I am so excited to tell you about the vision I believe God has given me for a very special women’s event this year. On Saturday, May 7 (the day before Mother’s Day) Women’s Ministries of Oregon City Evangelical Church is planning to host a brunch for women and girls of all ages. The theme of the morning will be “Beautiful” and it will be a celebration of how our Father God views every one of his daughters. I envision having a fun photo booth with silly props where moms, daughters, grandmas, sisters, aunts, and friends can take pictures and capture happy memories together. The main entertainment of the morning will be a girls’ fashion show, featuring one-of-a-kind designs by our own talented designer, Carolyn Herberger. The models will be girls from OCEC in a range of ages from 4-16 in all sizes, shapes, and colors. We will be celebrating each girls’ character qualities and personalities as they model these outfits onstage that have been created just for them, highlighting the intrinsic beauty of their whole person.
God is giving me a life-giving, affirming, and evangelistic message to share after the fashion show that will celebrate God’s good design of girls and women. So many women are in bondage today of different kinds – from very physical bondage of trafficking or abuse to emotional bondage of comparison, insecurity, and fear. Our God is passionate about releasing his daughters from captivity of every kind and setting them FREE!
Here’s the thing: we are looking into holding this event at Gardiner Middle School and inviting girls and their moms from Gardiner. We’d even like to cover the costs of families from Gardiner that want to attend.
One last, fun detail: I’d like to provide a Justice Doll for every woman and girl who attends. These are dolls created by vulnerable women in South Africa that promote the cause of justice for girls and women all over the world, so they are a meaningful gift in more ways that one. (Check out this video to learn more.)
We have NO budget for this event – YET. We are trusting God to provide $2,200 to purchase Justice Dolls and cover the costs of any Gardiner families who may want to attend, as well as covering other costs associated (fabric for outfits, etc.). Our OCEC ladies will need to purchase tickets, as this will be a catered event, but we want to offer this as a free gift and ministry to our Gardiner families. We will be fundraising for this event at W.O.W. (Women of the Word Bible study) during January-February, 2016.
Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow! I am convinced he wants us to bless girls and women in our lives and in our community through this event, so I am praying that he opens the floodgates of heaven and provides money, people, and resources to pull this off for the glory of His name. Won’t you pray with me?
*EDITED TO ADD: Volunteers of all kinds are needed to help pull off this event. From muscle (moving tables, etc.) to photography to model wrangling to greeters to graphic design to publicity to worker bees of all kinds…we need you! If interested in helping with this fun event, shoot me an email at courtneyg {at} ocec.net
COURTNEY GOODWIN 