L.A. Pastor Running 7 Marathons in 7 Days on All 7 Continents to Help Homeless

By Elisa Meyer --
19 Jul 2016 --

Pastor with pulmonary embolisms takes the World Marathon Challenge for the poor.

Matthew Barnett, a well-known Los Angeles pastor, is preparing to meet a life challenge- the World Marathon Challenge scheduled to be held in January 2017. The race involves running seven marathons over seven continents. The races will be held over seven consecutive days. Barnett’s aim is to raise awareness of his ministry and also to inspire needy people which his ministry serves through the demonstration of the power of perseverance.

L.A. Pastor Running 7 Marathons in 7 Days on All 7 Continents to Help Homeless[/tweetthis]

The challenge will begin in Antarctica. The last marathon will be held in North America. Barnett, who was diagnosed with blood clots, or in medical terms, pulmonary embolisms, in both lungs in 2012, must run seven marathons within a space of 168 hours.

Barnett founded the The Dream Center in 1994. His ministry serves the drug-addicted, poor and the homeless in California. According to an interview, he plunged in after he realized that his ministry is hopelessly outnumbered by the sheer number of homeless families. He is not new to such efforts, raising approximately $2,000,000 to construct The Dream Center. He achieved this by shooting a number of free throws spread over 24 consecutive hours.

Barnett, from his childhood, had dreams to construct a church which will have its doors open during all hours of the day and 365 days per year. The objective of this hypothetical church was to serve the physical and spiritual needs of the inhabitants of inner cities, thus bringing a message shining with hope for the seemingly hopeless. This dream led to the establishment of The Dream Center.

At first, The Dream Center started as standard local church. The church grew fast, from a starting figure of 39 members in 1994, the numbers only increased. In 2001, Pastor Matthew along with Caroline, his wife for two years, became senior pastors of their own Angelus Temple. This temple was the Foursquare denomination‘s birthplace. It touches 50,000 people every week at the multiple services conducted by the center at present. The reach of the church now dominates 200 ministries at last count.

Inspired by my Pastor @MatthewBarnett, who's preparing for the epic World Marathon Challenge,… https://t.co/B9lmc2Shra
— Cheyanne Lent (@CameraCHEYTV) July 9, 2016

The center houses approximately 600 individuals who were getting rehabilitated. People receive food and a number of other services which are given to quench the physical and spiritual requirements of the community. The volunteer-led organization is located in central Los Angeles within a 400,000 square-foot area facility. The Dream Center offers both long and immediate free services and programs to approximately 85,000 persons every month.