Preparing...

This is the final week before the race that 70 of our SP Liberia staff will be running in.  Not only are they running 10km-and some for the very first time-they are raising funds for their programs, for their people and for the re-building of their country.  This is a week of preparing-let me tell you how we are preparing this week:

1.  We have 70 runners, and I cannot organize them all and make sure they get to the start of the race at JFK hospital before 7am.  So I have asked Debbie to help me put together 7 teams of 10-and each team has a Cpt.  who will be responsible to make sure their team gets to the check-in at JFK before 7am, for the 8am start.

2.  Joni is back!!! YAH!  Now she can help me prepare for the media aspect of this week-with pictures of our team-better pictures than what I have taken!

Jo and I looking for our SP staff members names on the reg. list

3.  Picking up our numbers.  Everyone who is registered has to go pick up their race numbers.  For many of our staff this is a whole new experience.  I saw one of our staff members waving me down the other day with his race number in hand-he was so excited-I told him don't lose it!!!

Joni and Danielle...

4.  Physically, our staff are continuing to train-Friday will be our last day of our SP team training. 

The country of Liberia is also preparing for something very special this October.  Elections are going to be held in October, however, today there was a referendum vote on some important issues, such as the length of term for the president changing from 6 years to 4-and and age max. for federal judges (75). The vote today was also a good indicator on how things will be come election time-as in safety and security.  Liberia is still a country recovering from a long bitter civil war and there are many players still in the political game.  The UN security forces are also preparing to make sure the election proceeds peacefully. 

One of the many armoured vehicles around today...

For the first time in about 5 years I saw a definite show of force by the UN to deter any thoughts of election violence.  I also heard many times today as I sat in the office the UN military choppers making their loop around the city.

For the people of Liberia, including our staff, voting freely is not something they take for granted.  Just like they are preparing for the upcoming race, the country is preparing for the up-coming presidential race.  Please pray for our staff as they prepare-and pray for Liberia-that peace will continue, fair and democratic elections will take place and this beautiful country will continue to re-build. 

What a blessing to be a part of history-the our staff running in their first race and elections in a post-war nation!

https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/bevkauffeldt/samaritanspurseliberia

P.S. it has come to my attention that the former font I used was hard to read-so as per the request of my readers I changed it-sorry-oh!!!