imago dei community

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I don't think I've ever felt as tired as I did on my drive home from the REACH Labor Day family camp. Every muscle was taxed. But then again, it's not hard to feel that way when you have spent the last 72 hours trying to keep up, step for step, with a pair of eleven-year-old boys.

Even though the boys had just met for the first time at the beginning of the weekend, they established a kind of instant bond that seems so unique to children of that age.

I remember one day in particular when they were playing a game based in their imaginations. They were the "good guys", hiding out in the forest, protecting local villages, getting captured by monsters, fighting heroic escapes, and then getting captured once more to do it all over again.

As I sat there, watching them run and jump and hit trees with sticks, I couldn't help but be impressed and overwhelmed with emotion at their ability to think of the world in such a way. Nothing was ever too much to handle. No matter how large the odds were stacked against them, they were always able to dream up some new way to beat all of the odds and be the heroes.

So on our way back to dinner, I began to understand how much their play transferred into their real lives, because even though this camp was for families with children diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, these boys weren't letting all that has been stacked up against them change their dreams for the future or the future of those they love. Playing with them helped me see that HIV was just one more "bad guy" that could be beaten in the heart, if not in the body.

imago dei's partnership with REACH ministries

We often think of children living with HIV/AIDS to be somewhere "out there" such as Africa. But did you know that 40-50 families with children in the Portland-Metro area are suffering, too? These children must deal with their own mortality, sometimes their parent(s) mortality, taking dozens of prescription drugs each day, and maintain some semblance of being a kid. Imago Dei Community is partnering with REACH to minister to suffering children and families who are isolated due to HIV/AIDS. REACH is always looking for child mentors, camp counselors and, of course, financial donations to serve these children and families most effectively. For more information, contact Grant Roesler at . 

about REACH

REACH Ministries was founded by Susan Slonaker in 1999 as a nonprofit Christian organization to serve, through the love of Jesus, the communities from the deserts of the Southwest through the Pacific Northwestern states, providing respite for those affected by life-threatening illnesses and situations. Our primary focus is on suffering children and their families, those most harshly judged and isolated because they live with HIV/AIDS.

Medical professionals from Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center of Seattle, Madigan Medical Army Hospital, Multi Care and various other health organizations, individuals and groups donate their time and talents to serve the children, families and the community in many ways. Some volunteers serve directly with the youth though our REACH Mentoring program, REACH camp and psychosocial Progressive Units. Others serve by providing education and support to our Gig Harbor High School REACH program, ABC+G Sex Ed, REACH Global, and outREACH.

For more info, go to www.reachministries.org or email .

TEAM LEADER:
Grant Roesler