Sorry for the long absence. I spent 3 weeks of July up at camp with all of our kids and it really was a fantastic time. We even celebrated the baptism of 5 of our Junior Camp boys. I was blessed by all of the ways God revealed himself in our time there. I got back to the city the first part of August, but between playing catch-up and having a group of Canadians here on a missions trip, there hasn’t been too much time to write. But with only 3 short weeks until the race I have devoted myself updating this blog and getting as many more sponsors on board as I possibly can. Right now I have a total of 20 fully-committed sponsors and a few more on the verge.
In the interest of giving you something to read, and hopefully to find a few more sponsors I have decided to count down the 13 (one for every mile) reasons why I have decided to go the extra mile. These are in no particular order, as each one of them is near and dear to me, but I thought I would start with:

#1 Raymond
This is Raymond.

I am not sure if there is a bigger blessing in ministry than to see someone trained up, and then getting to work side-by-side with them. And for us at City Crossroads, Raymond represents that blessing 100 fold. I’ve known Raymond since I first was an intern at City Crossroads almost seven and half years ago, and back them he was a 14-year old student leader in the youth group. Over the last few years I have had the great privilege to watch him grow-up and truly become a man of God. Raymond has taken on responsibilities and handled his fair share of trials all with a grace and a joy that just emanates from his amazing personality. Raymond has heard God calling him to ministry and we are thankful that that call has brought him on staff at City Crossroads; I count it an honor that I get to work with him day in and day out.

Now, Raymond has been volunteering for many years, but back in April we were able to hire him as a youth pastor in training using a grant from the Church of God Association in Northern California. To be able to pay Raymond even a very modest paycheck represents a milestone in our ministry being able to come full circle. And I am excited for all the things God is setting in place through having him on staff.

But what does this have to do with running? Simply this, our grant runs out in April 2011 and though I am confident that God will continue to provide a way of keeping Raymond on staff, I also know that finding a salary check in our small budget is a difficult task. So one of my biggest reasons for going the ‘extra mile’ is to find new monthly sponsors who might replace some of the funds we will be losing when the grant runs out. By finding new sponsors we can continue to keep Raymond right where God is using him to transform lives at City Crossroads, just like God transformed Raymond in the little rec center on 6th street.

Raymond is the reason I am running the extra mile.