Our Heroes Finish Strong

Do you wonder what it must be like to golf 100 holes in one day, running up and down a hilly course for 11 hours, swinging over 500 times with your clubs on your back? Do you ever wonder what it must feel like to have the opportunity to raise $200, 000 for a cause that is near and dear to your heart.

As they finish the last hole of golf, our heroes, Jodi Reimer and John Burns share what the experience of doing the  golf-a-thon was like for them this year. The passion and exhilaration in their faces is so moving as they explain what kept them going.

Current residents of the Mercy Ministries home,  Mercy Graduates and members of Relate Church , came out over the course of the day to cheer on Jodi and Pastor John

Jodi and John with residents, graduates and staff of Mercy Ministries

We would like to join pastor John and Jodi in thanking everyone who who contributed to helping them reach their $200,000 goal. Every dollar will go towards Mercy Ministries of Canada’s free residential program that gives hurting young women the opportunity to experience God’s unconditional love and life transforming power!

Doing the “Impossible” to be her Sister’s Keeper

On Monday June 18th,  Jodi Reimer will join  Pastor John Burns of Relate Church  on his “impossible” 100 hole golf-a-thon to raise money and awareness  for Mercy Ministries of Canada.  This is the third year  she is taking on the challenge, and last year – after she had helped raise $100,000 for Mercy Ministries – Jodi spoke with Idelette McVicker of She Loves Magazine about why she did it.  Idelette describes Jodi as having a grandé heart, and we excerpt her inspiring article below:

Jodi’s grandé heart has now expanded to carry the Hope of restoration and freedom for a whole crowd of young women up and down hills,  determinedly blazing a trail, all the while carrying her own 20-pound load of story.

In her hand

Jodi took over 500 swings of her golf club to raise money for Mercy Ministries last year

Here’s the thing: Jodi is a professional golfer. During a very late night Skype chat Saturday night, Jodi reminds me that this is something she can do. It’s what’s in her hand. “I can golf and I can run,” she says. So, saying yes was a no-brainer when Pastor John Burns asked her to join the second annual golf-a-thon last year.

But since our human inclination is not to jump at the idea of any suffering, even if it’s for a great cause, I asked her: “So what’s the heart connection? Why do you do this?”

Her twenty pounds of story has been heavy, but she doesn’t sidestep the answer. Maybe it’s because we’ve crisscrossed the world together or maybe because it’s simply time to share more of her story, but she moves into it:

“It’s almost like my life has been a series of little Mercy stories,” she says.

She carries a story of abuse as a little girl and then trying to cope through her teenage years. There’s a story of choosing the wrong crowd, hardcore drug abuse and addiction. There’s also a story of friends and a high school counselor who loved her enough to intervene.

“All my little Mercy stories are independent and yet together they form who I am. I can’t help but see girls who are going through difficult and vulnerable situations and think: Thank God there are some people who are going to benefit from a place like Mercy.”

“God’s been gracious to take me along and bit by bit show me His hand through my life,” says Jodi. “I can see on all the different stages of my life how His hand of mercy has been there.”

Then she says: “If you ask me where my heart is and what that heart connection is, I can’t even describe how important a place like Mercy can be to a young girl.”

The 2011 Golf-a-thon team Jodi Reimer, John Burns and Ryan Schwartz

…Back to the big question of why she’s doing it. “It was an opportunity … I’m doing it for the young girls in my world, to know that they’re loved and valued,” says Jodi. “I feel a very heavy sense of responsibility of the whole Sister’s Keeper piece. We are our sister’s keeper. I’m not OK just sitting back and waiting and watching for someone else to step in.

Inspired? 

You can read the complete article and the poem it inspired at SheLoves Magazine,

Wondering what YOU can do?

You can help Jodi and Pastor John by sponsoring their effort. One inspired supporter has offered to match every sponsorship dollar, giving Jodi and Pastor John the opportunity to raise $200.000  for Mercy Ministries this year.

They are receiving sponsorships at www.relatechurch.ca