Columbia-Willamette Women of Vision

April 2022

Blessings of Easter! Whether you open this before Easter or get to it after Sunday, we pray that you will be blessed this Easter.

Have you ever had an experience of being in familiar territory, thinking that you knew what you were reading or seeing and then realized there was something you had missed? I have. Each year at Easter I remind myself to keep my heart open to understand familiar things about Easter in new ways. Here’s how I came to this Easter aha moment.

My husband and I were visiting Sicily in March one year. We love to pop into bakeries when we walk through a town to see what local treats they make. After a day or two, I realized that there weren’t the beautifully wrapped and decorated Easter eggs of mainland Italy but instead, marzipan lambs of all sizes. Agnus Dei, Lamb of God. Of course I knew that. In John 1:29 we read that John the Baptist said, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" Yes, Christ the Messiah. Yes, Christ on the Cross, the Lamb of God. But I hadn’t focused very much on the symbolism of Christ as the ultimate Passover lamb. That day I felt something like the two disciples who walked with Jesus to Emmaus and who after he left said, "Didn’t our hearts burn within us?" That year, those marzipan lambs helped me to see the Lamb of God and Easter in a fresh and deeper way. 

So what does my aha moment have to do with Women of Vision in April, 2022? Several opportunities for in-person engagement are approaching that usually don’t come at this time of year. The activities are familiar but shifted on the calendar. Let’s use the changes to see our familiar engagements with Women of Vision with fresh eyes. Let’s dig deeper into the issues facing the children and families in our project areas. Let’s renew our commitment to pray for the World Vision staff and the communities they serve. Let’s ask God to give us hearts to invite new women to join us for our May education event, for book group discussions this summer and for Share the Light on August 7. I hope that engaging with these spring and summer events of our chapter will bring you aha moments and draw you more and more deeply into this ministry.

Easter Blessings in Christ,

Ruth

Refugee Women: Sharing from the Heart

Saturday, May 21, 2022

10 to 11:30 a.m.

IN PERSON at Lake Grove Presbyterian Church

4040 Sunset Drive, Lake Oswego

No one dreams they will ever become a refugee. One day life is normal, the next, everything changes in an instant as it did for Helen Bysko, a young mother from Chernihiv, Ukraine. Her family arrived in Portland a few weeks ago, and we'll have the special privilege of talking with her in person. We'll also be sharing two other touching stories of refugee women from Syria and Myanmar.

Don't miss this special event to better understand and pray for refugees. Watch for the invitation coming next week.

Mark this date on your calendar, so you don’t miss it!

Sunday evening, August 7th, 2022

5:30 p.m. at Abigail’s Garden

The Abernethy Center, Oregon City

Columbia-Willamette Women of Vision invites you for dinner and inspiration in a delightful garden setting to bring life, hope, and a future to children in Honduras, Kenya, and Syria. Sean Kerrigan, World Vision’s VP of Philanthropy, will be speaking. After growing up as a missionary kid in Africa, serving as World Vision's National Director in Ethiopia and Rwanda, and heading up World Vision’s global WASH work, Sean gained a unique perspective from which he will share reflections on his life and work with the poor. We hope you will plan to be there.

Watch for your invitation coming soon!

If you have any questions, contact Kelley Wong ([email protected]) or Sandy Grubb ([email protected]).

Calendar

Monthly Prayer Call

Our chapter hosts a call each month (usually the second Wednesday of the month at 8 a.m.) to pray for the world, our projects, and each other. Join us! 

Contact Roxane Sain to get connected: [email protected]

SAVE THE DATE AND WATCH FOR MORE DETAILS

Refugee Women: Sharing from the Heart

Saturday, May 21, 2022

10 to 11:30 a.m.

IN PERSON at Lake Grove Presbyterian Church

4040 Sunset Drive, Lake Oswego

Three stories of three refugee women from Syria, Myanmar, and Ukraine will be shared—one in person! Watch for the Punchbowl invitation coming next week. Information will also be posted on our website event page: cwwov.org.

June Summer Book Group

Girls in the Wild Fig Tree by Nice Leng'ete

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Gathering starts at 6:30 p.m., discussion starts at 7:00

We'll be meeting at the home of Jill Sherman in Oregon City.

Watch your email for the invitation.

July Summer Book Group

Find Me Unafraid by Jessica Posner and Kennedy Odede

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Gathering starts at 6:30 p.m., discussion starts at 7:00

We'll be meeting at the home of Dinah Nicholson in SW Portland.

Watch your email for the invitation.

A Midsummer Night's Share the Light Gala

Sunday evening, August 7, 2022

Abigail's Garden at the Abernethy Center, Oregon City

Our special guest speaker is Sean Kerrigan, VP of Philanthropy for World Vision U.S. Mark your calendars now!

About Us

Women of Vision is a volunteer ministry of World Vision that cultivates dynamic partnerships resulting in significant investments of time, talent, and treasure in support of World Vision’s work, facilitating transformational impact in the lives of the poor and our supporters in the name of Christ. Please partner with us! Click here to learn what that means and update your commitment for this new year (or for the first time).

The Columbia-Willamette Chapter of Women of Vision supports World Vision's work in Kenya, Honduras, and the Syrian impact area. We also volunteer at many local organizations to help the disadvantaged in our own community. Please read about this work on our website.

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.