Hello!  I have been inspired to run my first ever Marathon by two groups of people who are very different but have some things in common. 
The first are the amazing Open Doors supporters who do all kinds of things to provide funds for our work where Christians are under huge pressure – including some running Marathons in extreme places and doing crazy cycle rides through deserts!  With more supporters pushing themselves to take on real challenges to support our work, I thought I should do the same.

The other group of people who have inspired me to run the Marathon are those people we are working for – Christians who are afraid to go to church, or no longer have a church to go to because of the bombings in countries from Nigeria to Iraq; who have to choose between being true to what they believe or keeping their children safe in countries such as Syria and North Korea; who have been brutalised, lost their dignity or their liberty in too many countries to mention because they share the same faith as many in our own country, but do not share our freedom. And by the many today who are mourning recently lost loved ones but are refusing to respond with hate or revenge.

In particular I am running for the people of the Nuba Mountains in Sudan, from where I have just returned last week.  Under the 2011 peace treaty the nation was split into two, with South Sudan becoming a country in its own right – but the area of the Nuba Mountains is a contested border and the government of Sudan are aiming to drive the people who live there out of the country.  And they’re doing a pretty good job.  The Nuba people – both Christian and Muslim – live under the terror of daily bombings by government forces as well as surface to surface missiles.  What’s happening is largely recognised as genocide, and 70,000 people have fled to one camp alone, just inside the border of South Sudan. Many more refuse to leave their homes and communities.  Living with constant fear and trauma, in sometimes excruciating heat (it was 50 degrees when I was there), one of the most vital things that the people need is hope for the future.  The church there is serving the whole of the Nuba community, both Muslim and Christian, providing trauma counselling and training leaders as well as providing good schooling for children and young people – and Open Doors are supporting the church. 

Education is desperately important – so that children and young people have structure to their day and are working towards a time when their learning and education can be useful in a job – it’s an active statement that things won’t always be as they are today, and they take their education extremely seriously (my kids could learn a thing or two from them!).  One particularly poignant moment for me was being at a school which (unusually) had a nice brick building, but then walking with the young people to the place they actually have their lessons – about 300 metres away on a dry riverbed. Why there instead of the school? 
Because the riverbed is less visible from the air and is out of range of the surface missiles, which the brick building Ian’t – they discovered that when a missile exploded right next to the school building. 

Both hope and education are precious commodities in the Nuba Mountains - neither are easy to find and both are easy to lose.  But I was struck by the incredible courage and resilience of the people – and they were so encouraged to know there were others in other countries who knew about their situation and cared about them.

Almost all NGOs understandably left the Nuba Mountains in 2011 when things turned particularly violent.  Open Doors has been supporting the church to serve the whole Nuba community for the last 20 years with some people regularly risking their lives to be there - and with your help we’re not giving up any time soon.  When I’ve been tempted not to get out of bed on a cold, wet Saturday morning to go on a long run, or when I’ve been 5 miles
into a run with 15 still to go, it’s been the determination and fortitude of so many that we’re serving that have spurred me on to do what I can.  Please will you sponsor me?  All funds raised will go directly to support the good things such as education that are happening in Sudan.

Thank you so much for reading this!

Lisa