In June of 2020, Raina was right before her 33rd birthday when she was suddenly diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer with liver metastases.  Raina Simpson is the adoring mother of three adorable boys, Deacon, Judah, and Titus, and a loving wife to Dustin for almost 12 years. She has been fighting stage 4 colon cancer for three years now. She has undergone multiple months of chemotherapy, surgeries, radiation and liver ablation. Raina’s sweet husband, Dustin had to leave his job to take care of their children while Raina has been undergoing treatment. After her first rough chemo fight, she was able to celebrate with one clean scan.  However, just two weeks later, the cancer devastatingly returned and she started on the long road of chemo once again.  This time, the doctors told her “the chemo has not been working. We consider this ineffective chemotherapy. You need to just look for trials now.”   Since this time, Raina has had to seek alternative options, such as clinical trials and alternative healing methods.  In the last few months, Raina received treatments at a cancer center in Irvine, CA (far from her home in Kentucky) to help her body get stronger and fight, but they did not take her insurance so the costs have been very high.  Raina is currently undergoing tests to see what trials she is eligible for as her last scan showed the cancer has increased in size.  Unfortunately, none of her options for trials are in Kentucky, which means that she and her family are facing huge financial challenges, not only from the medical bills, but also from the high travel costs, household bills, and groceries.

As Raina began her cancer journey, she also began seeing her suffering as a way to share the faithfulness and goodness of Jesus Christ. By reading Matthew 14, she noticed that as Peter looked to Jesus as he got out of the boat during his storm (her cancer), he would stay above water, performing a miracle that only Jesus who IS God could perform. But once he looked at the storm, he would begin to drown. As scans became frequent and her cancer treatments seemed too much to handle, she put her eyes on Jesus and began repeating: “Gaze at Jesus and glance at the storm.” And this is where her non-profit started. Her non-profit is called Hope 7:12 and her ministry is Eyes on You Ministry. Raina takes no income for herself and 100% of donations go to caring for other cancer patients and sharing gospel resources with them.  She is so inspiring and we want to make sure she is taken care of as well through prayer and financially supporting her family. Raina’s bold faith has helped her touch so many patients at each of her different treatments centers and on social media as well with the gospel.

As Raina’s friends, we are asking for your help to support Raina’s incredible family during this hard time. Any donation, big or small, will help and will be deeply appreciated. We want to lighten their load and worries as much as possible, so that they can concentrate on Raina’s healing and recovery. We also ask for your prayers for Raina’s health, courage, and guidance on choosing the best trial for her cancer.  She is a precious gift from God and we want to see her conquer this storm with her eyes on Jesus.