On Thursday, January 12, a strong storm system moved through four states with high winds, large hail, and a tornado outbreak, including thirty-eight powerful tornadoes, of which three were long-track EF-3 tornadoes with 110+ mph winds that caused major damage to homes, businesses, and schools. There was a loss of nine lives in Alabama and Georgia from this storm.
 
One EF-3 tornado was on the ground for 23 miles through Selma, Alabama. It affected one-third of the town. In Selma alone, 3,300 homes, businesses, schools, and churches were damaged or destroyed by the tornado. This was part of a long-track EF-3 tornado that went through three states with 150 mph winds. It was on the ground for 76 miles and was ¾-mile wide going through Selma and into Georgia.

Lutheran Church Charities Disaster Response has been invited by Rev. Ross Johnson, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) Director of Disaster Response, and Rev. Ed Brashier, LCMS Southern District Disaster Response Coordinator, to provide chainsaw assistance with the lift and heavy equipment, and assist residents in sorting and salvaging belongings in the lower income, hard-hit neighborhoods of Selma, Alabama.
 
Kathy O’Day, Director of Disaster Response and LCC Lutheran Early Response Team (L.E.R.T.) staff and volunteer teams will be serving homeowners through Pastor Steve Washington at Trinity Lutheran Church in Selma, Alabama, from Sunday, January 22, to at least Saturday, February 4.

Mrs. H. walked with Martin Luther King, Jr. across the Edmund Pettus Bridge during the civil rights March in 1965 and now gives tours and shares stories of her beloved Selma. She has seen so many changes during the last several decades, but the destruction she sees everywhere now brings her to tears and causes her heart to ache for her community. She is very grateful that her home was not damaged by the three very large pine trees that fell in her yard and next to her home.
 
She told us how scared she was to hear the sounds of trees falling and glass breaking as the tornado passed through her neighborhood. She stated, “All I could do was cry out to God to protect me.” After it passed, she went outside to see many of her neighbors' homes destroyed. She could hear some crying out for help under debris, and she could just cry and pray. Thankfully, no one perished, but many of her friends have lost everything.
 
She is so grateful for all of the help that has arrived to help her community. She was especially thankful for the LCC Lutheran Early Response Team (L.E.R.T.) volunteers that worked at her home all day to make it safe again.

Agnes is a Trinity Lutheran Church member who wanted to give back to her community by serving with our L.E.R.T. volunteers. She has spent a couple of days out with the team and loves the Christ-centered care shown to her neighbors and the joyful hearts of the workers as they serve. Agnes has considered it a blessing to serve and learn what we do. She, too, has been a blessing to us.

Carl is an elderly gentleman who rode out the storm in his home's closet. He heard the freight train coming, trees cracking and falling, and part of his roof coming off. He feared his home would be totally destroyed and that he would be killed. As he stated, “I prayed for the Lord to keep me safe, and he heard my prayer.”
 
He had a lot of tree damage, and a large limb came through his roof. He feels he was blessed as he looks at all of the homes destroyed and loss around him. He was very thankful for the professional help and care shown to him.

If you are so moved, please donate to the LCC Disaster Response Fund or LCC Equipment Maintenance & Fuel Expense Fund so that we may continue to show the Mercy, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those suffering and in need.

Please pray for all of the communities affected by these devastating tornadoes, including the LCC Disaster Response volunteers and staff, as we serve in the hardest-hit area of Selma, Alabama, to help during the long recovery process.
 
LCC works in coordination with LCMS Disaster Response national and local districts of the LCMS.

On Sunday, January 22, LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Malachi (St. Matthew - Hawthorn Woods, Illinois), Myra (St. Andrews - Park Ridge, Illinois), Samson (Zion - Marengo, Illinois), and Tobias (Lord of Glory - Grayslake, Illinois) supported the family and friends of Aimee Hudson, 44 years old, who lost her battle with cancer on January 13. 

She leaves behind two young children ages 2 years old and 8 years old. Aimee was a pilot and was First Officer for American Airlines, flying a Boeing 737.  
  
The gentle, loving and comforting presence of the K-9s and their handlers was much appreciated by Aimee’s family. We pray for God’s comfort and strength for Aimee’s husband and two young children as they continue forward without her beautiful and loving presence in their lives.

In January of 2022, LCC received a request from Pastor Jim Buckman of Faith Lutheran Church in Lake Forest, Illinois, to help a single aunt of 6-year-old Damari Perry, found dead on January 7. Faith Lutheran Church has been supporting Delonya by raising funds for Damari’s funeral expenses and to help raise his four siblings for her brother, the children’s father. She is a single mother and a foster mother through Lutheran Social Services. Delonya has a powerful faith and compassion for children who need a loving, caring home.

Last Tuesday, LCC staff members Dianna Bonfield and John Pejchl had the opportunity to catch up with Delonya since early this summer when we delivered furniture to her small 3-bedroom apartment. This time we delivered handmade quilts for each of the children and an artificial Christmas tree, and boxes of lights.
 
Delonya shared that this was a hard year for everyone in the family. The children have been in counseling each week and have been adjusting well to all the trauma they have been through. All the children are doing well in school, and the after-school home life has become far less chaotic. Four months ago, she was able to move the family from the small 3-floor cramped apartment to a little more spacious 2nd-floor, 3-bedroom apartment. Once she is able to get legal custody of the four children, she will be able to move out to the suburbs, where she can have a house with a backyard.
 
Thank you for your prayers and your support as the family continues to heal from Demari's tragic passing.

Melody Rose was the most recent birth at the Redeeming Life Outreach Ministries (RLOM) Maternity Home. We truly appreciate your prayers, and we hope you will rejoice with us.
 
Baby Melody was baptized into the family of Christ, surrounded by the supportive family of faith at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Sanford, Florida, which offers a spiritual home for the residents, young and old. Melody's aunt, uncle, and little cousin came for the celebration and enjoyed a joyful reception.
 
RLOM staffers were proud to attend the annual Rose Dinner Gala in Washington, DC to celebrate LCMS's dedication to and participation in the 50th annual March for Life. Our Synod's efforts through Life Ministry to speak up for life have blessed Redeeming Life through its Million Dollar Life Match grants and the continued support of Deaconess Dr. Tiffany Manning and her wonderful staff.
 
The LCMS Million Dollar Life Match Grant program has encouraged many churches to begin or amplify their support for RLOM and other beginning-of-life ministries. Committed churches and circuits have held everything from door offerings to dinners and craft fairs to campaigns with baby bottles, all to invest in God's gift of life.
 
Thank you for your constant support for Redeeming Life Outreach Ministries both in Sanford, Florida, and the soon-to-open Illinois Expansion Campus in Dundee, Illinois. Your gifts enable these precious lives of moms and their babies to be brought into the Kingdom of God.

The pastors of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine (SELCU) continue to bring the good news of Jesus to hundreds this Christmas in their war-torn country, bringing people love, hope, and light.
 
Approximately 6.5 million people in Ukraine have been displaced and are facing freezing winter conditions after being forced to flee their homes. Many take shelter in damaged buildings and have limited access to food, electricity, and heat.
 
LCC received the following update from Pastor Sergey Bevz in Dnipro.

We continue to carry out our ministry. Due to missile attacks on our critical infrastructure, we continue to have problems with electricity. For many people, this becomes even more of a problem because heating their homes relies on electricity. The water supply can also be connected to electricity.
 
The mobile network also can not work for a long time without it. Therefore, now a very important help for people are candles, batteries, power banks, flashlights, generators, various types of stoves, warm clothes, and blankets. Without this, it is impossible to survive in the de-occupied places because, in most of them, there is no electricity.
 
Also, many people are asking for some building materials to help them close the holes in their damaged houses. Medicines, food, and other basic food items are also important. We still try to make a trip deep into the de-occupied areas once a week.

Also, every Sunday after the service, we receive people in the church. There are also separate groups of people whom we help - wounded soldiers in the hospital, the disabled, and people in special clothes.
 
In recent months, the Lord has been blessing our church, and it is growing. We are also particularly humble before the Lord because we see a revival starting in the church. New people come to repentance. They confess their sins and faith in Jesus. There have been six converts in the last month. There are many people who come to confirmation classes.
 
Recently, our city was hit by a rocket attack. The rocket hit a nine-story building and caused severe damage. We were there bringing help. This is something terrible that shocked us all, although this is far from the first such incident in recent months.
 
Thank you for continuing to remember Ukraine and helping the victims. It helps many people to survive and endure during this time.
 
God's blessings!
 
Pastor Sergei Bevz

During the current year, Lutheran Church Charities provided support to the victims of the war in Ukraine. The Lutheran Church "Living Water" in the city of Dnipro is one of the churches that received your donations.
 
Your donations here in Ukraine have taken on a different form - food, basic necessities, medicines, clothing, certain critical needs, and so on. And even some bulletproof vests for our volunteers, who often bring help to dangerous places.
 
It is even difficult for us today to calculate more or less exactly the number of people who received help from your donations. In fact, we did not think that all this would last for so many months and that there would be so many victims and those in need of help. But according to rough estimates, this is more than 10,000 thousand families (in most cases, we provide assistance per family, based on 4-5 people) only through our Church in the city of Dnipro.
 
These were refugees who sought asylum in our city (today, there are about 400,000 refugees in our city). Also, these were people who remained in their cities and villages. Many of them survived the occupation. These were Donetsk, Kharkov, and Kherson regions. We have taken aid to many places in these areas.
 
It is difficult to convey in words or even photographs what can be seen in those places where there were battles and occupation. War is worse than words or photos can convey. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans (5:20), said an amazing thought - when sin increases, grace abounds even more.
 
We did not think that we would see confirmation of these words in this way. But we saw it during the war. When on the one hand, some people became a source of violence, destruction, death, pain, and tragedy. But other people have become a source of help, conductors of compassion, mercy, and God's grace.

Therefore, as a citizen of Ukraine, as a brother in Christ, and on behalf of many people who received your help, I want to glorify the Lord and thank you and your charitable organization for the help provided. It really was important and precious and remains so.
 
We wish you blessed days when we all celebrate Christmas and New Year. We wish you and all of us peace around us, peace within us, and peace with our God through our Savior Jesus Christ.
 
God's blessings!
Pastor Sergey Bevz
City of Dnipro, Ukraine

Most congregations of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine follow the Eastern Orthodox church calendar. Thus, the birth of Christ ('Christmas') was just observed on January 6-7.
 
The congregation in Mikaloev, pastored by Oleksiy Navrotskyy, experienced a jam-packed house for its Christmas Eve worship. One of the ministries in the Odessa congregation is outreach to the disabled. Their Christmas Eve service for them had to be conducted without any power. Pastor Oleg Schewtschenko reports: "The Star of Bethlehem brought wise men to Jesus. We had no electricity, but the light of the Gospel once again brought children and parents in Odessa to their Saviour!"

LCC Staff member John Pejchl delivered your donations to St. Mathew Lutheran Church and "Comedor San Mateo" Soup Kitchen in Chicago, Illinois. Pastor Cesar Sifuentes shared a story with John which shows how God uses your faithful donations.
 
A single man stopped in to get food at the soup kitchen and noticed there were some electrical problems at the church. After receiving the meal, the man thanked Pastor Cesar. He also asked if he could have a look at the electrical problem since his trade is as an electrician. He was able to fix the electrical problem quickly that day. He also showed Pastor Cesar how to prevent the electrical problem in the future. Pastor Cesar has not seen the man since.
 
Your faithful donations make it possible for St. Matthew to serve those in need in their community.

Trinity's  Lutheran Church in Fremont, Nebraska ministry partners and handlers are excited to add their second LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Phinehas to serve with LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Katie.  We are blessed to grow this wonderful ministry in our church and community.  We look forward to continue our motto at Trinity, Fremont #LOVEINACTION. Love in action is when we meet the needs of other people in their thirst — physical, emotional, or spiritual — out of love for Christ, who was thirsty for us. Team Phinehas is ready to be a servant leaders, leading as a shepherd, being alongside our people, leading through our conversations.

Phinehas' Bible verse is Numbers 23:19: "God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?"

Trinity's LCC K-9 Comfort Dog team members and Phinehas were commissioned on Sunday, January 15. Team members include: Dawn Gilfry, Jon Gilfry, Brett Meyer, Carly  Gross, Jim Dockerty, Paula  Price, Rick Vogel, Abby Hassett , and Angie Lange.  A "meet and greet" was held before the service. Joining them for this special day were the following LCC K-9 Comfort Dog teams:

LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Eddie (Peace Lutheran - Grand Island, Nebraska)
LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Eden (Peace Lutheran - Columbus, Nebraska)
LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Joanna (Christ Lincoln - Lincoln, Nebraska)
LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Katie (Trinity - Fremont, Nebraska)
LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Keren (Immanuel - Ellsworth, Kansas)
LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Moses (Christ Lutheran - Cairo, Nebraska)
LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Nicodemus (The Rock - Seward, Nebraska)
LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Priscilla (Trinity - Lincoln, Nebraska)

It was so so good to see everyone and meet new friends.  What an inspiration to be with servants whose goal is to bring mercy, compassion, presence, and proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need!