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Overnight on June 26 and 27, the towns of Steger and Crete (Illinois), which are south suburb communities in our Northern Illinois District, had 6-8 inches of torrential rain that caused flood damage to approximately 400 homes. The Will County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director has determined there are approximately 180 homes in Steger that sustained major damage from flood waters.

Lutheran Church Charities has been invited by Pastor Craig Meissner of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Steger, Illinois to come and assist many of his congregation and community members in their flood recovery process. Pastor Meissner has many families in his congregation, including himself, that had several feet of water in their homes.

On Wednesday, July 31, Kathy O'Day, LCC Director of Disaster Response, is assessing the area with Pastor Meissner and leading a LERT flood clean-up workday on Saturday, August 3. LERT teams anticipate returning several more days to assist homeowners. Many homes are still in need of mucking and gutting of flooded walls, flooring and personal items, as well as mold remediation. Other homeowners will need help with rebuilding.

LCC LERT teams are ready and willing to show the mercy, compassion, presence and proclamation of Jesus Christ to those in need of flood recovery assistance.

Your donations to the LCC Disaster Response Fund are greatly needed to help LCC LERT teams continue to physically assist homeowners impacted by the floods. Please keep Immanuel Lutheran Church and their surrounding communities in your prayers during their long recovery.

LCC K-9 MINISTRIES WELCOMES

NEWEST PUPPIES:

ASA, MORIAH, AND SOLOMON!

Lutheran Church Charities is blessed to welcome three new Golden Retriever puppies to be trained as future LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs. The puppies are named Asa, Moriah, and Solomon.

CLICK HERE to watch a video.

Asa  

2 Chronicles 14:11

And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”

CLICK HERE to follow Asa on Facebook.

Moriah (pronounced like Mariah)  

2 Chronicles 5:13

The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.”…

CLICK HERE to follow Moriah on Facebook.

Solomon    

Ecclesiastes 3:11

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

 

CLICK HERE to follow Solomon on Facebook.

These pups have already started to bond with their new volunteer apprentice trainers. Follow them on Facebook as they begin their journey to become LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs. 

 

Lutheran Church Charities is always recruiting new volunteers to help train these amazing animals. We will have more puppies arriving soon and need more volunteers to nurture and train them. If you are interested in joining us on this mission, please contact LCC at [email protected] for further information or visit our website .  

TWENTY LCC K-9s BRING LOVE AND COMFORT TO CAMP HOMETOWN HEROES

For the fourth year, the LCC K-9 Ministries were honored to attend Camp Hometown Heroes in Wisconsin.  Camp Hometown Heroes was founded and is operated by the Wisconsin charity Hometown Heroes Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

At the debut camp in June 2013, Co-Founders, Jim Kacmarcik and Neil Willenson, were joined by hundreds of volunteers in transforming the lives of these deserving children and their families. During the inaugural camp in 2013, Camp Hometown Heroes welcomed 62 children from 14 states entirely free of charge. The camp has grown to serve well over 200 children from 29 states. 

Camp Hometown Heroes is a national free, week-long overnight summer camp for children and siblings between the ages of seven to seventeen of fallen U.S. service members who died in any manner: combat, accident, illness or suicide. During their visit to camp, perhaps for the first time in their young lives, the children have the opportunity to openly discuss their feelings and experiences. Through the support of pediatric grief specialists, the children partake in art and music therapy programs and optional discussion groups.

During the 2019 camp, the LCC K-9 Ministries deployed a total of 20 LCC K-9s and 28 handlers representing the K-9, Kare 9, and K-9 Police Ministries. All of us at LCC K-9 Ministries can’t wait for our 2020 trip to the camp!

The following LCC K-9s were able to bring the mercy, compassion and presence of Jesus Christ to the campers and staff.

LCC Kare 9 Military Ministry Dogs

Amos (Our Savior's Way - Ashburn, Virginia)

Anna (Trinity - Toledo, Ohio)

Asher (Faith Lutheran - Lake Forest, Illinois)

Brandy (LCC Squad)

Brutus (LCC Squad)

Cubby (Redeemer - Fort Collins, Colorado)

Flex (LCC Squad)

Hope (Faith Lutheran - Marietta, Georgia)

Joanna (Christ Lutheran - Lincoln, Nebraska)

Job (Christ the King - Memphis, Tennessee)

Katie (Trinity Lutheran - Fremont, Nebraska)

Mary (St. Paul's - Janesville, Wisconsin)

Naomi (Holy Cross - Indianapolis, Indiana)

Nicodemus (The Rock - Seward, Nebraska)

Reuben (First Lutheran - Yuba City, California)

Rhoda (Prince of Peace - Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin)

Rosie (Atonement - Columbus, Ohio)

Susie (St. Peter - Arlington Heights, Illinois)

LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs

Sage (Concordia University Wisconsin - Mequon, Wisconsin)

Zoey (Concordia University Wisconsin - Mequon, Wisconsin)

LCC K-9 POLICE MINISTRY DOGS

SERVE AT CONCERNS OF POLICE SURVIVORS KIDS CAMP

LCC K-9 Police Ministry teams had the honor of helping with Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) Kids Camp from Sunday, July 7 to Thursday, July 11 in Wisconsin.

 

C.O.P.S. hosts the annual event to bring together surviving children and spouses of law enforcement officers, who died in the line of duty from across the country. The camp involves many activities and sharing experiences to help support the survivors as they work to rebuild their shattered lives.

 

LCC K-9 Police Ministry Dogs Candace (LCC staff), Charity (Brookfield Lutheran – Brookfield, Wisconsin), Eve (St. John – Lombard, Illinois), Julia (King of Glory – Elgin, Illinois), Nigel (LCC staff) and Shiloh (Christ Our Savior – Dixon, Illinois) served in various ways throughout the week. They welcomed survivors on arrival, and comforted them during counseling sessions and other activities at camp.

Please remember the survivors of fallen law enforcement officers, and other first responders, in your prayers.

We often live in a world that does not feel safe and evokes a feeling of hopelessness. The only ONE thing that can give us hope and security is God through His Son Jesus Christ. It is only fitting that our national conference theme this year was "God is Our Safe Place."

 

Approximately 600 participants and almost 100 LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs, Kare 9 Military Ministry Dogs, and Police Ministry Dogs came together for renewal, sharing and learning!

 

On July 25 & 26, the 8th Annual Lutheran Church Charities K-9 National Conference was held in Northbrook, Illinois . Handlers and K-9s from across 27 states gathered for two days of inspirational keynote speakers and engaging breakout sessions. This year's theme, "God is Our Safe Place," was based on Psalm 46:1, which reminds us that, even in the face of trouble, God is our refuge and strength.

Once again, LCC invited the public to a "Meet and Greet" to give the many supporters of the LCC K-9 Ministry a chance to meet the K-9s and ministry teams that they follow and have come to love. The K-9 teams welcomed almost 500 people who loved on the dogs.

LCC would like to thank all of the attendees for making this such a memorable conference, as well as all of our dedicated volunteers, who helped make the conference a success. A special thank you to our fabulous keynote speakers and breakout session presenters, who enriched us with their message.

As we go out into a world that does not feel safe, we are privileged to bring the Mercy, Compassion, Presence, and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are suffering and in need.

"JOSEPH'S THREE COATS"

NEW THREE-PART DEVOTION SERIES

BEGINS AUGUST 2nd

Start your day with a free devotion from

Tim Hetzner, President/CEO of Lutheran Church Charities . A new three-part devotional series "Joseph’s Three Coats” begins Friday, August 2 nd.

LCC Thanks Volunteers for Hard Work

on New LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Training Center

A huge thank you to the following LCC LERT chainsaw team members, who worked at the new LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Training Center property located at Immanuel Lutheran, East Dundee, Illinois: Jim Beckley, Kristin Bilar, Richard Habegger, Marty Johnson, Mike Kostecki, Pete and Christel Springmire, and Rich Wren. The team removed several trees that were leaning and broken. They also chipped all of the cut wood, branches and brush, and spread it around the property.

Police Fundraiser

Ecker Center for Mental Health

Vacation Bible School

KARE 9 MILITARY MINISTRY

Click the picture below to read more!

"22" Dinner

K-9 POLICE MINISTRY

Barrington Police Department

Christkindl Markets   

 

Austria | Slovenia | Croatia

11 Days | November 30 - December 10, 2019

 

Hosted by: Tim Hetzner, President / CEO, Lutheran Church Charities

AloaFest at Sea

Western Caribbean Cruise

4 Nights | January 16 – 20, 2020

Meet and Greet with Dr. Rich Bimler

Hope-Full Living Cruise  

 

Port Canaveral, Florida | CocoCay & Nassau, Bahamas

4 Nights | February 24 - 28, 2020

 

Speaker: Dr. Rich Bimler

Oberammergau Passion Play 2020

 

Berlin | Potsdam | Wittenberg | Eisleben | Erfurt 

Wartburg Castle | Nuremberg | Oberammergau

11 Days - Germany and Lutheran Heritage | May 10 - 20, 2020 

Hosted by: Tim Hetzner, President/CEO, Lutheran Church Charities

NEW | Biblical Egypt & Nile Cruise

Cairo l Alexandria l Goshen | Saqqara l Memphis

 

Upper Egypt

Luxor l Aswan l Karnak | Valley of Kings & Queens Edfu l Kom Ombo

12 days | February 19 - March 2, 2021

Hosted by: Tim Hetzner, President/CEO, Lutheran Church Charities

NEW | Biblical Study Tour of the Holy Land and Jordan

 

Jerusalem | Bethlehem | Sea of Galilee | Nazareth | Tiberias Caesarea-by-the-Sea | Masada | Mt. Nebo | Jericho Bethany (Four Homes of Mercy) | Arad | Beersheba Bethany Beyond The Jordan | Petra | Wadi Rum | Jerash| Machaerus

15 days | March 2 - 16, 2021

Hosted by: Tim Hetzner, President/CEO, Lutheran Church Charities

Thursday, August 8 & Friday, August 9, 2019 - Global Leadership Summit

Saturday, August 10, 2019 - Voice of CareFEST

Sunday, August 11, 2019 - 29th Annual Pig & Corn Roast

Sunday, September 8, 2019 - Kindness 5K

Saturday, September 21, 2019 - Community Health & Wellness Fair

Sunday, October 13, 2019 - Move Your Feet for Hope! 

All gifts designated for ministries outside of LCC are made

dollar for dollar without administrative fees deducted.

Do you shop on Amazon.com ? You can benefit Lutheran Church Charities automatically, without any extra steps to your purchases. Just create an account on AmazonSmile  and select Lutheran Church Charities as the beneficiary. Every time you shop, Amazon will make a donation to LCC! What a difference we can make together!