry, including to encourage healthy lifestyles, build friendships and help people accomplish a dream. He says it’s worked on all counts.

“The participants have lost hundreds of pounds (combined), are getting to know each other and are chasing down a dream,” he commented.

Husband and wife Justin and Jennie Clements will both be running their first half marathons.

“We went to Lincoln last year to watch the marathon and were inspired to do a half-marathon someday,” Jennie said, “Little did we know that our ‘someday’ would be sooner than later.”

She continued, “When Pastor Craig presented the idea at church about starting a running group, we were ecstatic and jumped on board right away. It’s an added bonus that we get to do this with people from church and raise money for children in Africa in the process!”

The team gathers every Saturday at Lake Zorinsky in Omaha to go on a long run. Team World Vision offers a training schedule for both the half and full marathon. Finnestad also assembled a team of mentors and experts, including a dietician and physical therapist, to help the runners meet their goals.

Renee Eardensohn is one of the participants serving as a mentor to some of the first-time half-marathon runners.

“I was so excited to be asked to be a mentor, because I’ve had people serve as one for me over the years, and I know how much it helped” Eardensohn said. “It’s so fun to see them accomplish their goals and inspiring to see their excitement when they run farther than they ever thought they could.”

While Eardensohn has run many races over the years — this year’s Lincoln Marathon will be her 20th race of that distance — she said running for a cause definitely feels different than just running a “normal” race.

“Running for those kids in Africa gives it a meaning and a purpose beyond just yourself,” she said. “You’re not running for the fun or accomplishment of it, and it’s not just about crossing the finish line, you think about those kids while you’re running, and it strengthens you to know that somebody’s going to benefit.”

Or as it states on the team’s website, “We aren’t running for medals. We are running for hope.”

To find out how you can start a team through World Vision, visit the Team World Vision website, www.teamworldvision.org. For more information on Team World Vision at the Water’s Edge, or to make a donation, visit www.runningforkidsinafrica.com.