Here in the United States, many of us will go to the polls tomorrow (Tuesday) to elect our representatives to Congress, state capitols and city halls. It is an important election that has generated a lot of debate, argument and emotion. For the most part, though, it is not life or death. Without minimizing our differences, whatever the results tomorrow our country will keep rolling along.

Elections in other parts of the world often have more at stake – even the continued existence of the nation itself. Such is the case in the West African nation of Cote d’Ivoire. Eight years ago the nation sunk into civil war. The country was divided in half. The rebel group controlled the north and government the south. U.N. peacekeepers patrolled the middle. In the midst of that, I had the chance to travel across the country, passing through government, U.N. and rebel check points.

The past Sunday, Cote d’Ivoire had its first national election in years. The nation was tense as people went to the polls, but the voting went mostly peacefully. Now the voters wait for the results, which should come by Wednesday. The question is: will the party that loses accept the outcome peacefully … or will they revolt? That is something we do not need to worry about here in the U.S.

Let’s watch the results in Cote d’Ivoire closely in the next couple of days … and pray for peace. 

I plan to run a long way to bring attention to the health of women and children around the world – 809.7 miles to be exact.

On March 20 next year, board members, staff and friends of MAP International will run in the Publix Georgia Marathon and Half-Marathon in Atlanta to raise awareness and funds to support programs that benefit the health of women and kids in some of the world’s most impoverished communities.

Tomorrow, Sunday Oct. 31, I start my formal training. I have devised a 20-week training program that will, I hope, get me to the finish line of the marathon. If I follow the program exactly, I will run 783.5 miles in training and 26.2 miles in the marathon itself for a total of 809.7 miles. Seems like a long, long way.

The woman and baby in this picture are my motivation. The mother is Maria Ramos. Her baby is Albert Geovanni Ramos. I wrote about them last month after meeting them in a very remote community in Guatemala. They are beneficiaries of a maternal/child health program MAP helped to support with prenatal vitamins. Maria was married at 17, had her first daughter at 18 and another at 20. The family lives in a simple tin-roofed house with a dirt floor and a few chickens running in the compound. She makes corn tortillas, beans and a few vegetables on an open wood fire to feed her family. Her husband works every day for a small wage at a nearby commercial farm. There is no doctor or health center anywhere near their village.

  Albert, two-months-old in the picture, is a healthy young boy. That is in part because his mother received high-quality prenatal vitamins she would never have had access to if not for our program.

Women like Maria and children like Albert need our help. That is why we are running. You should join us. If you, or anyone you know, wants to join the MAP team, simply register for the Georgia marathon at georgiamarathon.com. Make sure to select MAP International in the “join a team” section. Run the full marathon at 26.2 miles or the half at 13.1 miles and help make a difference for a mother and child.

In the meantime, I will be updating my training along the way here at this blog and on Twitter (follow me at @michaelnyenhuis). If you see me slacking off, you have permission to get on my case. Someone will have to keep me accountable to run all those miles.

We recently developed a new logo at MAP. A key element of it is our gray “plus sign.” This little symbol actually has a great deal of significance. It reflects our commitment to partnership. Our work, added to the work of others, makes the largest impact. We know we can do far more when we work alongside others. This commitment to partnership is reflected in what we call our “core message:”

MAP International is a global Christian health organization that partners with people living in conditions of poverty to save lives and develop healthier families and communities. Recognized for our 99% efficiency rating, we respond to the needs of those we serve by providing medicines, preventing disease, and promoting health to create real hope and lasting change.

And that commitment is why I am headed to South Africa. In Cape Town this week I will attend the board meeting of the Integral Alliance, a network of Christian relief and development agencies from Europe, Asia/Pacific and North America. We continue to explore ways to add to each other’s work to bring hope and healing to people struggling under the weight of poverty around the world.

On the agenda is our partnership to improve response to disasters. We will also discuss the strategic vision for the alliance. And, as chair of the membership committee, I will recommend approval of two new members, one from Norway and one from Australia. As we meet, we will be living into the meaning of MAP’s new plus sign.