The Lipscomb community gathers Oct. 4 for the 2015 Sara Walker Run
Lacey Klotz |
You never know how God will use people to weave His story together for good.
Sara (Pigg) Walker, an Alabama native, came to Lipscomb University to study kinesiology. A member of Pi Delta social club, Walker was a very selfless and driven individual. After graduating in 2000, she went on to continue her education at Belmont University, as a part of the physical therapy Class of 2003.
As the years continued, Walker and her husband, Brian, had two boys, Camden and Scott, and were anxiously awaiting the arrival of a baby girl. However, just days before their expected due date, her doctors discovered the loss of a heartbeat and Walker delivered a stillborn baby.
Less than a month later, after going back to the doctors for stomach pain, Walker was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. However, when faced with this tragic news, Walker remained positive and hopeful.
Through her inspiring, faith-filled blog, Savoring the Day, Walker was able to encourage others by sharing Bible verses and her day-to-day journey with thousands of followers.
Jenni Whitefield (’96), a surgical nurse at Centennial Hospital, went to church with Walker at Brentwood Hills Church of Christ. Although Whitefield didn’t know Walker personally, she said she felt a strong nudging of the Spirit to begin praying and fasting for her. Whitefield began praying and formed a fast, yet deep friendship with Walker throughout her illness.
As Whitefield continued to pray, she said she began seeing visions of African Women and asked God for wisdom and discernment for this. Shortly thereafter, she told her husband that she believed God wanted her to go to Africa, and an opportunity arose for her to go on a medical mission trip to Malawi, Africa.
In the height of Walker’s illness, when the cancer moved to her brain, Whitefield went to Malawi to serve at Blessings Hospital where she joined other nurses, doctors and volunteers and prayed hopefully that the Lord would spare Walker’s life.
“Sara and I prayed expectantly that God would heal her and she would have an amazing testimony to continue to share on her blog,” said Whitefield. “I didn’t know why the opportunity came for me to go to Africa at the peak of Sara’s illness, but looking in hindsight, it makes perfect sense.”
During the trip, Whitefield shared vulnerably with the mission’s team about her friend’s illness. The team that Whitefield joined had been part of Landmark Church of Christ in Montgomery, Alabama, the same town that Sara Walker grew up in, and several members of the team had known her as a child. Together, they prayed for complete healing over Walker’s life and health.
In August 2012, just six weeks after Whitefield returned to Nashville and nearly two years after Walker was diagnosed with cancer, Walker passed away with over 500,000 followers on her blog who had followed her journey.
“Sara was absolutely inspiring,” said Whitefield. “Even at her sickest point, she was able to rise above her own suffering by serving others.”
In June 2013, a mission team returned to Malawi, where they dedicated a village in Sara Walker’s memory that sits between the Blessings Hospital and the Mtendere Orphanage.
The Sara Walker Foundation was also established that year and exists to “continue Walker’s ministry of encouragement and outreach in the Name of Jesus.” Today, the Sara Walker Foundation has grown into a platform to support medical and educational programs by sending doctors, nurses, teachers and volunteers to Malawi to help meet basic needs of the community and faithfully serve others, the way Walker did throughout her life.
Since 2013, Whitefield has become an adjunct clinical professor in nursing at Lipscomb, and has led four teams of Lipscomb nursing and pharmacy students to Malawi to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and to meet immediate physical needs of the people there. Walker’s brother, Michael Pigg, has also helped lead a group of Lipscomb education students to Malawi to work with the housemothers at the Mtendere Orphanage this past June.
“There is a lot of spiritual warfare in Africa, however, there is power in healing,” Whitefield explained. “When you help heal someone’s immediate physical need or help heal someone’s child, it opens doors to connect with them on a deeper level and that is when we share the gospel with them.”
The Sara Walker Foundation also helps to provide scholarships for Lipscomb students to go on mission trips to the Sara Walker Village in Malawi to aid both Blessings Hospital and the Mtendere Orphanage. It also supports future college funds for her sons, Camden and Scott, and helps to meet basic needs in Malawi including medicine, vaccinations and a mobile medical unit that can help the people in remote locations.
However, none of this would be possible without the annual Sara Walker Run. This run provides the Lipscomb community a way to be a part of the story that continues today because of Walker’s story and impact.
Located at Lipscomb University on Sunday, Oct. 4, members of Walker’s family invites the community to run in the "Live for today 5K" to raise funds and awareness of the impact of this foundation. The 5K course will begin at the front of Lipscomb’s Allen Arena and will continue around the perimeter of the university.
The opening ceremonies are at 7:15 a.m., with the race beginning at 7:30 a.m. Following the run is a children’s worship gathering at 8:30 a.m. at Lipscomb’s Flatt Amphitheater. A community worship service will begin at 9 a.m. in Bison Square.
“This is a very spirit-filled morning,” Whitefield explained. “Sara’s family leads the worship services and creates an environment to come together and worship as a community. It is very honoring to the life Sara lived and shows how God has been in complete control and will continue to be.”
Sponsors of the event include Raymond Preston and Reed, Lipscomb University, Star Physical Therapy, Whitefield Dental, Patterson Company, Quorum Health Resources, Tucker and Tucker and Belmont University Physical Therapy Class of 2003.
The registration fee is $35 per person, and $15 for Lipscomb students. Students participating will also be given chapel credit, snacks and a Sara Walker Foundation T-shirt. To register visit: www.thesarawalkerrun.com
A stroller-friendly event, children may also participate with their parents for free.
For more information about the Sara Walker Foundation or how to get involved visit: https://www.facebook.com/sarawfoundation