LCC received the following request from Pastor Dennis Bartels of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, North Miami, Florida.

Ketchnide St. Louis is a lovely, Christian, hardworking mother of 3 who currently is hospitalized with Covid-19. She has been hospitalized now for several weeks and is unable to breathe on her own at this time. She also is a type 2 diabetic which is making her recovery from covid more difficult. She is an active member of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in North Miami, Florida.

Ketchnide and her husband both emigrated from Haiti and are raising three beautiful children. Both she and her husband are very hard-working and work blue-collar jobs. They have committed their resources to ensure that their children had a better education and have kept them at the Christian School at Holy Cross through 8th grade and then Catholic School for high school. All of the children are excellent students and have been active in church activities and school activities while maintaining strong grades. The youngest and only boy has from a very young age shown great spiritual and emotional maturity, and no one will be surprised if he becomes a pastor.
 
In spite of their humble circumstances, Ketchnide is always extremely generous. Anytime the church or school has a fundraising drive for a charity such as mission Haiti or a local children's orphanage, she is one of the first to donate. When we have a food drive for our food pantry, she donates bags of food. She is a wonderful example of a Christian who lives her Christianity in her daily walk in life.
 
Due to the nature of her job, she has no paid sick time so every day that she misses work is unpaid. The family is a two-income family and without her income, their resources are extremely strained and there is not enough money for food, rent, utilities, and other bills. Even when she does recover, she will not be able to go back to work for many weeks.
 
This family has always given sacrificially of their meager means to help others and during their time of need, it is our hope that others will step up to help them in the same way.
 
Pastor Dennis Bartels
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
North Miami, Florida

Please prayerfully consider a generous donation to help this family in need continue to provide for their children.

LCC sent your donations to Rev. Jim Buckman, Faith Lutheran Church in Lake Forest, Illinois, and Chaplain with the United States Air Force Illinois National Guard for Lt. Masoud, an Illinois National Guardsman show family escaped from Afghanistan.
 
Thank you to all that have donated. The need for this family is great and ongoing. Please prayerfully consider supporting Lt. Masoud, who risked his life to serve our troops in Afghanistan, as he takes care of his family who made it safely to the United States.

His family is still being processed by the State Department at Quantico. It is a slow process, but Lt. Masoud was able to visit with them recently. He is so grateful for the support that he has received.

LCC sent your donations to Pastor Phil Ressler for Pastor Dan Fenco and his family. We received this update from Pastor Ressler:
 
I spoke with Dan, and he is greatly appreciative of the help. There will be some funds from his insurance as he looks for temporary housing. They are trying to find a place to live for the next year. That is the minimum amount of time it will take to rebuild if they are able to rebuild. There will need to be a determination by the city if the section of the town will be rezoned after the flooding.

Pastor Fenco planted a Hispanic congregation in the New Jersey district, Camino De Fe. The church does not have a building, and they meet in homes. The loss of Pastor Fenco’s home has the additional effect of removing a home where the church regularly met. During this difficult time, Pastor Fenco and his family will continue to need support as they find housing and replace what was lost in the explosion. Insurance will cover some of the expense but not all of it.

CLICK HERE to read the original appeal.
 
If you are so moved, please donate to help Pastor Fenco and his family recover from this devastating loss so he can continue to serve his congregation and community.

LCC received an immediate financial assistance request from Pastor Phil Ressler, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Old Bridge, New Jersey, for a pastor who lost his home due to impacts from Hurricane Ida:

Pastor Dan Fenco from Camino De Fe, a newly planted Hispanic congregation in the New Jersey District, lost his home caused by remnants of Hurricane Ida. During the storm, his home was severely damaged from their neighbor’s house exploding, leaving his home inhabitable. Fortunately, everyone in both homes had already evacuated safely prior to the explosion. Impacts were felt throughout the entire street. They are currently living with family.

If you are so moved, please donate to help this Pastor and his family recover from this devastating loss so he can continue to serve his congregation and community.

Last week your donations were delivered to Rev. Jim Buckman, Faith Lutheran Church in Lake Forest, Illinois, and Chaplain with the United States Air Force Illinois National Guard for Lt. Masoud, whose family escaped from Afghanistan.
 
Thank you to all that have donated. The need for this family is great and ongoing. If so moved, please consider a generous donation to help Lt. Masoud provide for his family.

LCC received an urgent financial assistance request from Rev. Jim Buckman, Faith Lutheran Church in Lake Forest, Illinois, and Chaplain with the United States Air Force Illinois National Guard:

As Chaplain with the United States Air Force in the Illinois National Guard, I was activated to support the National Guard vaccination efforts in Illinois. While on this deployment, I met a young lieutenant named Fahim Masoud from Afghanistan. At the age of seventeen, he volunteered to be an interpreter for our military, serving three rotations. Fortunately, his family was able to escape from Afghanistan this past week. His mother, father, and two siblings have come to our country, but they have nothing.

Fahim shares this about his service to U.S. troops in Afghanistan:

My name is Lt. Masoud of the Illinois Army National Guard whose family is getting resettled in the United States and needs your help. The sudden collapse of Afghanistan forced my family to flee to the United States after working for the U.S. government for years. My parents are elderly and don’t speak English. My two young siblings will have to be enrolled in school.

Please prayerfully consider supporting Lt. Masoud, who risked his life to serve our troops in Afghanistan, take care of his family who made it safely to the United States.

LCC received the following request from Rev. Abraham Mengesha in St. Louis, Missouri.

If you have a running car to donate, contact LCC at LCC@LutheranChurchCharities.org or call 866-455-6466.

LCC received a request from Dave Penner, Director of Care at Prince of Peace, Palatine, Illinois, to help a single mother with a financial burden.

The daughter in the family suffers from an untreatable genetic blood disorder and chronic Lyme disease. She has developed hypersensitivities to chemicals, mold, and electronically controlled equipment which has kept her mostly homebound for many years.

NICOR, Illinois natural gas provider has new gas consumption technology which will greatly impact the health and wellbeing of the daughter. Due to her hypersensitivities, the gas meter, which is currently outside her bedroom, must be moved. After court proceedings and much effort from this concerned mother to have NICOR move the gas meter, NICOR said they are willing to move it at the homeowner's expense.

The health and wellbeing of the daughter are of the utmost importance. Unfortunately, the mother is faced with a very short window of time to gather the funds. She must pay the full fee for the meter to be moved before the work being done. The cost to move the gas meter is $4,320.

Please prayerfully consider donating to support this single mother so that she can provide a healthy and safe environment for her daughter.

LCC received an urgent request from Pastor Don Love at Faith, Merrill & St. John Lutheran Church, Hamburg, Wisconsin, to help a young family with extensive financial burdens.

LCC received the following request from Pastor Hesham Shehab, Salam Christian Fellowship, Lombard, Illinois:
 
Friends,
 
One of our volunteers who serves immigrants and helps in their integration, a Vietnam veteran, needs car repairs that cost $900. Please show God's love and your care for those who sacrifice for our country by donating generously towards this Vet's auto repairs.
 
In God's Peace
 
Hesham Shehab
Pastor, Salam Christian Fellowship

Dear Friends,
 
Our new brother in Christ, Hassan, needs financial assistance for dental work totaling $400. Hassan is retired and has no SSI benefits because he is waiting for his U.S. citizenship test that may take more than one year.
 
Please show the love of Christ to our new brother as he struggles daily without the proper dental work.
 
Click here to read Hassan's story.
 
In God's Peace,
 
Hesham Shehab
Pastor, Salam Christian Fellowship
Lombard, Illinois

Lutheran Church Charities works through congregations nationwide to share the Mercy, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Jesus to those who are suffering and in need.
 
Please show the love of Christ by donating generously to help these individuals during challenging times.

LCC is working with Rev. Gregg Ramirez, Interim Pastor of Immanuel Lutheran in Des Plaines, Illinois to assist a young woman in need.
 
A 23-year-old, single Christian woman lost her job as a CNA in a nursing home due to COVID. She has been regularly searching for full-time employment but has only been able to find a part-time housekeeping position in a nursing home for not even 15 hours a week.
 
Struggling to survive and make ends meet, she now finds herself on the verge of being homeless. Please prayerfully consider donating to help Immanuel, Des Plaines provide back rental assistance of $1,200 to keep this young woman off the streets.
 
Please lift her up in your prayers that she may know and experience the love, mercy, compassion, and presence of Jesus filling her heart with hope and Christian support as she walks this journey and faces these trials.

LCC received a request from Pastor Kevin Kritzer of Bethany Lutheran Church, Long Beach, California, on behalf of Salaam Ministries, California, pastored by Pastor Nader Hanna. Members of Salaam brought to Pastor Nader the plight of Saadia, a Muslim woman who, during the 2020 holiday season, remotely attended the Salaam Bible Study and became part of the Salaam Christian community. Below is her story from Pastor Nader.
 
During the holiday season 2020, a Moroccan family started frequenting our Thursday Salaam Fellowship/Bible study. Shortly after, they asked me to add their Moroccan friend ‘Saadia’ to the Salaam WhatsApp group. Back then, Saadia was married to an Iranian man. We didn’t see Saadia, but we stayed in touch with her remotely.
 
A couple of weeks ago, the Moroccan family called to tell me that Saadia’s husband took her out to a grocery store, handed her court divorce papers, and left her there! Saadia doesn’t have a place to stay, she doesn’t have a car, and she doesn’t have a job. We called a lawyer friend to help Saadia with her legal questions and status in the United States after her divorce and try to help her find a job, a place to stay, get her driver’s license, and a car.
 
We would greatly appreciate it if LCC can raise money for Saadia’s first month of rent and to buy a used car; $3,000.
 
Two of the congregations that support Salaam, Bethany Long Beach and Holy Cross Cypress, also seek to support Saadia in her time of need.
 
Recent Update: Salaam Ministries was able to find her a place to live for Saadia where she is sharing an apartment with two young Arabic-speaking women. Saadia is now enrolled in an English as a Second Language class. She is learning English so she can get a job to support herself. Fortunately, Saadia has a Master’s degree from a university in her homeland, which gives her some marketable skills once she learns English and starts looking for a job.
 
Saadia has been attending worship and Bible study regularly and growing in her relationship with Jesus and His Church.

LCC received the following request from Pastor Jim Buckman, Faith Lutheran Church, Lake Forest, Illinois. Pastor Buckman is also Lt. Col., Illinois Air National Guard, Chaplain.
 
A member of the Illinois Air National Guard and a vital member of the Illinois vaccination team is in need of financial assistance. This single mother of three never hesitates to raise her hand to serve when called. She has a heart for service and volunteering and has just experienced the sudden death of her father. She returned from deployment in Washington, DC for the Inauguration and was immediately deployed again to aid with vaccination distribution and administration efforts in Illinois.
 
UPDATE: This dedicated airman has returned from her vaccination team deployed and is now unemployed due to her job no longer being available. As a single mother of three, she urgently needs financial assistance with daily living expenses for her family.
 
Please prayerfully consider helping this family in need and keep them in your prayers during their difficult time.
 
Jim Buckman
Lt. Col., Illinois Air National Guard, Chaplain
Pastor, Faith Lutheran Church
Lake Forest, Illinois