RAFFLE: Beautiful Cannon Beach Watercolor {Benefiting The Elisha Foundation "REACH: Ukraine" Project}

Photograph of painting by Mr. Xiaogang Zhu (22x28) - January 2012

This past January I had the privilege of volunteering at The Elisha Foundation's Family Retreat in Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Life. Changing.

The people who came together--from ALL over the country--to serve alongside one another, loving on and caring for twelve very special families absolutely blew my mind.  

Every single one of them.

Like Mr. Xiaogang Zhu.  

Mr. Zhu, a talented and accomplished oil and watercolor artist who chose to spend his weekend at the coast, with all of us, painting the view from Ecola Park looking south to Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock. 

The precious kiddos at the retreat that weekend?  They got to watch!

What an amazing gift it was.  And now Mr. Zhu has given the finished painting (22x28; framed) to The Elisha Foundation so they might raffle it off as a way to raise funds for their upcoming "REACH: Ukraine" project.

Blown away.  

Both by Mr. Zhu's generosity and by the Reimers who will travel to Ukraine once again, spreading the love of Jesus to some of His most precious children.

"Partnering with the Elisha Foundation to more effectively serve the disabled community in our region in Ukraine is an answer to prayer. The need is massive, the disabled in Ukraine are largely removed from society due to social stigma carried over from the Soviet period, and the church is inexperienced in building in-roads into the disabled community, as well as uneducated on how to practically serve and meet their physical needs. The Elisha Foundation’s strengths are exactly what the church in Ukraine needs. Our church is looking forward to learning, growing, and developing a more long-term approach to serving the disabled to bring about both gospel-transformation and physical well-being to those who are largely rejected and unseen in our city." 

--Jake Knotts / Missionary Church Planter in Ukraine (quote taken from The Elisha Foundation Blog)

100 raffle tickets. $20 each or 2 for $35.  Raffle ends April 24th.  Winner will be drawn April 25th.

Ready?  Set?  Call or email NOW so you won't miss out!  And whether or not you win...you'll be helping a pretty amazing ministry do some pretty amazing work!

Pretty please?

-Cassi

In His Image

In a world so broken as the one we live in...I think it's about time that we open our eyes.  

And open them wide.

Often we are busy living on the brink of our own despair; so close to the edge ourselves that we can't be bothered to throw a life line to someone struggling to keep their head just above the water.

We hold tight to anything we might actually have to offer.  In our selfishness we fear we might give too much; afraid that if we let out too much rope we'll be pulled right over the edge.

But what happens when the rocky ground beneath our feet begins to crumble?  What happens when we lose our footing and tumble toward the water ourselves?  

Do we not have the grace of a loving God, completely capable of plucking us right out of those raging rapids?

And does Scripture not tell us that the God of the universe loves each and every one of His precious children and that He loves them all the same?

The. Same.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39 

For God does not show favoritism.

Romans 2:11

In His eyes there are not those worthy of rescue and those who ought to be carried away amidst the foaming waters.

We are all created in His image...each of us woven together just so.

The little boy with Autism in your daughter's Sunday school class?  In His Image.

The little girl with Cerebral Palsy who rides the school bus with your son?  In His Image.

The man who battles addiction after years of drowning his pain in a bottle?  In His Image.

The wife who struggles to love her husband the way she wants more than anything to love him, as the pieces of her heart haven't been completely pieced together after having been brutalized so many years ago.  Painful memories that only escape her lips as a whisper in her most desperate moments?  In His Image.

Differences, challenges and stories that intricately weave into the fabric of a person's being.

Differences, challenges and stories that absolutely do not define them.

In His Image.

I pray that one day--this day--you might risk leaning over the edge a bit and offering that life line; the gift of yourself.

The gift of love, encouragement and a whole lot of transparency.

Because, my friends, when we choose to see others the way God sees them, only then can we truly see ourselves as God sees us.

Lost, broken, flailing in the water.

Beautiful, loved, never forgotten. 

-Cassi