Dear faithful supporters: 

 I turn 50 this year. This will be my 5th Chicago Marathon. I ran my first Chicago Marathon in 2003.  In the years 2003-05, many of you supported me and gave very generously to fight cancer.  In 2006, I ran the Chicago Marathon to raise money to fight AIDS through World Vision. I dedicated my 2005 and 2006 runs to my sister who died of ovarian cancer. She was a great supporter of World Vision. I am truly grateful for your generous support during these runs.

This year I dedicate my 2007 Chicago Marathon run and the 200 mile New Hampshire Relay to fight Global Slavery.

(Update, September 16, 2007: I just returned from the New Hampshire 200 mile relay. I was a part of a 9 person team which ran the whole distance from Mount Cannon to Hampton beach. It was an amazing experience running through the hills of New Hampshire . I ran the first leg, and covered a distance of 24 miles, over the whole run. The hardest run was in the middle of the night 1:30 am, when I ran up a fairly large hill all the way up for 6.7 miles. Thank you indeed for your prayers) 

At North Park University , in the past five years, I have taught a course on Global Slavery. It has been an excruciatingly hard experience, since I was reared in New Delhi , among kids who were sold into slavery. My friends, as young as 8 yrs old were sold into slavery into places like the carpet industry. Young girls- 12 yrs old were sold as slaves into the sex trade.  They just disappeared one after another.

Global slavery is a real modern day horror. 

·          Approximately two million children are enslaved in the commercial sex trade. Exploiting poverty, this form of slavery is woven into the local economy of many countries.

·           Nearly 300,000 children are forced to serve in bloody armed conflicts around the world. "Kill or be killed" is what these children face on a daily basis.

·          An estimated 250 million children work in exploitative labor conditions around the world. From manufacturing sweatshops to domestic service, without choice, these children serve as slaves to industry and the wealthy.

This year please may I request you to support my run to eradicate global slavery through a solid organization which is fighting slavery in its many forms, and poverty- World Vision? As a child-focused Christian humanitarian organization, World Vision is committed to combating various forms of slavery. Since most forms of exploitation have their roots in poverty, the core of World Vision's work to tackle the causes of poverty actually reduces a child’s vulnerability to exploitation and slavery.

In addition, World Vision provides care and training for those who are freed from slavery, like in the center for girls who have escaped the sex trade in . World Vision has also set up centers to train and rehabilitate former child soldiers, like the center in Northern Uganda . .

World Vision is also doing much advocacy work in the , United Nations, and in governments around the world to change hearts, minds, attitudes, and government policies

Please may I request you to support my small effort to raise money to eradicate Global Slavery?  My prayer is the Wilberforce's "Amazing Grace" will bear fruit through your sacrificial giving.

The best way to support is to click on the SPONSOR ME NOW button at the bottom of this page and make an online donation. You may also send me checks made out to World Vision in support of Boaz Johnson’s run to Stamp out Global Slavery.

May God bless you richly as slaves are freed from slavery in different parts of the world. 

Boaz Johnson