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LCC staff, volunteers 
deploying after tornadoes, 
flash floods hit Illinois, Wisconsin

Disaster Response assisting cleanup; K-9 Comfort Dogs planning site visits

NWS Chicago

Lutheran Church Charities Disaster Response volunteers are deploying to northwest Illinois this week to aid in chainsaw work, dragging, and debris removal after an EF-2 tornado with winds of up to 130 mph swept through Lena, IL, and other areas, destroying homes and businesses, downing power lines, and damaging trees. 

The line of severe storms was part of a powerful system that also dumped more than a half-foot of rain on already soggy sections of southern Wisconsin, where LCC Disaster Response teams are helping families dry out. Widespread flash flooding inundated the region, particularly Janesville, where one local church had four feet of water on its first-floor level. 

Six rivers in Wisconsin remained at record flood stage levels after the weekend, prompting evacuations and road closures in more than a dozen counties.   

LERT responders in both states are bringing care, compassion, and the presence of Christ to these hurting communities who are in the midst of cleaning up. 

 "This I declare about the LORD:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
He is my God, and I trust Him."

(Psalm 92:1 NLT)

St. Mark Lutheran Church Janesville, WI

Your support can help 
our team of compassion BE THERE!

In Lena, IL, Rev. Jason Shaw, Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church, has invited LCC to assist in recovery efforts and deploy caring volunteers to be with those who have been deeply affected by the devastating storm and provide emotional support. After Sunday services, St. John’s members went out around the town to clear debris. 

This week, LERT crews are addressing multiple sites around Lena, including a Winslow-Lena preschool-to-8th grade school, where students are shaken after the storm. They were inside the school when the tornado hit. LCC’s K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry is working with the school’s principal and counselor to arrange on-site visits when the school reopens.  

In Wisconsin, Rev. Greg Hovland, Pastor of Saint John Lutheran in Portage, WI, is working with LCC’s Mark Brueggemann, Regional Crisis Manager for the South Wisconsin District, to provide floor fans and dehumidifiers to congregations. They also have reached out to the North Wisconsin District to offer assistance. 

LCC President/CEO Rev. Chris Singer is calling on LCC supporters to pray for those impacted by the powerful storm. 

“The families and congregations that were in the path of these tornadoes and floodwaters are our friends and neighbors in Illinois and Wisconsin. We’re thankful that there was no loss of life, but we are fully committed to help these communities recover and rebuild,” Rev. Singer said. “We lift our prayers up for them and ask that the Holy Spirit would be near to them now amid the shock and devastation. LCC will be present on-site and will offer the hope and peace of Jesus Christ.”

LCC sends volunteer ministry teams as a reminder to hurting communities that people across the nation love and support them. LCC seeks to provide those impacted by natural disaster or tragedy with opportunities to process their trauma and receive messages of love and hope, ultimately finding the solace that can only come from Jesus. 

Thanks to you, Lutheran Church Charities will BE THERE to provide the mercy, compassion, presence, and proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are struggling, suffering, and in need. 

NWS Chicago; St. John's Lutheran Church Lena, IL

At LCC, we never go where we are not invited.

We never charge those we serve.

LCC supporters like you 
make our ministry work possible.

LCC is able to offer this early response physical and spiritual care because of generous and faithful donors and volunteers who are willing to give and serve. 

“As we warm up in the spring and summer months, the weather pattern becomes more active, and we know more storms will come. But the financial support you can offer right now will go directly to helping the ministry work of our caring volunteer teams in Northern Illinois and Wisconsin,” Rev. Singer said. 

If you are compelled to give, please donate to the HELP LCC BE THERE – TORNADO RECOVERY FUND. Thank you for sharing in the Mercy and Compassion Ministry of Lutheran Church Charities.

Please keep the Lena and Janesville communities in your prayers. May the LORD open doors for these volunteers to deliver the mercy, compassion, presence, and proclamation of Jesus.

Thank you for being a partner of Lutheran Church Charities.

Serving Together in the name of our Savior Jesus!

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Lutheran Church Charities 

3020 Milwaukee Avenue

Northbrook, IL 60062