The Antioch Initiative website says, “You name the disease, the injustice, the cause . . . and there is a 5k run/walk for it! How about a run for those who still have no access to the Gospel?”
How about it, indeed!
In 2019, Antioch—a partnership between Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM) and North Central University focused on the Unreached of the World—hosted the first-ever Run for the Unreached and saw about 100 participants come out to run for the cause on a chilly April day.
According to Nick Robertson, D.Min., Director of the Antioch Initiative, the group was gearing up for the second year of the event and hoping to double that number when the North Central University campus shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For over a week, I thought we would need to cancel the event,” Robertson said. “I was waiting because there was no need to rush to make a cancellation announcement. God spoke through a series of circumstances, and we at Antioch just really felt like God was saying we still need to do this!”
Phenomenal response
Robertson and his team began praying about a virtual event and talking with people and said, “The response was phenomenal!”
Instead of 200 people running around a Minnesota lake, the “Un” Run included 500+ people running (and walking) all over the country and around the world. Robertson offered some statistics for the April 25 event:
- 518 people registered to participate in the run (including NCU students, alumni, staff, faculty, and “a bunch of other people”)
- 34 different states of the USA
- Registrants also ran/walked in Egypt, India, and Thailand.
- Participants who didn’t officially register ran/walked in Latin America and China
- 10 Zoom calls for check-in took place simultaneously, hosted by an Antioch student from NCU along with an AGWM missionary representative, providing stories and prayer points.
- Every AGWM region participated—we had two Zooms for Northern Asia and two for Arab World, plus six others
Robertson is ecstatic about the results, noting that the run accomplished its mission. “The purpose of the run was raising awareness, concern, and prayer for those who still do not have access to Christ and His love,” he said. “We also raised some extra funds to distribute among the 11 participating missionaries, but the main purpose was advocacy.”
A little extra help
While the Run for the Unreached was still expected to be a traditional, physical event, students from a project management class taught by Director of the College of Business and Technology Shawn Sauve, MBA, pitched in to help with the planning. The run was on track to supersede last year’s numbers when they had to pivot and changed to a virtual race. The project-management students continued to provide valuable assistance with the logistics, and most of the class participated in the virtual event, as well.
“At North Central University’s College of Business and Technology, we intentionally integrate into our courses, semester-long projects with real businesses and organizations,” Sauve said. “For our project management course, the Run for the Unreached was an opportunity to serve the Antioch Initiative and provide students with tangible educational experiences in initiating, planning, executing, and closing a project. Students were able to move beyond merely learning knowledge about project management, to demonstrating and using project management skills and best practices.”
President Scott Hagan, Ph.D., helped promote the event through a video posted on social media. Hagan is a strong advocate of the unique AGWM/NCU partnership. “The Antioch Initiative is one of the most compelling and creative aspects of North Central University, Hagan said. “NCU has long been a leader in missions education. Our commitment to developing leaders for unreached people groups is precisely the hope behind the Antioch Initiative.”
The Run for the Unreached is an event firmly supportive of the North Central University mission. Due to the unusual circumstances of a pandemic, the event hit a new milestone and stumbled upon a new format for the future that could allow for participants from around the world who are passionate about sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
For Robertson, the “why” is simple: “We run for people with no access to the Good news.” He is grateful that the pivot to the virtual run was so successful. He said to participants via video: “We are socially distant, but we are together for the Great Commission.”
