LCC K-9 Ministry Teams From Five States Participate In a Zoom Call With COVID-19 Unit Nurses From Amita Health

On Wednesday, April 22, LCC K-9 Ministry teams from five states and two churches (in process) from California and Washington states participated in a virtual call with the COVID-19 unit nurses from Amita Health Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Illinois.

Promptly at 5:00am CST, LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Aaron (St. John’s – Napa, California), Cubby (Redeemer – Fort Collins, Colorado), Ezra (LCC Staff), Lois (First Good Shepherd – Las Vegas, Nevada), Lydia (Messiah – Lynnfield, Massachusetts), Micah (Light of the Valley – Elk Grove, California), Nigel (LCC Staff), Reuben (First Lutheran – Yuba City, California) and their handlers along with Redeemer - Spokane, Washington (in Process) and St. Andrew's - Stockton, California (in Process) connected with the nurses via a Zoom call.

Each team introduced their Comfort Dog. One of the nurses mentioned that each K-9 had a Bible verse assigned to their name and asked us to share those verses with them. Each handler read their K-9’s Bible verse and you could hear in their voices the thanks for these words. “I was amazed at the appropriateness of each verse given the present situation and how God’s Word was spot on. I could feel them hanging on to those verses, to the Word of the Lord as they care for their patients. I love that we were asked and able to share the Word with these front line workers.”

One prayer request from the nurses was that they could enjoy “more patients going home.” They realize that they are “all these patients have got” (no family present) “and we aren’t enough.”

The nurses seemed to be genuinely enjoying the visit! It was so nice to hear them laugh! Some of the nurses tried to give "virtual pets" to the Comfort Dogs. The teams thanked the nurses for all they do!

After the visit, LCC received the following note from the contact person at Amita Health who arranged the visit:

“Thank you so very much to everyone involved in making this morning a possibility for our nurses. While I wish we could spend much more time with you, I know the nurses are always running and I am grateful for the time they were able to spend with you all this morning. This is such a beautiful experience for everyone. Your time and support is so appreciated. I am looking forward to more successful virtual comfort dog sessions with the nurses here in Joliet, Illinois!”

DONATE – LCC K-9 COMFORT DOG FUND