Well I've finally got back to running again and am so determined to run this race.  This time last year I tore some cartilage and my doctor and physiotherapist both said No Running Ever Again!!
I have tried to run since but after about 5 minutes I get a bad pain down the outside of my lower left leg and end up limping home.  :(
So I even surprised when I entered the Wolf Run.  Its a gruelling 10km obstacle course through thick mud.  I think there's some swimming involved too but I admit I'm too scared to look at the website and find out details of the course.  The pictures I've seen, like the one above are bad enough!
My training so far has consisted of me and Davina's DVD in the bedroom and recently I went to the running shop and was filmed on a treadmill to ensure I had the right trainers.  I've been out 4 times on the road now but it has hurt a bit so I'm going steady.
So, why am I doing this (apart from to prove to myself that I'm not ready for a zimmer frame yet).
I wrote before about the number of children that we have waiting for sponsors to enable them to go to school.  I noticed that many of them had the same surname and discovered that they had the same 2 fathers both of which had been trampled by elephants.  The two men left 9 widows with a total of 51 children between them.
Our aim is to purchase a Posho Mill.  This will give our widows an income to enable them to support their families, helping them to pay school fees and saving them from exploiting themselves in prostitution.  The mill will operate at the local market on Saturdays and Wednesdays and the women have drawn up a rota giving each one a chance to work the mill in pairs.
Some of this money has already been raised through the generosity of St James church Fletchamstead and from the proceeds of the ceilidh and curry night which was very successful.  
Thanks go especially to Geoff (Dad) for calling the dances and to Jonathan and Beth for cooking the curry.
We also have the ongoing cost of paying Rhodah's teaching salary at Mosiro Primary, so fund raising must be an ongoing effort.
​You can sponsor me by clicking on the button below which will take you directly to my virgin giving page.

It does seem a long time since I was tearing my hair out with HSBC.  Shortly after that, I took advice from someone else with a small NFPO and contacted Links International, an umbrella organisation who, for a small charge, take care of all the finances.  The big bonus is that they can claim gift aid for us!!

A mountain of clothing arrived in plenty of time for the swishing party and even money was arriving through the letter box.  There was some concern about how much wine to buy, but in the event not one glass was drunk!!  I even bought decaff tea after the last event 

Well, that's Ok, HSBC finally refused our account application.  Apparently it is against their policy to allow community accounts to Kenya.  I wish I had known this 4 months ago, but along the way I've been learning - trial and improvement, the best way to learn.  
So now I have a couple of other options so watch this space.
The good, great news even, is that John Tino​ has been successful in setting up a Barclays account in Narok into which our money can be transferred.  So I have sent the first instalment of Rhodah's teaching salary.
When God first planted the seed of this charity on my heart, this song was important to me and has been since.  We sang it in church this morning and I was reminded just who this project belongs to.  I can't and won't do this in my own strength, knowledge or wisdom and thank God I don't have to.

God I look to You, I won't be overwhelmed 
Give me vision to see things like You do 
God I look to You; You're where my help comes from 
Give me wisdom; You know just what to do 

I will love You Lord my strength 
I will love you Lord my shield 
I will love You Lord my rock
Forever all my days I will love You God 

Hallelujah our God reigns 
Hallelujah our God reigns 
Hallelujah our God reigns
Forever all my days Hallelujah

Last year during a house group meeting, we were asked what our dreams were and what was standing in the way of them being achieved.  
Since returning from the Maasai land in 2012 I'd had a passion for becoming involved in some kind of charitable work that would support Maasai children into education.  I had no idea where to start, what to do and what would be involved.  
What stood in my way was the new teaching job that I had taken up within days of returning from Africa.  I soon found myself in a cycle of work - sleep - work and my dream was put on the back burner.

Sometimes we wait for God to send us or to call us.  We pray 'here I am Lord, send me,'  we cry, 'break our hearts for what breaks Yours,' and we procrastinate by using or perhaps misusing scripture to tell ourselves that its not time yet, its not our season.

Could it be that while looking for the green light, we don't notice that actually there isn't a red light - nothing to tell us, 'No, don't go there'.

So I'm making some tiny, unqualified steps in the dark.  Do you want to come with me?