Rev. Chris Singer, LCC President/CEO, and Kathy O’Day, LCC Director of Disaster Response, continue to work with Emmanuel Lutheran Church leaders as they navigate the Maui wildfire recovery process and minister to those affected. They meet weekly on Zoom with church and school leaders.
 
Last week, the leaders reported that they are continuing to supply the community distribution sites in Lahaina and Kula based on specific requests. They have also been able to provide gift card assistance to eight teachers from Main Prep Academy in Lahaina who totally lost their homes, as well as other families referred to them from the family assistance center

Through a strong partnership with Orphan Grain Train, LCC will be sending 120 Hearts of Mercy & Compassion (HMC) to Maui.
 
Thank you to Tim Laabs, HMC Project Manager, and our HMC volunteers and partners who cut wood, painted, glued, packed, and are driving the hearts and markers to Orphan Grain Train’s facility in Norfolk, Nebraska, from Fort Collins, Colorado, and from Northbrook, Illinois.
 
More updates to come once they arrive in Maui. Please pray for clear shipping channels and delivery to Emmanuel Lutheran Church and School.

Lutheran Church Charities is continuing to support Emmanuel Lutheran Church leaders as they navigate this recovery process and minister to those affected by this devastating fire.
 
Becky Soppe, MS, LMHP, a GracePoint team counselor from Omaha, Nebraska, specializing in family and youth ministry, is now in Maui, providing spiritual and emotional care on behalf of Emmanuel Lutheran Church at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The Hawaii VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) assigned this shelter to Emmanuel to serve families staying there.

Becky led spiritual and emotional care training to Lutheran Early Response Team (L.E.R.T.) certified volunteers so they would be knowledgeable and comfortable ministering to survivors. She has also been available to meet with Emmanuel students and staff as requested. She arrived last Wednesday and will be available until this Friday. Her expertise has been invaluable to Emmanuel and survivors.

Lutheran Church Charities is providing tuition assistance for Emmanuel Lutheran School families that are now struggling to make their payments due to loss of income from the fire destroying their place of business.
 
In addition, many families have taken in and are supporting other family members who have lost everything, increasing their household size and expenses. Emmanuel did not want to lose any family at a time when they need the most support.
 
Your generous donations make it possible for the school to operate effectively, providing continued education and ministry to struggling and hurting families.
 
Emmanuel Lutheran School has also continued to provide requested items needed to the community distribution points for survivors in Lahaina and Kula, Hawaii.

The congregation of Emmanuel and the people we have met and minister to extend heartfelt “Mahalo nui” for prayers and financial support sent on their behalf.
 
The greatest need is for financial donations to help the people of Maui. They do not have the ability to take in any more donations of items. If you are so moved by this disaster, please donate generously so that we can help survivors with this unfathomable loss.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support for all of the communities affected by these wildfires as well as for the local first responders, LCC staff, and volunteers that help during the long recovery process. Be there with LCC to show them the love and presence of Jesus!
 
Lutheran Church Charities is ready to show the Mercy, Compassion, Presence, and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need. We only go where we are invited and we never charge those we serve.

LCC works in coordination with LCMS Disaster Response national and local districts of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Persis (King of Kings - Glenpool, Oklahoma) and her team attended the conference and presented how they responded to a local disaster in Oklahoma with their church’s L.E.R.T. team. They also shared what the LCC K-9 Ministry teams have done and can do in other areas of the country after a disaster in partnership with local L.E.R.T. teams.

While attending the conference, L.E.R.T. team member Christel Springmire assisted Forged by Fire, an LCMS Recognized Service Organization (RSO), to cook and serve southern food for Concordia Seminary students at the annual Jambalaya Fest they host.
 
Kathy O’Day, Anna Piro, Marty Johnson, and Pete Springmire spoke with seminary students about what LCMS L.E.R.T. is and how its program and volunteers can be the church and serve those affected by a disaster. For many seminary students, this is their first introduction to L.E.R.T.

Share the Comfort Event
During the conference, Rev. Chris Singer was invited to speak at Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Charles, Missouri, about the LCC K-9 Comfort Dog, Disaster Response, Hearts of Mercy & Compassion, and Human Care ministries.

Authorities are continuing to search the community by grids and the harbor waters for remains. This is the deadliest United States wildfire in more than 100 years. 3,000+ homes, businesses, schools, government, and cultural centers are destroyed.

An estimated 12,000 people are displaced. This wildfire caused more than a loss of homes and land, but a loss of identity, loss of heritage, and a loss of ohana (family) as known here. These fires have affected everyone on the Island of Maui directly or indirectly, and all are suffering and mourning their losses. With businesses destroyed, there is also a massive loss of jobs, income, and tourism.

Lutheran Church Charities received an invite from Rev. Michael Lange of The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod California Nevada Hawaii (CNH) District, CNH District Disaster Response Coordinator (DDRC) Phil Zabell, and Leif Sjostrand, Congregational President from Emmanuel Lutheran Church & School in Kahului on Maui to assist this congregation in how to respond effectively in their community from this devastating disaster.
 
Rev. Chris Singer, LCC President/CEO, Jeanette Singer, and Kathy O’Day, LCC Director of Disaster Response, have been serving in Maui. In the last two weeks, they have met with Russell Wilson, Head Elder, Diane Wilson, Church Secretary, and Josh Rempfer, Emmanuel Lutheran School Principal, many times to assist them in determining the best way to help their community in the recovery process.
 
Lutheran Church Charities and Emmanuel Lutheran Church were invited by the Hawaii VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) to provide spiritual, emotional, and trauma care to displaced residents staying in hotels. Rev. Rod Hall, Licensed Counselor, and Rev. Mark Hannemann, President/CEO of GracePoint Institute for Relational Health, have continued to minister to these displaced residents. This ministry will continue with professional counselors provided by GracePoint Institute for Relational Health at the request of the CNH District.

This week, Kathy O’Day was able to minister to a service technician who came to the home she was being housed at for this deployment. He shared that he has three adult married sons. One son, his wife, and four children lost their entire home and all their belongings in Lahaina. His son was not at home when the fire broke out and was trying desperately to get back to his family, as his wife does not drive. She eventually found a ride out with another family in a very crowded car. His son was very grateful but is now very silent and feels lost.
 
Another son lost his belongings in a rental in Lahaina. They are now all living with their parents. His third son is a police officer who has been searching for remains and then notifying relatives of their loss, affecting him greatly. He is very worried for all of his family but trusts that God will provide.
 
Kathy gave him gift cards and offered a word of prayer. Overcome with emotion, he expressed his gratitude with a big hug. Emmanuel members will continue to follow up with this family.

After meeting the first week with food pantry leaders from Emmanuel and Wailuku Union Churches and a community distribution site in Lahaina, the first shipment of requested goods arrived from Orphan Grain Train (OGT), a Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) Recognized Service Organization led by Rev. Ralph Schmidt on the Island of Maui.
 
Within 24 hours of its arrival, Emmanuel Lutheran Church members divided the cargo and delivered everything to three distribution sites. Another large shipment will be arriving in the coming weeks to help serve families in need.

Lutheran Church Charities is providing tuition assistance for Emmanuel Lutheran School families that are now struggling to make their payments due to loss of income from the fire destroying their place of business.
 
In addition, many families have taken in and are supporting other family members who have lost everything, increasing their household size and expenses. Emmanuel did not want to lose any family at a time when they need the most support.
 
Your generous donations make it possible for the school to operate effectively, providing continued education and ministry to struggling and hurting families.

The congregation of Emmanuel and the people we have met and minister to extend heartfelt “Mahalo nui” for prayers and financial support sent on their behalf.
 
The greatest need is for financial donations to help the people of Maui. They do not have the ability to take in any more donations of items. If you are so moved by this disaster, please donate generously so that we can help survivors with this unfathomable loss.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support for all of the communities affected by these wildfires as well as for the local first responders, LCC staff, and volunteers that help during the long recovery process. Be there with LCC to show them the love and presence of Jesus!
 
Lutheran Church Charities is ready to show the Mercy, Compassion, Presence, and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need. We only go where we are invited and we never charge those we serve.

LCC works in coordination with LCMS Disaster Response national and local districts of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

A local family shared, “Hawaiian cultural belief is that the land is not ours. God gives us the land to take care of it, and if we do, it will take care of us. Lahaina was the original capital and where all of the original Hawaiian culture was preserved. Family, or Ohana, is everything, and all share what they have, tend the land carefully, and preserve our history by passing it down through generations.”
 
This wildfire caused more than a loss of homes and land, but a loss of identity, loss of heritage, and a loss of ohana as known here. Everyone on the Island of Maui has been affected directly or indirectly by these fires, and all are suffering and mourning their losses.
 
An estimated 12,000 people are displaced, with people in shelters that will be closing soon, placed in hotels by the American Red Cross for the next 45 days, or living in their vehicles, tents in the park, on the street, or with family and friends. With businesses destroyed, there is also a massive loss of jobs, income, and tourism

Lutheran Church Charities received an invite from Rev. Michael Lange of The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod California Nevada Hawaii (CNH) District, CNH District Disaster Response Coordinator (DDRC) Phil Zabell, and Leif Sjostrand, Congregational President from Emmanuel Lutheran Church & School in Kahului on Maui to assist this congregation in how to respond effectively in their community from this devastating disaster.
 
Rev. Chris Singer, LCC President/CEO, Jeanette Singer, and Kathy O’Day, LCC Director of Disaster Response, arrived in Maui on Thursday, August 17. They immediately met with Russell Wilson, Head Elder, Diane Wilson, Church Secretary, and Josh Rempfer, Emmanuel Lutheran School Principal, to discuss what they were experiencing and hoping to accomplish during our stay.

“I want to thank you for helping LCC ‘Be There’ with those who were suffering and in need from the wildfires in Maui. The loss and grief was described as a dark cloud hanging over Maui,” shared Rev. Singer.
 
“I heard stories of survival from displaced residents receiving free meals who lost their properties. One adult son who had been visiting his parents raced to their home with the fire bearing down onto their neighborhood. His parents were not in the house and, with just mere minutes, he grabbed a few photos that he could carry and ran to a safe distance onto the beach and watched his parents’ home burn. His mother and father recounted the details to me through tears. A hotel worker shared that their home was burned to the ground and that his wife and children were now being housed at the hotel where he worked.
 
There were so many stories shared with our ministry team, who sat with each person in their grief. Our very presence alone brought so much comfort. Each person was moved to gratitude that could only be expressed by tears as we told them of the outpouring of financial support, the hundreds of prayers being lifted on their behalf, and LCC’s commitment to continue to be there through ongoing support of their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.”

On Friday, we met with the school staff. Rev. Singer led devotions and explained LCC’s role and partnership with Emmanuel. Rev. Rod Hall and Jeanette Singer, Licensed Counselors, offered individual emotional and spiritual care opportunities to them and their students. Pastor Rod and Jeanette were invited to visit and talk to students in three classrooms. The children expressed many things they had heard from their parents and were reassured to “have faith in God.” Several staff members were also ministered to privately.

Last week we also met with food pantry leaders from Emmanuel and Wailuku Union Churches and a community distribution site in Lahaina to discuss how to get the needed food, hygiene, and paper products to distribution sites for survivors in need.
 
Orphan Grain Train (OGT), a Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) Recognized Service Organization led by Rev. Ralph Schmidt on the Island of Maui, will be partnering with Emmanuel Lutheran Church to provide requested items to designated sites. A shipment will arrive in Maui this week for those in need.
 
Tears of gratitude appeared on cheeks as all discussed the deeper ministry that occurs through relationships started through meeting one’s basic physical needs.

Lutheran Church Charities and Emmanuel Lutheran Church were invited by the Hawaii VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) to provide spiritual, emotional, and trauma care to displaced residents staying in hotels. Rev. Rod Hall and Rev. Mark Hannemann, President/CEO GracePoint Institute for Relational Health, have been ministering to these displaced residents.
 
This entire team of servants has been ministering to those affected by this disaster at distribution and feeding centers, hotels, and other community businesses and sites, as well as first responders and National Guard soldiers.

On Sunday, Reverends Chris Singer, Rod Hall, Mark Hannemann, and Ralph Schmidt led the worship services at Emmanuel. Rev. Singer delivered a message of hope to those assembled. When asked to consider what Jesus might be asking them, the congregation shared: "Do you trust Me?, Do you believe in Me?, Do you love Me?"
 
Rev. Singer shared Matthew 15:21-28 and Jesus’ recognition of a faith that is trusting even when the “WHY” is not answered and God appears silent. During Bible Study, Pastor Mark Hannemann leaned into this as he instructed on Christian Care and the fact that the “WHY” question should be replaced with “WHAT” does Jesus want for us through this.

Rev. Singer was inspired by the faith demonstrated by so many as each one actively worked to care for the other. Emmanuel Lutheran School’s principal shared a story that inspired him the most as it came from the heart of an elementary student during Sunday school.
 
“Me and my brother went to Lahaina to go help out the people stuck there. All you could smell was smoke if you rolled down your windows or through the AC vents, it was tragic. We gave water to all the people who were living on the beach. We gave them water to drink and to shower, and we gave them food to eat, but the one thing they were looking for was hope and happiness, which is what we did. We had made them so happy that they cried tears, and they were hugging us so hard that it was hard to breathe. After that, we went home and we prayed for them so they hopefully could rebuild what they had lost.”
 
“What amazing faith,” shared Rev. Singer. “May each of us have our eyes and hearts open to the grief around us and respond with the mercy, compassion, presence and proclamation of Jesus!”

Sunday afternoon, Deaconess Kathy O’Day provided LCMS Basic Lutheran Early Response Team (L.E.R.T.) training to twenty congregation members and school staff from Emmanuel. They learned what they could do as church L.E.R.T. volunteers to assist their community during the immediate and long-term recovery process, and received spiritual and emotional caregiving ideas. Deaconess O’Day will lead another Basic L.E.R.T. training at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Aiea on the Island of Oahu on Saturday.

he congregation of Emmanuel and the people we have met and minster to extend heartfelt “Mahalo nui” for prayers and financial support sent on their behalf.
 
The greatest need is for financial donations to help the people of Maui. They do not have the ability to take in any more donations of items. If you are so moved by this disaster, please donate generously so that we can help survivors with this unfathomable loss.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support for all of the communities affected by these wildfires as well as for the local first responders, LCC staff, and volunteers that help during the long recovery process. Be there with LCC to show them the love and presence of Jesus!
 
Lutheran Church Charities is ready to show the Mercy, Compassion, Presence, and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need. We only go where we are invited and we never charge those we serve.

LCC works in coordination with LCMS Disaster Response national and local districts of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

These master’s degree students from across the globe wanted to hear how L.E.R.T. responds to disasters so they could learn how to assist their churches and organizations prepare and care for a disaster-filled world.

The students were divided into three groups and given real-world scenarios to discuss/solve before they were provided with how the scenarios actually played out. They asked questions and then toured the St. John’s L.E.R.T. trailer.
 
They hope to serve people from a uniquely Christian perspective in disaster ministry, emergency management, humanitarian aid, and public and mental health fields.
 
It is a privilege to be asked by Joy Lee and Jamie Aten from the Humanitarian Disaster Institute to share with the incoming class each year.

Lutheran Church Charities L.E.R.T. volunteers completed work at thirteen homes as a result of these recent storms. We continue to be available to serve as needed.

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.

Last week, Lutheran Church Charities Disaster Response received our new MT-100 Mini Bobcat from Atlas Bobcat.

Many thanks to the LCMS Disaster Response for a grant and our generous donors for making this purchase possible. When invited, this will be used when responding to disasters, both locally and in other states, to safely move storm-damaged trees, limbs, and debris.
 
LCC staff and L.E.R.T. leaders were given maintenance and operation instructions. We are ready to respond with this new piece of equipment when the next disaster occurs. Praise God for all those that support and serve in the LCC Disaster Response ministry!

As of late Monday, the death toll from the Maui wildfires climbed to at least 99, with expectations that it will reach in the hundreds.
 
This is the deadliest United States wildfire in more than 100 years, as authorities work to identify the victims and sift through the burned communities of western Maui. 3,000+ homes, businesses, schools, government, and cultural centers are destroyed.
 
An estimated 12,000 people are displaced, with people sleeping in shelters, vehicles, stores, on the street, or with family and friends. With businesses destroyed, there is a massive loss of jobs.

“Our hearts break with Maui at the loss of life and the destruction brought on by this natural disaster. Yet our hearts are full with the hope of Jesus’ mercy and compassion,” shared Rev. Singer. “Together with your support, LCC will be there to provide the help, comfort, and encouragement needed right now.”

Rev. Singer, his wife Jeanette, and Kathy arrive in Maui to minister to this community suffering and in great need. Emmanuel Lutheran Church is currently without a pastor as they await for an answer to a call they have issued. Pastor Singer has been asked to preach at Emmanuel Lutheran Church on Sunday, August 20. The school principal, head elder, and congregational president have all asked for leadership assistance from LCC in addition to the invite from the CNH District President and DDRC.

Kathy will conduct Lutheran Early Response Team (L.E.R.T.) training and advise the church leaders on how best to work with FEMA and national and community voluntary organizations active in disaster (VOAD) for long-term recovery. Rev. Singer and Jeanette, as a certified coach and ministry partner volunteer, will focus on care ministry in shelters, congregational preparedness training for disasters, and food ministry through the church alongside two other congregations. Follow-up trips are expected to provide on-going spiritual care, and all LCC Ministries are on standby and ready to serve as needed.

The devastation is catastrophic, and there is a tremendous need for spiritual, emotional, and trauma care for everyone impacted and the first responders who are heroically dealing with the remaining wildfires, conducting search and rescue operations, and recovering lives lost.

The greatest need is for financial donations to help the people of Maui. They do not have the ability to take in any more donations of items. If you are so moved by this disaster, please donate generously so that we can help survivors with this unfathomable loss.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support for all of the communities affected by these wildfires as well as for the local first responders, LCC staff, and volunteers that help during the long recovery process. Be there with LCC to show them the love and presence of Jesus!
 
Lutheran Church Charities is ready to show the Mercy, Compassion, Presence, and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need. We only go where we are invited and we never charge those we serve.

LCC works in coordination with LCMS Disaster Response national and local districts of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

On Wednesday, July 12, the Northern Illinois District was struck by fourteen tornadoes within a three-hour time period. The only EF-2 tornado was in South Elgin, which heavily damaged a neighborhood.

On Friday, July 21, Kevin Krage, Bill Pietsch, and Larry Zagorski from Lord of Life, LaFox L.E.R.T. team returned to this hard-hit neighborhood to cut and remove a very large downed tree from a homeowner’s yard with a bobcat. The homeowner was very appreciative of their assistance, as he could have never cut or removed this on his own. He couldn’t believe how quickly and willingly the L.E.R.T. team completed the work.

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 storms, including the LCC Disaster Response volunteers and staff that help during the recovery process.
 
LCC works in coordination with LCMS Disaster Response national and local districts of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

On Wednesday, July 12, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) Northern Illinois District was struck by fourteen tornadoes within a three-hour time period. Two days later, on Friday, July 14, another two tornadoes occurred.
 
Lutheran Church Charities Disaster Response immediately reached out to all of the churches in the affected areas to see if they, or any of their congregation members, were affected. Fortunately, most were EF-O tornadoes causing minimal and localized damage that was able to be cleaned up by owners, neighbors, and public works.

Several sites required the lift to remove multiple dangerous hanging limbs and the big bobcat to move very large damaged tree trunks after they were cut. L.E.R.T. volunteers worked very hard on these last big projects and all of the homeowners expressed their appreciation to each volunteer for returning each day and treating their property as if it was their own.

Mrs. B said, “This tornado was devastating to us. It could have been worse I know. But watching neighbors help each other and seeing your team come each day and ask all of us what you can do for us has just been amazing. You have made this disaster so much more manageable for us. Thanks just doesn’t seem enough!”

One of the women in the neighborhood told us she prayed all day after the tornado happened for God to send angels to clean up the yards and He did. He sent neighbors helping neighbors, the township, and your L.E.R.T. team. She thanks God for answered prayers.
 
LCC Disaster Response is still receiving requests for assistance. It is a privilege for LCC and our L.E.R.T. volunteers to serve in the name of the Lord!

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 storms, including the LCC Disaster Response volunteers and staff that help during the recovery process.
 
LCC works in coordination with LCMS Disaster Response national and local districts of the LCMS.