Event Recap: CEM Spring Celebration & Graduation

Celebrate with us all that God has done this past year!

Excerpts from 2017 Graduate speeches:

“It was very hard when I had to come here to CEM. I was still mourning the loss of my mom [the year before] to stage 3 ovarian cancer [after a ten year battle]...When I came to CEM, I was not ready to let anybody in. It was hard on me and on them, but now I’m way stronger than I have ever been in my 20 years of life. I have to thank everyone who pushed me beyond my limits and for always being there for me. Thank you for giving me the strength and the motivation to find my way and push through with my education...” - Brianna 

“[At CEM] I’ve made new friends, new memories, and I look to the future with new eyes. I’ve realized that I came to a place where God lives, a place where you can truly encounter God...” - Zack

“When I came to the Ranch, I was depressed and suicidal. I could not see God in my life, and with all that I had done and gone through, I couldn’t see why He’d want to be a part of it. I was masking a lot of my pain and fear with just about anything that could make you feel like anything you’re not. Thanks to an old friend, I found the Ranch, where I stayed until this past February. This is where I met Christ. All of what I had tried to do on my own to get better, to move on, to find healing and peace was ultimately worthless in comparison to the all-powerful God who can redeem every chapter of our lives. Since knowing Christ, He’s given me the peace, healing, strength, and power to let go of what is behind me.”
​- Annemarie

Interns from the past year, reflect on their time at CEM:

“My goal is to share the love that Christ showed me. That love is sacrificial and it is a love that continues to find value in us in spite of how much we push against it.”
- Larissa Dickson, 2-year intern & current staff 

“My intern teams have brought me to where I am today. My intern teams have kept me grounded in who I am and what I am here to do...Internship has challenged me to grow in what I want to do most: connect and help others to grow. I’ve learned that sometimes the best thing to do is not to speak but to listen...My time as an intern has reminded me of what is most important in life: God, vulnerability, and community.”
- Kim Biesel, one-year intern

"My time at the Ranch was the best year of my life. To serve, to love, to find family, to be together in the brokenness, and to see the healing power of Christ. Coming back on property was coming home. ”
​- Lilly Haagensen, one-year intern