Sara Hall: Legacy …
… Team World Vision!
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #2)
Posted February 8th, 2008 at 7:00 PM by Sara Hall
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Elite Athlete Blogs, Sara Hall
Welcome to the official blog of U.S. middle-distance runner Sara Hall. Sara’s list of running accolades include being a former NCAA All- American at Stanford, the 2006 USA 5K road champion, 5th place finisher in the 1500m at the 2007 USA Track & Field Championships and the 2006 champion at the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile. Check back every other Friday for her latest entry!
What kind of legacy are you leaving behind? It’s a question I often think about, especially recently when I was asked by a reporter from ESPN, “What will Ryan Shay’s legacy be?”
I’m sure that Ryan’s death jolted all of us out of our daily routine into thinking about our own lives and what we are living for and to what end.
I don’t want to look back on my life and say, “Well, I won some races, set some records, traveled around the world… but didn’t really do anything to change the world around me”. Not to say that everyone needs to go live among lepers in Calcutta like Mother Teresa, but I believe we are all called to make an impact.
Ever since I was young, I wanted to make my mark on the world by being a missionary. In 2nd grade, I would draw pictures of myself with my 7 blonde children (and no husband present- ?) in Africa bringing aid. (On a side note … I planned to name my children Christina, Christine, Cristin, Caitlin, Catherine, Christopher, and Cameron- somehow I didn’t see this as impractical at the time!)
God put this desire to live and work in a third world country helping to meet physical and spiritual needs in me ever since I was young. When I was preparing to graduate from Stanford, I was torn between pursuing this dream he had put in my heart, or to pursue the talent he had given me in running. In the end, I felt God prompting me to pursue a career in running for a period of time before the missions work. However, the past few years have been hard because I really don’t feel like I’ve been preparing myself for that future at all- if anything, it is making me accustomed to a life of selfishness and self-indulgence, which will only make life on the missions field more of a culture shock!
The reason I’ve continued running professionally is with the hope that somehow God can use it for something greater, something larger than myself. The exciting thing is, now I am finally beginning to get a glimpse of how that can happen. Ryan and I met with some leaders from an organization called World Vision to talk about partnering with them in their work though starting “Team World Vision”.
World Vision is a very reputable Christian aid organization that focuses on community development by empowering the people of that community rather than just a band-aid approach. They exist all over the world and are often the first ones on the ground to respond to the scene of a crisis because they are already located nearby. I could go on and on about the work that World Vision and the unique and effective way in which they go about it, but if you are interested, you should check them out at worldvision.org.
Ryan and I had the chance to see first hand one of their community development projects in Mexico this past weekend. It was so awesome to meet the people living in these communities outside of Tiajuana and hear firsthand how they have benefited from World Vision’s programs. I met children who were being sponsored to go to school and have enough money for nutritious food through their child sponsorship program (if you’re a skeptic like me, sometimes you wonder whether your money actually goes to a specific child- well it does!), meet women who have been taught skills they can use to make products out of their home while still taking care of their children, met teenagers that have been spared a life of drugs and gangs because of the sports programs that have taken their time and attention, and families who don’t have to sleep in the mud because World Vision’s donated supplies to fix their roofs and pour cement floors. It made me long to stay in that village and join in hands-on, but I am hoping that by crossing back over the border and returning to my training, my efforts can be magnified!
The idea of Team World Vision is very similar to one of the Team in Training models, where you get people to sponsor you to run a race. However, what makes it unique is that 100% of the money raised goes to the development programs in Africa! It’s incredible to think that instead of just entering a race with the goal of running a certain time, you could run with so much more purpose knowing the impact you were making in an area that is desperate for help!
Ryan and I are so excited to be a part of Team World Vision and inspire as many people to get on board as we can! We are planning on being involved in formulating the team’s training plan and giving them advice along the way, and coming to some of the major marathons where teams of World Vision runners will be running to meet our teammates, and even going to Africa with other Team World Vision runners to see first-hand how the money raised is impacting the villages there.
I hope you guys will consider joining Team World Vision and create a legacy of change in Africa through caring enough to run for this reason!
- Sara
Stay tuned for Sara’s next entry on Friday, Feb. 22nd!
To comment on this entry and to send feedback & questions to Sara, please click here.
Photograph: Courtesy of NYRR
Related Stories:
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(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #9) - Sara Hall: In Definition
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #8) - Sara Hall: Patience
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #3) - Ryan Hall: Vision
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #2) - Sara Hall: Hello from Philly!
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #1)
Tags: blog, childrenmissionary, elite athlete, elite athlete blog, elite athlete blog series, elite runner, legacy, olympic games, olympic team, olympics, professional running blog, running, running community, Ryan Hall, ryan shay, sara hall, team world vision, tfs elite athlete blog series, the final sprint elite athlete blog series, thefinalsprint.com elite athlete blog series, track and filed, weblog, world vision
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The Final Sprint
Dear Sara - You are such an inspiration to me and our entire family. We love you.
February 8th, 2008 at 9:10 pmDear Sara & Ryan,
February 14th, 2008 at 3:36 pm“Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference.” JUDE 1: 21, 22. We encourage you to take a closer look at World Vision before becoming more involved. Though they are Christian based, we believe they have adopted an Emerging Church theology as evidenced by this 2007 inteview with President Richard Stearns-http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/05/ten_or_so_quest.html Jesus never called on the church to join with business and government to solve problems. Such partnership will result in the apostate church referenced in REVELATION 13 and REVELATION 17. Rather, Christ’s commission is given in MATTHEW 28:19, 20. Jesus also said, “Whoever receives one such child IN MY NAME, receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives not Me, but Him who sent Me.” MARK 9:37. Leaving Jesus out of ministry efforts is not an option. Please rather consider an organization like Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Billy Graham’s son, Franklin. Thank you for prayerfully considering. We love you. Scott & Roberta Meyer, East Aurora, NY
Wow Sara, what an awesome charge you’ve given!
I am a huge supporter of World Vision. I have seen first hand a wide spectrum of their projects in several countries in Africa; everything from immediate relief in providing food and water security in war torn parts of the Northern Uganda, to building long lasting infrastructure in Malawi.
I’ve been on the ground in Gulu, Uganda and have visited the World Vision Child Soldier Rehabilitation Centre. Here World Vision treats rescued children who were abducted from their villages and forced to serve in the rebel army. They receive medical and psychological treatment in addition to Christian counseling before being reunited with their families.
I have also led several teams to Nkhoma, Malawi to participate in World Vision’s Area Development Projects. Here World Vision identifies several villages and makes strategic investments and long term plans in areas such as health, education, sanitation, HIV/AIDS, power, and agriculture. Through their investment a community is able to become self-sustainable in a few years.
While there are many incredible and reputable Christian Aid organizations in the world [including Samaritan’s Purse], I think it’s awesome you’ve narrowed your focus to one. As my husband writes in his bio, “We spend more time trying to prove points and win arguments than reaching out to those in need. We bicker amongst ourselves while the enemy pillages the town. We need to quit arguing over the color of the carpet in the church, quit squabbling over denominational differences, quit eating the scraps from the table and get out there and love.”
Stay your course; keep making an impact. Josh and I are excited to see what type of legacy Team World Vision will leave as they get out there and love.
Carrie Cox
February 18th, 2008 at 10:54 pmWow, great article Sara, I love World Vision, my fiance and I hope to work for them one day and want to be missionaries as well. Keep up the good work
February 24th, 2008 at 9:13 pm[…] To comment on this entry and to send feedback & questions to Sara, please click here. […]
February 25th, 2008 at 2:58 pmSara,
I am so proud of you. Thanks for all you and Ryan and Sara are doing! World Vision, as any large organization, faces criticism from people who wish they were more or less alligned with any particular denomination or theological point of view. Tim Stafford wrote a great article about this a couple years ago in Christianity Today. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/march/18.50.html
FYI, Bob Pierce (the founder of World Vision) was also the founder of Samaritan’s Purse. Man of Vision is a great biography about Bob Pierce written by his daughter, who now works for World Vision.
You guys are awesome!
February 29th, 2008 at 11:01 am-Michael