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...So, the next time you're running a marathon (or any race), why not simultaneously raise money for faith-based charities...even ORU?
That's the vision of Detroit native Lisa (Nutt 87) Harper, who has made it possible for runners and walkers all over the United States to turn their race efforts into cash for worldwide mission projects, including ORU scholarships and the Renewing the Vision campaign.
In 2003, Harper began Marathon Mission, a nonprofit organization in which people "are using their strength to run or walk various distances for reasons beyond themselves," according to Marathon's literature. Last year, 150 Detroit racers raised about $25,000 for Christian charities and missions worldwide.
A competitive gymnast in high school, Lisa began running at ORU, like most students. But unlike most students she was eventually logging 30-40 miles per week her freshman year, and 50-60 by the time she was a senior. (Thanks to ORU's water proficiency requirement, she also discovered the joy of swimming...one mile! at noon three times per week her sophomore and junior years.) She ran with ORU's cross country team for fun, becoming better acquainted with a fellow Detroit native, Scott Harper 85, who would eventually become her husband.
After college, Scott and Lisa moved back to Detroit where Scott began pastoring. Being a pastor's wife, mother of four, and active church member sidelined Lisa's intense running regimen until 2002 when she trained for and ran the Detroit Marathon (26.2 miles).
A few weeks later around Thanksgiving, she was asking herself how she could make a difference for God's kingdom. Answer: Run! She thought, If people can do a rock-a-thon or golf-a-thon for many reasons, why can't I do a marathon to raise money for missions? Knowing that God made her strong and healthy, Lisa combined her aerobic endurance with her heart for missions projects. "I experience immeasurable satisfaction when I use my strength to make an eternal impact in the lives of others." She quotes the words of missionary and Olympian Eric Liddell: "When I run, I feel His pleasure."
Scott, a track All-American for ORU, suggested that she make this an annual gig. She laughed, but the idea stuck. Now she's gung-ho about Marathon Mission.
"In my heart, I can see how a few hundred thousand dollars could be raised for a slew of Marathon Mission faith- and community-based causes." Lisa thinks that donors really want to give to Marathon Mission because it's a worthy cause. "It's actually electrifying and contagious," she says. Maybe Lisa is contagious. One reporter called her a "human dynamo." She's less inclined to boast.
"I hesitate to compare myself to Oral, but I can relate a little bit to when God told him to build a university, and all he was looking at were the fields where the campus now stands. I feel like God has said to me, 'Do Marathon Mission.' He has given me the big picture first -- like Marathon Mission could be done with scores of people in various races, all over the U.S. -- and now it's watching to see how He helps all of us to carry out that vision from Him."
This fall, that vision comes full circle as ORU is added to the Marathon Mission list of faith-based charities. Students, alumni, and friends of the university can raise money for ORU scholarships and have those funds matched through ORU's Renewing the Vision campaign. (The match applies to all gifts received between now and April 30, 2009.) "Some alumni may actually do this with us in the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon on October 19," Lisa said.
To learn more about running to support the new Marathon Mission ORU Scholarship Fund, go to www.marathonmission.net and click on "New Scholarship Opportunity" on the right-hand side.
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Alumna Runs With the Vision
By Jadell Forman 90
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That's the vision of Detroit native Lisa (Nutt 87) Harper, who has made it possible for runners and walkers all over the United States to turn their race efforts into cash for worldwide mission projects, including ORU scholarships and the Renewing the Vision campaign.
In 2003, Harper began Marathon Mission, a nonprofit organization in which people "are using their strength to run or walk various distances for reasons beyond themselves," according to Marathon's literature. Last year, 150 Detroit racers raised about $25,000 for Christian charities and missions worldwide.
A competitive gymnast in high school, Lisa began running at ORU, like most students. But unlike most students she was eventually logging 30-40 miles per week her freshman year, and 50-60 by the time she was a senior. (Thanks to ORU's water proficiency requirement, she also discovered the joy of swimming...one mile! at noon three times per week her sophomore and junior years.) She ran with ORU's cross country team for fun, becoming better acquainted with a fellow Detroit native, Scott Harper 85, who would eventually become her husband.
After college, Scott and Lisa moved back to Detroit where Scott began pastoring. Being a pastor's wife, mother of four, and active church member sidelined Lisa's intense running regimen until 2002 when she trained for and ran the Detroit Marathon (26.2 miles).
A few weeks later around Thanksgiving, she was asking herself how she could make a difference for God's kingdom. Answer: Run! She thought, If people can do a rock-a-thon or golf-a-thon for many reasons, why can't I do a marathon to raise money for missions? Knowing that God made her strong and healthy, Lisa combined her aerobic endurance with her heart for missions projects. "I experience immeasurable satisfaction when I use my strength to make an eternal impact in the lives of others." She quotes the words of missionary and Olympian Eric Liddell: "When I run, I feel His pleasure."
Scott, a track All-American for ORU, suggested that she make this an annual gig. She laughed, but the idea stuck. Now she's gung-ho about Marathon Mission.
"In my heart, I can see how a few hundred thousand dollars could be raised for a slew of Marathon Mission faith- and community-based causes." Lisa thinks that donors really want to give to Marathon Mission because it's a worthy cause. "It's actually electrifying and contagious," she says. Maybe Lisa is contagious. One reporter called her a "human dynamo." She's less inclined to boast.
"I hesitate to compare myself to Oral, but I can relate a little bit to when God told him to build a university, and all he was looking at were the fields where the campus now stands. I feel like God has said to me, 'Do Marathon Mission.' He has given me the big picture first -- like Marathon Mission could be done with scores of people in various races, all over the U.S. -- and now it's watching to see how He helps all of us to carry out that vision from Him."
This fall, that vision comes full circle as ORU is added to the Marathon Mission list of faith-based charities. Students, alumni, and friends of the university can raise money for ORU scholarships and have those funds matched through ORU's Renewing the Vision campaign. (The match applies to all gifts received between now and April 30, 2009.) "Some alumni may actually do this with us in the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon on October 19," Lisa said.
To learn more about running to support the new Marathon Mission ORU Scholarship Fund, go to www.marathonmission.net and click on "New Scholarship Opportunity" on the right-hand side.