Roselands Running for Orphans

People who run for fun are slightly crazy.

I mean no offense by saying that and I hope you don’t take it the wrong way, but in my mind, I can’t fathom why someone would desire to run a long distance and do it with a smile on their face.

I must confess that sometimes I run, but it’s mostly to the fridge to grab another Mountain Dew.

All joking aside, running isn’t on the top of my list, but I may have to reconsider after what I’m about to tell you.

I trust by now you’re familiar with the Roseland family. Richard is our former Member Care Officer who exited the position to work towards Foster Care reform here in Memphis, TN. His wife Ximena works in the Orphanos office as a bookkeeper. Dino and Melissa serve in Belize with Samuel’s Sanctuary, an Orphanos partner.

The Roseland family has deep ties to the Orphanos organization and it’s been a joy of mine to watch the Lord work in each of their lives.

But the Roseland’s Orphanos connection extends beyond those four.

Dino’s brother Mark also loves and supports our mission (take a look at the shirt he’s wearing in the photo above). Mark is one of those people I mentioned above who runs for fun, but it all started with his desire to raise money for the ministry with Orphanos that Richard and Ximena were doing. After 14 years running to support Orphanos, he and his son Matthew are now managing the Texas Marathon Kingwood after so many years running in it and donating all of the proceeds to missions.

One of cool things about the Texas Marathon Kingwood race is that all proceeds are given to charities. You’ll never guess which non-profit organization with a background in caring for orphans was added as a third charity this year.

If you guessed Orphanos, you guessed right.

It’s certainly cool to see the unique ways the Lord plants ideas in each of your hearts to provide for this organization. I get excited hearing about these things.

But my favorite part of this story is the generational impact within the Roseland family. The call in Deuteronomy 6 to love the Lord with our hearts, souls and might is only half of the story. As parents, we’re to “teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deut. 6:7).

Praise God for our partners who are passing a gospel influence to a new generation with the hope that they do the same for the next. May the bounty be a hundredfold, for the glory of God!

Grace & Peace,

Wayne Sneed