 LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Devorah and Zacchaeus (Redeemer - Fort Collins, Colorado) were invited by Weld County’s Victim Assistance Coordinator to be present at a “Missing in Colorado” event this past Friday, April 19.
It was a gathering to bring “options, services and hope for crime survivors” in honor of Victim’s Rights Week. Redeemer's team has been to “Missing in Colorado” events before in the state of Colorado and this is a new location for them in northern Colorado. They got invited due to the fact that they just started bringing Zacchaeus Comfort Dog to Greeley Police Department and the Weld County Sheriff’s office records department and they could see the impact he had to bring comfort and calmness to these agencies. Comfort Dogs Devorah and Zacchaeus and their team greeted the attendees and stayed for a short portion of their program. They also reunited with two FBI Agent Supervisors who invited them to be with the “Evidence Investigators” from the King Soopers mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado in 2021. "They remembered us and loved on the pups and thanked us so much for being there today for this important event," says Bonnie Fear, Comfort Dog Ministry Leader at Redeemer.  "National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, or '911 Appreciation Week' as we call it, is one of our favorite weeks for the LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Collins, Colorado," says Bonnie Fear, Comfort Dog Ministry Leader and handler for LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Devorah and Zacchaeus (Redeemer - Fort Collins, Colorado). Early in their ministry, Redeemer's team came up with an idea on how to connect with these special people. One of the things they have found is how difficult it is sometimes to describe the LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry over the phone to someone unfamiliar with it because it is a unique ministry of presence. So, the team called local police departments and asked if they could drop off some items to show their love and support for their 911 dispatchers. "Oh, and we let them know that we have two Golden Retrievers who would also like to show their thanks. That got us in the door immediately," says Bonnie. Now, Devorah and Zacchaeus visit once a month, and local police departments and 911 dispatch are their regular visits. "We are branching out and adding two more police departments on our calendar by the end of May," adds Bonnie. To present day the Redeemer team calls their 911 “friends” at three of their local police departments and schedules three different “shift” times during the second week in April to spend time with all dispatchers and bring them a small token of their love and appreciation for what they do. "They told us, 'Gifts aren’t necessary; just bring Devorah and Zacchaeus.' That works for us!” says Bonnie. This year, they dropped off appreciation gifts without the dogs to one of their local 911 agencies, which are currently working on getting us approved to bring Devorah and Zacchaeus on regular monthly visits. "I think they found out we were serious about how thankful we are for them by not bringing the dogs! They said it won’t be long before we get them in the door," says Bonnie. As the years have passed, the Redeemer team developed trust and personal human relationships with this special group of people. They are “on call” to bring Devorah and Zacchaeus Comfort Dogs after critical incident situations to bring calmness and quiet to their hearts and minds. "We have a bond and understanding of each other and our passion for serving people. This is a very important part of what we do to bring comfort to first responders," says Bonnie. The situation in Haiti is critical, with millions of people starving and in desperate need of assistance. Thank you for joining LCC in supporting our mission to aid the vulnerable in Haiti during these challenging times. Your contribution, no matter how big or small, can make a difference and help alleviate the suffering of those affected. Together, we can make a meaningful impact and help save lives in Haiti. Because of your unwavering support, LCC has been able to make substantial donations for food and medicine to Mission Haiti and Habitat For Children Ministries. We received the following updates from Lophane Laurent, Mission Haiti and Meschac St Amour, President, Habitat For Children Ministries:  It is a pleasure for me to write you this note on behalf of the people in Haiti to explain what this food package represents for us now. I want to thank God for his mercy and love, and I want to thank all of the members of LCC, especially the donors and sponsors who never stop supporting LCC with their prayers and money. You can imagine how hard it is right now to feed your family, where the food is very expensive and not easy to find because of gang violence. Before, when the inflation was 15%, I used to buy a bag of rice for about $15, and now, with the inflation of 60%, it costs $45 to $50, and you can’t find it everywhere. In our food package, we give rice, spaghetti, cream corn, sugar, and oil vegetables, and each family receives one and has food for about four or one week, depending on how many people there are in the family. Please continue praying for Haiti because almost 6 million people are starving or are homeless because they don’t have a job, and 80% of businesses are closed or destroyed by the gangs. Most of the owners left Haiti, so this is a part of the situation in Haiti now. But Mission Haiti never stopped its job in Haiti and kept going on all our projects even though it was difficult for us. My friends, now you can understand why I say this donation is more than a blessing for my people. Our airport is closed because of gang violence and all the shipping also, and we export almost 90% of the products we use in Haiti. In the name of the parents and the kids in our scholarship program, especially in my name, I say thanks so much, and May God bless your families and your ministries. Christ is Risen. He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia! Lophane Laurent Mission Haiti  On Sunday, April 7, 2024, Habitat For Children Ministries organized a prayer day for Haiti. During that time of prayer, we prayed to God for the situation of violence to calm down and stop. The prayer was called "Habitat Unity Group Day of Prayer." We asked God to be merciful to the people of Haiti because they are hungry, and everything is getting so expensive. The people can't afford to buy food anymore. The trucks that carry merchandise to the countryside are forced to pay gang members at every stop. Many hospitals have started closing their doors, and patients are forced to return home because there is no medicine and gas for the hospitals to work as they should. We also offered up praises and thanks to all the people who help us and our organizations to continue with God's work while everything is going on in Port-au-Prince. Habitat For Children Ministries is still working diligently in the countryside to deliver food and take care of sick people. We praise God for that opportunity!  Speaking with a friend from Port-au-Prince last week, he said to me humanitarian colleagues emphasized that these departments do not have sufficient infrastructure, and host communities do not have sufficient resources to cope with the large number of people fleeing Port-au-Prince. Also, speaking with a police friend over the weekend in Port-au-Prince, he said that of the 53,125 people who fled Port-au-Prince from March 8th-27th, nearly 80% already had been forced to abandon their homes and were living with relatives or in crowded and unsanitary makeshift shelters across the capital. The countryside is getting filled quickly, and now we are dealing with a lack of everything.
More than 85% of Haitians leaving the capital have been crowding into buses, risking travel through gang-controlled territory where gang rapes have been reported arm gunmen have been known to open fire on public transport. The transitional council, which will be responsible for choosing a new Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, has yet to be formally established. "So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18) Meschac St Amour President Habitat For Children Ministries, Inc. LCC Provides Spiritual Resources to Hearts of Mercy & Compassion Memorial Site in Lahaina, Maui4/17/2024
 LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry was requested to be there for the students and staff at Slinger Middle School in Slinger, Wisconsin, on Monday after the loss of Evan, an 8th-grade student. The school family at Slinger Middle School is mourning Evan’s sudden loss and needs the support of the LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs and their handlers. LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Charity (Brookfield - Brookfield, Wisconsin), Hagar (Faith Lutheran - Appleton, Wisconsin), Mary (St. Paul's - Janesville, Wisconsin), Rhoda (Prince of Peace - Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin), and Samaria (Shepherd of the Hills - Greenville, Wisconsin) were there, offering comfort and warm cuddles to the students and staff as the handlers listened with love and compassion. The LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry team walked alongside them in their grief. Near the end of the visit, a small group of kids from the special education class spent time with the Comfort Dogs and handlers. One young man was in a state of pure joy with LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Samaria! His speech was impaired, yet he tried to say “Samaria” as it meant so much to him to say her name. He got close as he struggled with the pronunciation; it was a beautiful moment! Another boy from the class came by twice and got so close but then just couldn’t touch Samaria. His teacher said he has never been able to touch a dog. The third time he came around to see her, he could touch Samaria on the head. The team loved how both these boys worked so hard to face their own challenges, and with love, patience, and support, they did! Those two boys made a memorable and emotional impact on Samaria’s team. “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7)  Last weekend was busy as new handlers spent long days training and learning more about the LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry. Each handler worked with either their affiliate’s dog or an LCC K-9 Comfort Dog in training.
LCC was blessed to have affiliates from Las Vegas, Nevada; Mequon, Wisconsin; Toledo, Ohio; Williamsburg, Virginia; and Oviedo, Florida, represented at the Replacement Handler training last weekend. LCC is happy to welcome these outstanding individuals who have been called to go out and serve their home communities to share the mercy, compassion, presence, and proclamation of Jesus Christ to those in need. LCC welcomes the following new handlers to the LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry: Heidi Albrecht - King of Glory, Williamsburg, Virginia, with LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Solomon Cheri Baker - Good Shepherd, Las Vegas, Nevada, with LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Lois Abigail Bekx - Concordia University, Mequon, Wisconsin, with LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Sage Charles Fahncke - Trinity Toledo, Ohio, with LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Lazarus Chandra Lillemoen - St. Luke's, Oviedo, Florida, with LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Moriah Andrew Santibanez - Faith Community, Las Vegas, Nevada, with LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Salome Lutheran Church Charities is honored to welcome United States Navy veteran Chuck Fahncke and United States Air Force veteran Heidi Albrecht to the LCC Kare-9 Military Ministry.
Thank You to All Our Volunteers for Being the Heart and Soul of LCC's Hearts of Mercy & Compassion4/16/2024
April is National Volunteer Month. LCC Hearts of Mercy & Compassion staff work alongside volunteers daily. We’d like to recognize and thank those exceptional people who act in Christ’s name for this ministry.  Volunteers are involved in many steps while crafting our Hearts and Crosses. For the hearts, a manufacturing volunteer utilizes a CNC water jet machine to cut the hearts to precise specifications. Then, many more volunteers sand and paint the hearts. For the crosses, the boards are painted, then cut, then painted again before the hardware is added to complete the construction. Because of our volunteers, we can keep our costs low and our production high so that we can respond to more events nationwide to bring God’s love to all. Jesus said, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) Each heart and cross shows the love of a community that is present in times of need and the love of Jesus, which is eternal. Our affiliate churches are also always working to be ready to respond nationwide with crosses. Pictured are volunteers at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Janesville, Wisconsin, who recently built 13 crosses to be prepared for a national deployment! These five volunteers worked as a team to finish the crosses this past weekend. Their enthusiasm is evident in their commitment to this ministry. Thank you, St. Paul's! We are looking for churches who want to take part in this extraordinary outreach opportunity by partnering with LCC as an HMC affiliate. Your church is invited to become an affiliate today and see the impact LCC's Hearts of Mercy & Compassion Ministry can make in your community!  At LCC, we believe in spreading the love and hope of Jesus through our Hearts of Mercy & Compassion (HMC) Ministry. HMCs can be given to celebrate a victory, honor service, or simply as an expression of love or encouragement. Last year, 730 Hearts of Mercy & Compassion were gifted by LCC staff and our affiliate churches. These hearts were given for a variety of reasons – celebration, gratitude, encouragement, and comfort. As an affiliate of LCC's HMC Ministry, you would be able to bring hope and love to your community. Whether you're looking to provide comfort to those in need or simply spread the message of Jesus through a tangible gift, our HMC Ministry is the perfect way to make a difference. Join us in spreading the love and hope of Jesus through the Hearts of Mercy & Compassion Ministry. Become an affiliate today and see the impact it can make in your community.
Lutheran Church Charities now has 17 Hearts of Mercy & Compassion affiliates in 14 states. Click here to see the map. For more information about HMC, visit www.heartsmc.org.
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