MORE THAN A RUN
Belfast City Marathon 2025
James
As I reflect on May, it has been a month filled with joy both personally and professionally.
Personally, my wife Chloe and I welcomed our beautiful daughter Eliana Faith Gregg into the world on the 06.05.25.
‘Eliana’ means ‘the Lord has answered,’ and we are so thankful to Him for her safe arrival. Her 3 brothers have so far taken well to their new sister and we look forward to the day when she can help us keep them in check.
Organisationally, since September our team have delivered 406 workshops, equipping and empowering over 22,842 young people, each one created in the image of God.
We know that as a Christian organisation working across the education, youth, faith and sports sectors, that each life that we stand before is an entrustment from God, a privilege we don’t take lightly.
As you may know, the Supreme Court met regarding christian teaching within school assemblies here in Northern Ireland. As a staff, we also met to pray that the Lord will move and the many incredible teachers, individuals and organisations working in this space, will continue to be able to minister freely to this generation, proclaiming Christ.
I read a devotional recently that speaks into the process of our spiritual formation. It read, “we won’t become the men and women God wants us to be by accident. We won’t develop our redemptive potential passively. We don’t live in a neutral world, we live in a contested space, all being formed by something, into someone.” It’s true isn’t it?
At Made for More, our primary role is to play a positive role the formation process. Through our workshops we want to help young people overcome the obstacles that hold them back on their journey of wholeness. Issues like anxiety, low self esteem, bullying, bereavement to name but a few are burdens that young minds are not able to carry, yet there is hope. Our April data, taken from 502 young people who completed surveys post workshops, shows us:
93% of young people learned something new from our sessions.
74% of individuals saying they would make active changes in their lives as a result.
This means an incredible 371 young people this month are making active changes that will positively impact their formation, mentally, emotionally and God-willing Spiritually.
Lastly, as you will hear from our staff below, this year’s fundraiser “More Than A Run” was a great success. We would like to thank individuals, businesses and the trusts who have faithfully supported our 24 relay teams. This investment will go directly into the mission as we seek to serve and support this generation in Jesus’ name.
Beth
This has been a big month! We are all so proud of and beyond grateful for the money raised in our fundraiser, for all the people who participated running and supported us in so many ways. I am so thankful to God for the people who give their time and energy to support us. The money doesn’t only help us, but many young people. Our heart is to reach hundreds of young people across N.I., that they may know their life is of great worth, and despite struggle, they may find hope.
In May, we have also been in 4 more special schools: Clifton, Brookfield, Riverside, and Cedar Lodge, delivering 14 workshops. This is phenomenal news! The Lord has been opening doors for us and we have been walking with obedience. The students have been engaging amazingly and we are so encouraged by the support and feedback from schools. Shoutout to both our interns, Evie and Charlie who has been massive help in the SEN workshops!
Thank you always for praying!
Johnny
4th May was our big day. We had 124 people running a leg of the marathon to support Made For More - such a momentous occasion.
We want to thank everyone who supported our fundraiser financially and prayerfully, as we built an incredible community around the marathon and reached our target with the help of gift aid.
It really could not have gone better. The whole team pulled together and really came through with a really successful fundraiser.
Please continue to thank God for providing for Made For More - it’s incredible what happens when we fully rely on him.
I’d love to ask for prayer that people will have seen the need and how MFM try and fill that need - and hopefully stir up hearts to continue to give to us in one way or another.
Rebekah
It’s an honour to see first hand how God is working in the lives of young people across all our work.
I had a unique opportunity with the British Council to share with students who will be heading to the USA to study in September. God really worked in opening the door to that session as it seemed that many of the students were unaware of a lot of our mental health content, so our prayer is that what they learnt will support them when they are away.
Beth and I also had an incredible opportunity to share the love of Jesus with a local youth group which we believe are seeds sown in their lives.
Please continue to pray that God will provide for us as we complete and submit ongoing funding applications for our work. As James and I work on this we’d love to ask for prayer that His Spirit would guide us and that funders would be receptive to the need for our work.
Chris
It was a pleasure this month to get to speak to some of the youth at Loughgall Football club and their parents.
Through our partnership with Sports Chaplaincy, we went in to chat to some of the youth, parents and coaches of the Loughgall Football Club about mental health. This was a really positive workshop, as parents, coaches and players all engaged in thinking about their value and how better to look after their mental health in light of their value. We also were able to build a strong connection with the chaplains at the club and they are keen for us to go back and speak to every single one of their youth players!
Thank you so much for praying for all of our workshops. Please continue to pray for God to be opening doors to new spaces and that we would be obedient and attentive enough to walk through them.
