“If God has called you to lead, let nothing stand in the way of the privilege you have to serve Him and to serve His people through applying the gift, the resources and the opportunity He has provided to you.” George Barna, Leaders on Leadership

Each LCC K-9 Ministry team has a leader who guides, motivates, encourages and manages the team.  This leader is known as Top Dog.  

Last week, ten individuals traveled to Lutheran Church Charities in Northbrook, Illinois for Top Dog Training to gain understanding of their role, the Comfort Dog Ministry and to equip them as leader of their LCC K-9 Comfort Dog team.

• LCC K-9 Comfort Dog affiliates: First Good Shepherd, Las Vegas, NV, Immanuel, Washington, MO, St. Paul, Fort Worth, TX, and Immanuel, Belvidere, IL are preparing and organizing a team for another LCC K-9 Comfort Dog in the future.
  
• LCC K-9 Comfort Dog affiliates Bethany, Parma, OH and Prince of Peace, Palatine, IL are beginning the journey as an LCC K-9 Comfort Dog team for the first time.
  
• LCC K-9 Comfort Dog affiliates LHSHGW, Milwaukee, WI,  Immanuel, St Charles, MO, and Christ, Scituate, MA continue with a new Top Dog to lead their teams to share the Mercy, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need.
  

Ten people from seven states brought together by God to lead, arrived as strangers and left as family. Lutheran Church Charities is blessed to work with these leaders who are dedicated to the fulfilling the mission of “mercy, compassion, presence and  proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need”.

LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry is blessed to serve with these dedicated people who will lead their teams. They heard God’s call to serve and all said, “Here am I, send me.”

Carrie Broa- Bethany, Parma, OH
Danielle Hiller- Prince of Peace, Palatine, IL
Dave Hoppe- LHSHGW, Milwaukee, WI
Deb Steckler- Immanuel, St. Charles, MO
Jennifer Pollock- First Good Shepherd, Las Vegas, NV
Kelly Hardt- Immanuel, Washington ,MO
Laura Lewallen- St. Paul, Fort Worth, TX
LuAnn Kelly- St. Paul, Fort Worth, TX
Nancy Zappolo- Christ, Scituate, MA
Sue Piske- Immanuel, Belvidere, IL

Since March 2022, Lutheran Church Charities has been working cooperatively with pastors of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine (SELCU) and the Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Church in Palatine, Illinois, to provide humanitarian relief and the clear proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Father Mykhailo Kuzma and the Parishioners of The Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Church-Palatine provided each soldier within The Hunting Brigade 68 with a personalized supply box. Inside each kit is a prayer card hand-crafted by Mrs. Linda Phillips, a warm jacket, winter boots, a hat, mittens, war-time socks, and other useful items with goodies. They received a total of 135 sets. They also delivered needed supplies and medicine for a Field Hospital.
 
Thanks to your donations and prayers, the soldiers feel strengthened and motivated to keep fighting for Ukraine. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

During the week of November 7-11, SELCU Pastor Valera Verba and a young layperson from the Dnipro congregation traveled to the area of Kherson, Ukraine. This is where the congregation is located that Pastor Verba used to serve and from which Russian troops have supposedly retreated. The purpose of the trip was to meet with faithful congregants and to deliver humanitarian aid.
 
He reported the following:
 
“A pastor in body armor. Today, in Ukraine, in some places, this is exactly the case. And this is not an act of distrust of God. These are the rules of safety principles. It is a special blessing not to rely on circumstances but to trust God in the midst of any circumstances.
 
When you go to de-occupied cities and villages, you try to bring a little hope and warmth. Because people have no electricity, gas, water, food and heat for a long time. And such a desire to bring it all, to bring the hope that is always in Christ Jesus. Which I believe is protecting our country.
 
Because it is impossible without God to confront such a Goliath and still receive victory day by day! But when you talk to people, you realize that you believe in them sometimes more than you expected. And they themselves can cheer and support you. Glory be to Jesus Christ!”

Salam Christian Fellowship, a ministry in Lombard, Illinois, that reaches out to Muslims and Arabic-speaking people sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ is grateful for your support.
 
Your donations have helped Pastor Hesham Shehab and Salam to pay for needed medications for some individuals so they do not need to choose between their medications or food to feed their families. Your financial support helped ease the cost of immigration fees for a Syrian family seeking asylum from their war-torn country.
 
Through Salam Christian Fellowship's ministry of caring, many people's lives are being touched, and hearts are being opened to hear the messages of God's great love for them.
 
While delivering this latest check of donations, Pastor Hesham shared a story about a Muslim gentleman living in America for some time. Several years ago, he became a believer and was recently baptized.
 
The ministry of Pastor Hesham and Salam has been made possible through your help.

This past Thursday, LCC staff members Dianna Bonfield and John Pejchl delivered 20 t-shirts and two prayer shawls to Christ the King Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, Illinois.
 
These items will be used by Christ the King in its ministry in the Bronzeville community to the seniors in their Senior House and other senior living facilities around them. Some of these T-shirts may be given to folks in the community, some to teenagers, or to the homeless people living in the tent cities.
 
Your continuous support of Christ the King allows them to serve those in need in their communities.

On Saturday, October 29, LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Miriam's Ministry team (Emmanuel - Kingfisher, Oklahoma) held their first Annual Fun Run/Walk in Kingfisher. One hundred twelve participants signed up, with around 70 showing up to do the actual Run/Walk.

Several businesses donated items to help make this event a great success. The team raised $8,800 for Kingfisher's "Meals on Wheels." Both the community and Emmanuel Lutheran Church supported the event. Many of the participants asked them do it again next year, so an annual event has been born.

The first picture below is K-9 Miriam's ministry team presenting the check to the director of Kingfisher "Meals on Wheels," and the second picture is the team on the morning of the Fun Run/Walk. 

Kathy O’Day, Lutheran Church Charities Director of Disaster Response, received an urgent financial assistance request from Tim Richter, Director of Christian Education (DCE) at Zion Lutheran Church in Fort Myers, Florida, to purchase basic living items needed for very low-income community members in Harlem Heights recovering from the destruction of their homes from Hurricane Ian. Debra Mathinos, Chief Programs Officer of Harlem Heights Community Center, made the initial request for assistance to Zion Lutheran Church, one of their very involved community partners for the past nine years.

Lutheran Church Charities is partnering with Zion Lutheran Church to use your financial donations to purchase microwaves, crockpots, hot plates, mini refrigerators, card tables, and chairs for at least 40-50 families.
 
This will allow families to cook simple meals, have a place to sit and eat, and for children to do homework as they try to live as best they can in their gutted homes with minimal functional electrical outlets.

Zion Lutheran Church will purchase the needed items from local businesses. Tim Richter and Jan Boerman, L.E.R.T. leader from Trinity Lutheran Church in Lisle, Illinois, who is still serving in Florida, will deliver these needed items to the Harlem Heights Community Center for family disbursement as soon as they can.

Harlem Heights is a severely distressed community in South Fort Myers, with families living in poverty at twice the rate of the rest of Lee County in Florida. The average household income of a typical Harlem Heights family is less than $25,000/year. Demographically, this community is 71% Hispanic (from Haiti, Guatemala and El Salvador), 20% African-American, and 9% Caucasian.
 
Within the boundaries of Harlem Heights, there are 350 single-family homes, 400 apartments, and more than 750 children. Ninety-five percent of the residents were employed in the service industry on Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island. Due to the hurricane, their jobs and means of support are now gone.

The Harlem Heights Community Center and its Foundation is a grassroots organization that works to build strong, self-sufficient families in the Harlem Heights neighborhood by providing charitable outreach projects in the community with community partnerships. The foundation also operates the community center, early learning center, and school. They are heavily involved in serving this community and helping find resources to assist families in recovering from this devastating disaster.
 
Beginning last week and continuing, four L.E.R.T. volunteers from Trinity Lisle are serving out of Zion Lutheran Church in Fort Myers, Florida. Ed and Jan Boerman and Clay and Linda Arnold have been doing chainsaw work and helping homeowners salvage and pack belongings in their flooded homes.

If any L.E.R.T certified individual is interested in volunteering on their own to do muck-outs or chainsaw work, LCMS Disaster Response is still operating a base camp at Zion Lutheran Church in Fort Myers, Florida. It is planning to remain open until the second week of December.
 
CLICK HERE for more information.

Please prayerfully consider donating to help Lutheran Church Charities and Zion Lutheran Church help Harlem Heights families who are struggling and in need.

Please continue to pray for the residents affected by Hurricane Ian as they face a long recovery process.