This past September 6th I went with a hurricane relief team (Two Good Shepherd members: Al Hemmer and Craig Russell and
two men who attend Hope’s Beach Worship services) to Slidel, Louisana to work on Becky and Rev. Kurtis Schultz’s
house. Their house had been flooded with 4 feet of water due to hurricane Katrina. Rev. Schultz is the President of the Southern
District that covers Louisana, Mississippi, Alabama and Northwest Florida.
Two members of Good Shepherd, Neal Riemer and Sean Humphrey had begun work on their house the day before by mucking out
the mud and removing the carpet. We finished the mucking job and began the long process of cutting out sheetrock and insulation
and hauling it to the street. Mold had already started to grow everywhere in the walls. Becky and her sister worked with us
the whole day.
Late in the afternoon Becky opened up a big Rubbermaid container that was soaked in water. It contained all her life’s
memorabilia: chorus awards, certificates, and High School and College yearbooks. We were speechless, yet we spoke with the
tears in our eyes. We couldn’t salvage anything. It was another heartbreak in a day full of heartbreaks.
At the end of a long day as we packed up to leave I made one more walk around the house to check for tools and I noticed
a Concordia Bible sitting on a water soaked table on the back patio. It had been sitting in water and all the pages were stuck
together. I tried to open it and it fell almost in half to Psalm 61. The Lord was speaking.
I gathered us together for a closing prayer and a word from the Lord that read:Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.
[2] From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
[3] For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. [4] I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge
in the shelter of your wings. I couldn’t turn the page to finish the Psalm because the pages were all stuck together,
but this was all we needed to hear.
God gives us so many opportunities to “Love our neighbors as ourselves.” May God Bless you as we help our brothers
and sisters recover from the hurricane disasters of the Gulf Coast.
In His Service,
Pastor Angerman
Human Care/Health Ministry
(The Caring Crew)
First we would like to thank everyone for their contributions to all of the Katrina programs that we have been running.
Thank you to all of those that helped transport these items to their destinations.October is National Breast Cancer Awareness
Month.
Every two minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. This year more than 211,000 new cases
of breast cancer are expected in the United States. One woman in eight who lives to age 85 will develop breast cancer during
her lifetime. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women between the ages of 40 and 55. 1,600 men are expected to
be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and 400 are predicted to die.
Seventy percent of all breast cancers are found through breast self-exams.
Not all lumps are detectable by touch.
We recommend regular mammograms and monthly breast self-exams. Eight out of ten breast lumps are not cancerous.
If you find a lump, don't panic-call your doctor for an appointment.
Mammography is a low-dose X-ray examination that can detect breast cancer up to two years before it is large enough to
be felt.
When breast cancer is found early, the five-year survival rate is 96%. This is good news! Over 2 million breast cancer
survivors are alive in America today.
The third Friday in October each year is National Mammography Day, first proclaimed by President
Clinton in 1993. On this day, or throughout the month, we encourage women to make a mammography appointment. In 2005, National
Mammography Day will be celebrated on October 21.
A FAMILY’S FUTURE
We thank God for the sunny days for playing outside and watching bugs. We thank God for books
to hold and pages to turn. We thank God for friends to play with and grownups to care for us. We thank God for all of you!
A Family's Future sends a big bear hug to the Gilmans for the donation of a pair of walkie-talkies. Thank you! We are in need
of two types of items at this time:
Office Supplies
White Out
Scotch Tape refills
Scotch Tape singles
A spindle of CD-R disks for computer backups
A pair of adult scissors
Sand & Water Table Items
Plastic strainers
Plastic funnels
Assorted containers to fill and dump
A Family's Future, Inc. serves low income, single parents, enrolled in an educational program full time, whose children
are 6 weeks through three years of age. Do you know of someone in this situation? Take one of our
brochures from the Narthex to share with that person. “…I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Mt. 25:40.
Youth News
The Youth Board recently met to discuss plans for this fall. Among the many issues addressed, we outlined
plans for a change in meeting times and places for the Rock (high schoolers). For the next few months, we will be meeting
with youth from Hope Lutheran on a trial basis, twice monthly on the 1st and 3rd Sundays, 4-6 P.M. The first Sunday of the
month will be a Bible study, and the third will be a special event. We believe our combined meetings will benefit both groups,
and offer a change of pace, faces, and experiences that will reinvigorate the high school ministry. Our first event was September
18th, with a scavenger hunt. On October 2, the youth will be meeting at George and Lucy Tiedemann's home for a Bible study
entitled "Grand Father's Birthday." We will depart the church at 3:30 and return by 6:30. Meanwhile, One Man Cafe and Nu Thang
will continue as normal, with One Man Cafe meeting the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month following church, and Nu Thang on
the 1st and 3rd Sundays after service.
Reformation Sunday
For many Lutherans, October has always been a month to re-acquaint, study, and celebrate our Lutheran heritage.
We celebrate Reformation Sunday every October on the last Sunday of the month. It is a time to commemorate Martin Luther
nailing the 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Surprisingly, Luther himself never
reported having engaged in such an act of protest. Did he nail them to the Castle Church door? Scholars continue to debate
that answer. As we celebrate this special month of our Lutheran heritage, I thought it appropriate to share some interesting
facts about Martin Luther, according to Dr. Herbert Jacobsen, adjunct professor of theology at North Park College, Chicago.
At birth, Martin Luther’s name was Martin Luder. He later changed it to the more academically respectable
Luther.
Christopher Columbus set sail when Luther was in grammar school, and Michelangelo was completing his Sistine Chapel ceiling
as Luther began teaching theology.
As a schoolboy, Luther preferred music to any other subject and he became proficient at playing the lute.
Luther once said he had not even seen a Bible until he was 20 years old.
Luther translated the Greek New Testament into German at the rate of 1,500 words per day.
Luther publicly criticized the abuse of indulgences more than three years before he published his 95 Theses on the
topic.
Luther raised so much hostility that it was rumored—and taken seriously for a time by some respected intellectuals
of the day— that he was the product of a bathhouse liaison between his mother and the Devil.
In 1520 and 1521, Luther was the rage of Germany. Posters of Luther sold out as soon as they went on sale, and many were
pinned up in public places.
On October 30, Reformation Sunday, come join us as we celebrate a part of our Lutheran heritage — the 488th anniversary
of the posting of the 95 Theses.
LWML News
Refugee Kits When we received word on Sunday Sept 4 from the LWML president Linda Rieser
that we should assemble refugee kits, we went to work immediately on this project. On Monday, three of us shopped using a
grant of $800 from Thrivent to purchase the list of needed items, on Tuesday, following the LWML meeting, 16 of us assembled
the kits into 2 gallon freezer bags, on Thursday one of us packed the 40 assembled kits (10 each for women, men, children
and baby) into shipping boxes, on Friday one of our members and her husband drove them over to a Red Cross shelter in Mobile
located at Our Savior Lutheran Church. They were greatly appreciated by the Red Cross and those who received them! LWML members
all over the United States are busy doing the same thing. Most of us would like to go and help our brother in some way to
recover, but because of our age, family commitment, or jobs we can’t go. This is a way we can help in some small way
to say we care about you.
Each of you has received a gift to use to serve others. 1 Peter 4:10
Children’s Activity Bags The LWML has assembled 20 activity bags for children
to keep little hands busy during the church service. These will be placed on a tree in the narthex and be available to children
ages 9 and under. In the bag you will find a clipboard, stencil, paper and a coloring page along with a pencil and a box of
washable crayons. We ask that the parents be responsible for their children making sure that the crayons are used only on
the supplies that are furnished and not the bible, hymnal or pews. At the end of the service, bags are to be returned to the
bottom of the tree for reassembly for the next weeks use. LWML members will be responsible for the up keep of these bags.
Yard Sale Funds It was recommended by the board of directors and approved by the membership
that of the $4297 received at the rummage sale that $4000 will be given to Hurricane Katrina Relief and $297 to the Quilt
Fund.
Zone 4 Fall Rally The fall rally for zone 4 will be held here on Oct 8. We invite
all the ladies of the congregation to join us. Simply sign up on the LWML bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall or call Bea
Daily 862-8130 if you would like to attend. Numbers are needed to order the correct amount of food that is being gathered.
LWML Sunday On October 23 we will celebrate LWML Sunday in conjunction with Mission
Sunday. A potluck will follow the 10:15 am service with Missionaries Jeannette and Charles Groth as our guest.
MITES The mite total for Sunday, September 4, was $119.73. The mite total
for the meeting on Tuesday, September 6, was $42.18. The love offering was $32.00. A check has been sent to the Gulf
States District in the amount of $161.91 for September mites. Thank you for those participating in the mite offering!
WOMENT IN TOUCH
The new women’s bible study met for the first time on Tuesday, September 27 with a tea party , fellowship and devotion.
We had a group of 8 women at this first meeting. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, October 18th at 6:30PM with a new six week
series called Satisfied Lives for Desperate Housewives, God’s Word on Proverbs 31. If you are interested in this bible
study please call the church office so that we can order enough booklets. If you need a sitter please let us know sp that
we can have a sitter available.Please come and enjoy the fellowship and devotion. We plan to have other fun projects to work
on.
GIFTS FOR IRAQ
This is the time of giving like never before! We certainly want to remember our troops in Iraq, and we must plan
early. Any of the following items will help to fill at least 40 gift bags for our troops overseas. Please call Marty
Gossman (651-0330) or Sandy Redenbacher (678-3491) for more information. Leave your contributions at the church fellowship
hall in the same spot that you all have so generously given items for the hurricane victims. Let’s try to have our gifts
ready to ship by October 16. This will hopefully guarantee the gift bags to be with our troops for the holidays.
Socks,Deodorant,Diaper Wipes and Hand Sanitizer, Soap,Phone Cards,Candies
( not chocolate or melt ble ,candy),Reading ,Materials –sports, news, books, magazines, crossword books,Disposable Razors,Pens,Paper,Small
Stuff They Can Hand Out to The Kids (sometimes you can get McDonalds to give their small toys in bulk to send over for the
children),Disposable Cameras,Chewing Gum,Women’s Personal Items
The Un-Edited Elder
Hello all,
I am very excited about the items in the works for our church
in the not so distant future. The weather is starting to be more inviting and hopefully we will be free from any more hurricanes
for the rest of the season. I would like to challenge everyone to get involved with one of the committees or boards and bring
fresh ideas and energy to celebrate and rejoice in Gods love. Contact any board member for more information on how to take
part.
Information The board of elders is in the process
of reassigning members to elders to get their assigned members in a particular geographic to minimize travel time and expense.
Immediate We are in need of elders, at this time we
have 8 Elders caring for 200 families please contact me if you are interested.
Caregivers are also a big need.
Special notice Pastor Parsch will be out of the office from Oct.10th until the 24th,
Pastor Angerman will be available during this time.
Quote of month “Please do not allow the people
who say it can’t be done to interfere with the people that are doing
the job!”
I also would like to remind everyone that a friendly handshake or hug could
change a bad day to a good one.
In His service, Chris
Brown
Director of the board of Elders
