I'm running the Oxford Half with my friends Phoebe and Jeremy to raise money for Open Doors, who do amazing work supporting Christians around the world who are facing persecution for their faith.

"When Islamic militants Boko Haram invaded Ayuba’s* village in Nigeria, they captured his father and asked if he was a Muslim or Christian. “Christian,” he said. The militants killed him on the spot.

Ayuba discovered that a local man had helped Boko Haram identify their targets, and Ayuba was determined to kill him. But after attending a trauma centre run by Open Doors local partners, a remarkable transformation happened. “Now I have forgiven totally,” he says. “I have learned to leave everything at the feet of Jesus.”"

The money you raise will help provide trauma care and emergency relief for Christians like Ayuba facing rising violence in sub-Saharan Africa.

This is the difference your support could make…

• Every £14 could give hope and healing at a trauma centre to a Christian who has experienced extreme violence.

• Every £28 could mean a believer displaced by persecution receives food, medicine and other emergency relief to help them survive.

Find out more about the work of Open Doors: opendoorsuk.org

“And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)