Tim is a former teacher and youth director at St. John Lutheran School. During the luncheon following the worship service, he shared many fond memories of his time at St. John. LCC staff sends their continued blessings to the members of St. John for many more years of sharing the love of Jesus to their community.

NEEDED:
Girls underwear, sizes 10-16
100% cotton BRIEF style
No pictures of animals, words or pop culture icons

Dignity4Girls, a ministry that seeks to support women and girls globally, has found themselves in a unique situation. One very important branch of the ministry is coordinating the sewing of reusable feminine pads in the U.S. by volunteers (using the daysforgirls.org pattern), shipping them to Kenya and Liberia, and funding programs for distribution that also provide health education and education on the dangers of the tribal practice of FGM (Female Genital Mutilation).

Dignity4Girl has many U.S. based LCMS churches who are currently sewing for these girls in Kenya and Liberia. Our contact in Kenya is Robert Gutwa, who is the Executive Director of the Sacred Center for Orphans and Widows, which is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kenya. In Liberia the contact is Joe Boway, a Liberian who graduated from Taylor University, has taken classes at the Fort Wayne seminary, worked with Lutheran bible translators to translate the bible and currently overseas 14 schools that he began in the rural jungles of Liberia

Our abundant blessing is that we were recently blessed by the Iowa sewers with 2,000 feminine hygiene kits! This represents hundreds of hours of work by probably a hundred volunteers. Our need is that these kits do not contain the two pairs of girl’s underwear that each kit is expected to contain. We, at Dignity4Girls, need to collect over 4,000 pairs of girl’s underwear. Orphan Grain Train is sending a shipment to Liberia on October 1st but a second shipment will be going out the first week of November.

This shipment is extra special because a small team of volunteers from Immanuel Lutheran Church, Elmhurst, will be traveling to Liberia in January to help with the distribution of these feminine hygiene kits!

Please join us in collecting the needed items which will provide for girls who are currently missing school and falling behind because they do not have the resources to purchase feminine pads each month. The two pairs of underwear included in each kit are important components for encouraging healthy hygiene and supporting these precious girls.

For more information or to donate items, please contact Sandi Helm, Dignity4Girls Program Director, at dignity4girls@gmail.com.

Sixty years ago, LSSES was established by a small group of concerned Lutheran parents who wanted better options for their children with special needs. Today LSSES is a proven leader in providing quality Christian special education throughout southeastern Wisconsin to over 300 children annually. LSSES began as one classroom serving 12 students, being owned and operated by the then Concordia College. In 1986, it became an independent Recognized Service Organization (RSO) of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. In May 2017, LSSES purchased a building in Hales Corners, where the administrative offices and stand-alone classrooms are now located. This is the first time we have ever had a facility of our very own.

Beginning the new school year in LSSES new facility they have more than doubled their size. They now operate four elementary stand-alone classrooms, a high school program, a resource room program in Milwaukee, teacher consultant services, art therapy, and teacher resources and workshops.

Changing the Life of a Student

Students in our programs come from a variety of educational settings throughout the area (Lutheran, Catholic, public, charter, etc.) and seek our services for a variety of reasons: finding that their current school can’t serve their needs, desiring value-based education, failing classes or being asked to leave their current school, or just needing a change. They have a variety of learning challenges that hinder their success, including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Learning Disabled (LD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), autism, and variety of emotional issues. We consider LSSES to be more of a “specialty” school which offers a curriculum that addresses the whole child – academically, socially, and spiritually – meeting each child where they are in life. As a Christian organization we provide an opportunity for lives to be touched by the Holy Spirit through daily devotions, religion classes, and personal witness. LSSES makes a difference in the lives of the children and families we serve not just for today and tomorrow, but for eternity!

Our classroom theme for the 2018-19 school year is “Soar like eagles” in reference to Isaiah 40:31 where we are encouraged to find our strength through Christ. We want our children to be able to rise above their weaknesses and disabilities and let their hope in Christ be the wind beneath their wings. Our faculty and staff can offer this hope to our students every day. Having a new facility allows us to share this hope with so many more kids and families!

LSSES has a wish list of items the new facility needs to operate as a school. If you wish to donate, please contact Dianna Bonfield at dianna@lutheranchurchcharities.org  or call 847-287-6624 to find out what is needed.