The Lutheran: "Running From Malaria" Gets a Running Start
Hebrews 12:1: "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."
This is the banner headline on the website "Running from Malaria," a website that, until a few months go, was just an idea in the heads of three high school boys.
Scott Van Daalen, Ethan Wise and Brad Wylam are juniors at Waverly-Shell Rock High School in Waverly, IA. As the end of the school year approached, the three boys considered what to do with the months they had before summer vacation; something that incorporated the Lutheran and Methodist faiths they take pride in. Van Daalen and Wylam are members of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Waverly, IA, and Wise is a member of Trinity United Methodist Chruch in Waverly, IA, where his mother Deborah is the pastor.
"We wanted to do something bigger than ourselves," said Van Daalen. "Something important. We kept thinking and praying about it, and we wanted something that both the Methodist and Lutheran churches were a part of."
And "Running From Malaria" was born.
Inspired by the work the Lutheran and Methodist churches are already doing to combat malaria, and the training Wise and Wylam have completed with the cross-country team at Waverly-Shell Rock, the boys designed a plan for a malaria awareness campaign.
Wise and Wylam would take turns running the 350 miles across the state of Iowa while Van Daalen provided support. On the way, they would make stops at churches, radio stations, and newspapers, dedicated to furthering one message: malaria must be eradicated.
"One child dies of malaria every sixty seconds," said Van Daalen. "And it's preventable and curable. This has to change."
The boys keep an updated blog at www.runningfrommalaria.com, where visitors can follow the boys' trail, read their testimonies, or make donations. They also keep their followers close via Facebook and Twitter.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RunningFromMalaria
(PHOTOCRED to runningfrommalaria.com)
