Memorial dedication...

Jason's and Lindsay's families, friends, and many former fellow counselors gathered on Father's Day to remember them at Rock 'N' Water Camp in California last weekend. A memorial plaque was dedicated to Jason and Lindsay:

Photo by Dan Burkhart, Mountain Democrat

I can't tell you how much the lives of Jason and Lindsay have impacted my own... it is more profound that I can put into words. I am challenged to live more for Christ and more like Christ because of them and my entire perspective on life itself has dramatically changed. I pray that those who hear Jason and Lindsay's story will learn from their example and will pick up that torch and live for Christ like they did. He is the King of Creation, the Lord of All, and the only Savior of this world!We live in a lost world, but that is why Christ came in the first place. He is the light in the darkness! Jesus is our only hope! Jason and Lindsay believed that with all of their hearts, and they are now home with Christ in heaven. When we reach home and see them again, we can rest assured that there will be no more sorrow... and no more goodbyes. We will all be in our heavenly home for eternity! That is what keeps me going.

Here is an article from the Mountain Democrat newspaper in Placerville, California:

Families Remember Murdered Counselors

Monday, June 20, 2005

By SONYA SORICH, Staff writer

COLOMA - For some fathers, it could have been the worst nightmare.

For Chris Cutshall, it wasn't.

He spent Fathers' Day morning at Rock 'N' Water Camp, paying tribute to his 22-year-old daughter Lindsay and her 26-year-old fiancé Jason Allen. The couple served as river guides before being found shot to death in their sleeping bags on a lonely stretch of beach near Jenner in Sonoma County.

Cutshall, a pastor at Fresno Bible Church in Fresno, Ohio, said yesterday marked an opportunity to embrace faith, rather than retreat in fear.

"Believe that God is sovereign to you," he said. "He cares about His eternal plan and how we will fit into that plan."

Members of both the Cutshall and Allen families, as well as current and former camp staff members, attended Sunday's memorial service for the two outdoor youth ministry counselors.

The couple, who planned to marry in September 2004, were reported missing after failing to return from a weekend trip. Their bodies were found Aug. 18, 2004, but authorities said they probably were killed between Aug. 14 and 16.

Cutshall spoke to an audience of approximately 75 yesterday, and paralleled last year's events to a storm depicted in the Bible.

"I've come to believe that life is a whole series of storms ... storms in this messed up world are inevitable," Cutshall said. "I want you to know this: Storms are not the problem. Storms are the reality. The real problem is how we respond to storms."

Fear, he said, is too common a response to life's storms. He advocated turning toward faith instead.

"Faith is a spiritual response to storms," he said. "Faith always neutralizes fear."

A memorial to Cutshall and Allen is now displayed at a central location at Rock 'N' Water, where campers will see a theme of "Courageous Faith" this year.

Camp director Craig Lomax said the memorial plaque most importantly signals an awareness of the power of God as illustrated by the lives of the former counselors.

"It's about remembering what God did through them," Lomax said. "That's not a sad plaque for me. That's an exciting plaque."

Addressing this year's staff and counselors, Cutshall stressed the importance of filling a "God-ordained purpose" to inspire campers with courageous faith.

"When Jesus is in your boat, your boat is not going to sink," he said.

Standing next to the memorial, Cutshall said he had the faith to speak on Fathers' Day by remembering that his daughter and her fiancé had arrived home.

"They finished the job that God had called them to do," Cutshall said of his daughter and her fiancé. "Believe that this world is not your home. Our kids are not here. They're home."