Starting at the Shoreline Drive over Queensway Bridge, and circling the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Lighthouse and Rainbow Harbor, participants ran for a cause on Oct 16 in the 21st annual Long Beach International Marathon in California.

A group of six students from the University of San Diego, Sophomores Allison Ligh and Austin Chia, Juniors David Pat, Debbie Koh, and Ramondo Sai and Senior Andrew Truong, joined the marathon as Team OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship).

The Team said, "Pray without ceasing; run in such a way as to get the prize; and endure hardship as discipline," which were taken from 1 Thessalonians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 9:24, and Hebrews 12:7 respectively.

Their purpose was to raise money and awareness for East Asian Missions.

For instance, over 95 percent of the un-reached people groups in the world reside in a rectangular-shaped area, extending from northern Africa to East Asia that spans over approximately 60 countries, called the 10/40 Window, 10 degrees to 40 degrees latitude north of the equator.

The region encompasses the majority of the world's Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists and remains a top concern for Christian movements such as Back to Jerusalem, where Chinese Christians are being trained and dispatched to the Window to spread the gospel.

Statistics show that among the poorest of the least evangelized countries, eight out of ten people reside in the 10/40 Window.

OMF is an international network of Christians that spreads the gospel among East Asian people groups through praying, serving, and witnessing.

It was first started by Hudson Taylor as the China Inland Mission, and serves today throughout East Asia in the fields of evangelism, discipleship, church planting, tentmaking, student ministries, English teaching, mobilizing, and equipping Asian churches for world missions.

Team OMF used a quote from Hudson Taylor saying, "The Great Commission is not an option to be considered, but a command to be obeyed."