The LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs were in the media center at the school on Tuesday through Thursday for the arrival of students, as well as requested to visit many classrooms to meet most of the 1,700 students. On Wednesday, two LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs visited students at Trinity Lutheran Church preschool. Visits were also made to the fire station that served the high school and time was spent with the first responders who were at the school the day of the shooting. After classes on Thursday, the parents and siblings of the shooting victim came to the school to spend time with the LCC K-9 Ministry teams.
 
Please continue to pray for this family and the community

On Saturday, April 7, LCC held a Basic LCMS LERT training at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Palatine, led by Kathy O’Day, Director of Disaster Response. There were a total of 31 in attendance from the following churches and LERT teams:

• Immanuel, Palatine
  
• Prince of Peace, Palatine
• Immanuel, Des Plaines
• St. John, Wheaton
• St. Matthew, Hawthorn Woods
• Lord of Life, LaFox
• St. John, Lombard
• Zion, Beecher
• Joyful Harvest, Johnsburg
• Trinity, Lisle

The disaster response ministry is continuing to grow with volunteers willing to share the mercy, compassion, presence and proclamation of Jesus Christ to those suffering and in need. 

Lutheran Church Charities welcomes a second LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry team to Bethany in Austin, Texas.  This wonderful team of strong believers in Jesus Christ attended training on April 5-7 and received their LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Martha. They heard and answered God’s call to share the mercy, compassion, presence and proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need.

Martha’s Bible Verse is John 11:24, “Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’”

Not many people believed that Jesus was the Messiah while He was on earth. Martha was one of the few who believed in the resurrection. Martha’s faith was strong and she willingly proclaimed Christ to all those she encountered. We are followers of Christ, and our job is simple; devote our time and attention to Christ, and to go out and share that mercy, compassion, presence and proclamation so that others may know Christ too.

The following new handlers for LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Martha are:

Kimberly Angerman
Sally Barry
Steve Drake
Gene Grottke
Cindy Jones
Erik Jones
Jill Moyer
Laurie Nowlin
Terri Rivera
Patrisha Rolan
Paul Rolan
Tom Barry  

LCC is honored to include Tom Barry, Air Force 1982 – 1986, as a new LCC Kare 9 Military Ministry veteran handler.

This is the second LCC K-9 Comfort Dog for Bethany Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas. They will be working alongside of LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Abner and his handlers to expand their outreach ministry.

Last week, LCC Disaster Response staff, Kathy O'Day and Jamie Miller, went to Watseka, Illinois, and met with Rev. Don Love from Calvary Lutheran Church regarding his congregation members and the town’s flood recovery. He reported that 110 homes have been declared substantially damaged and will need to be raised to FEMA flood plain standards or will be condemned. Many homeowners are struggling to now figure out what they will do next or where they will go. Another 250 homes are now beginning the process of flood repairs after having been mucked and gutted. The residents of this community are devastated and feeling hopeless.

LCC staff, along with Denney Smith (Calvary Lutheran LERT Team Leader and Congregation President) completed mold remediation of crawl spaces of several homes with new foggers recently purchased. The homeowners expressed appreciation for continued assistance as they move forward in their recovery.

Please continue to keep the residents of Watseka in your prayers as they are facing a long flood recovery process. LCC will continue to share the mercy, compassion, presence and proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need.