Freedom Run

Our first ever 5K Freedom Run followed by an abolitionist rally took place on April 25th in Menlo Park in conjunction with MPPC’s Compassion Weekend. We were more than pleased to have over 600 people turn out for it!! The purpose was similar to the Freedom Summit, while we also engaged in a symbolic act of running for freedom. One powerful moment was seeing more than 600 people walk to the start line in complete silence as we took a moment to pray for the victims of human trafficking.
We were honored to have Ryan and Sara Hall with us as our celebrity keynote speakers. Ryan is an Olympic and American record marathon runner, and they are both good friends and Stanford Cardinal Life alumni. They also recently started their own foundation to fight poverty and human trafficking around the world (see www.thestepsfoundation.org), so this event was a perfect venue for them to inspire others to become abolitionists. We also had Mercy Dizon with Not for Sale and Kevin Madsen with Trade as One speak briefly about how to authentically live abolitionist lives. There were about 8 other Bay Area organizations present where people could get involved in fighting human trafficking. Overall it was a tremendous success and you can see some pictures here (http://picasaweb.google.com/nwiesen/FreedomRun#). Find out more at http://freedom-run.org.

Ryan and Sara Hall speaking before the race began



people looking at the pictures and stories of slavery strung up all around the school