Runner raises
$5,200 for Convoy of Hope
By Dan Van Veen
(6/13/04)
On April 19, Convoy
of Hope made its way through the unseasonably hot, sun-baked
streets and suburbs of Boston in an effort to raise awareness
and financial support for the ministry.
Hundreds of thousands
of people lined the streets, some calling out, “Go Convoy
of Hope,” in a traveling sea of humanity. Before the
temperature soared to 85 degrees, Convoy of Hope moved through
the crowded streets at a respectable 7-plus miles per hour.
Some call the 26.2-mile
methodical and demanding journey through the packed streets
of Bean Town grueling, even crazy. Others simply refer to
it as the Boston Marathon.
Earlier this year,
Barry Corey, who attends Calvary Temple Assembly of God in
Lynnfield, Mass., began training for what many runners view
as the pinnacle of races.
“This has
been a lifelong dream,” says Corey, an Evangel University
graduate. But as Corey’s training for his first marathon
began, he decided running for the sake of running wasn’t
enough. He took the opportunity to do something to add eternal
significance.
When Corey, who
is vice president for education and academic dean at Gordon-Conwell
Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass., started training
in January, he devised a plan to use the marathon as a fund-raiser
for Convoy. He became a board member of the Springfield, Mo.,
compassion ministry in February.
Corey signed up
50 supporters for the cause and finished the course in 4:08.42,
resulting in $5,200 worth of pledges. Corey wore a nylon shirt
with “Convoy of Hope” printed in large letters
across the front. When some of the more than half a million
spectators yelled out the name of the ministry as he ran it
served as an incentive to keep going. Of the close to 18,000
people who started the marathon, more than 1,200 failed to
finish.
“Barry put
his faith into action by running the Boston Marathon on behalf
of poor and suffering people in America and around the world,”
says COH President Hal Donaldson. “God wants to give
believers ideas like this to raise the awareness of a need
and to make a tangible difference.”
Corey couldn’t
train for the unseasonably hot conditions during the cold
New England spring. Nevertheless, he crossed the finish line
in 9,374th place — about mid-pack — and raised
nearly enough money to fill an entire COH semitrailer with
food and provisions.
