Hello all :)

I’ll be running the London marathon this year on behalf of the Chinese Church in London! It’s exciting yet challenging, but I’m thankful for this opportunity to support the church in this way.

I have three main aims for this race:

- To run and cross the finish line well, in a way that honours God and brings Him much glory.

- To raise awareness and support for the ministry needs of our church.

- To encourage meaningful interaction and physical activity among church family and friends through the football tournament fundraiser.

The money raised will support The Next Generation (TNG) ministry at CCiL, focusing on leadership development and resources for our youth groups and events. TNG is a ministry that I've personally been involved with over the past few years – long enough to see some of my former youth get married now! While youth can sometimes give you a hard time (yes you can, past and present youth reading this!), it's a thanksgiving and worthwhile journey, learning to love and lead them towards God.

At a time when our youth groups are growing wider in number, we need to be growing deeper in our commitment to discipleship, equipping and empowering our youth to live out a lasting faith in Jesus Christ. We can do this together with God's help - parents, youth leaders, wider church family and friends :)

This will be my 3rd marathon. If I thought the 1st was hard, the 2nd was even harder and painful. Hopefully the 3rd will be… better :) Please pray for my body to cope well with the physical demands of training, that my mind and heart would stay strong and focused on why I’m doing what I’m doing, and that God would remain at the centre of it all.

May this marathon journey and our church be one that makes much of God and bears lasting fruit!

Charis

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大家好 :)

今年我將代表倫敦中華基督教會跑倫敦馬拉松為下一代事工籌款！這令我感到既興奮卻又具挑戰性，但我很感恩有機會以這種方式支持教會。

我參加這次比賽有三個主要目標：

1) 跑好並衝過終點線，作為榮耀上帝的一種方式，並給祂帶來更多榮耀、頌讚和感謝！。

2) 提高我們對教會事工需求的認識和支持。

3) 同時透過舉辦足球錦標賽籌款活動，鼓勵教會弟兄姊妹和朋友一起參與有意義的互動和體育活動。

籌集的款項將用於支持下一代事工，以培育青年領袖及作為青年團體和活動發展的資源。下一代事工是我在過去幾年親自參與的事工，這好一段時間足以讓我看到我以前服侍的一些年輕人現在結婚了！雖然在青春時期有時會遇到困難（是的，你可以，過去和現在的年輕人都在讀這篇文章！），但這是一個充滿感恩和有價值的旅程，當中我們一起學習愛並帶領他們走向上帝。

在我們的青年團體數量不斷擴大的時候，我們需要更深入地致力於門徒訓練，裝備和增強我們年青人的能力，以活出對耶穌基督的持久信仰。我們可以在上帝的幫助下，與父母、青年領袖、教會弟兄姊妹和朋友一起做到的。

這將是我第三次跑馬拉松。如果我認為第一次很難，那麼第二次就更難、更痛苦了。希望第三次會 ...... 更好。:) 請為我祈禱我的身體能夠很好地應對訓練的要求，我的思想和心靈能夠保持堅強並專注於為什麼我正在做我正在做的事情，而上帝繼續是這所有一切的中心。

願這次跑馬拉松籌款和我們的教會能夠榮耀神並結出持久的果子！

馮詠恩傳道