NEWSLETTER September 2016
Peace Talk
House of Prayer on Parker and Main
As we take a closer look at the gift of marriage, may we be encouraged by the example of Henry and Rae Camin who celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in May 2016. Be sure to check out the “Godly Marriage” section on page 4 for more information on the Adult Bible Study beginning September 11th. All are encouraged to attend!
DISASTER RELIEF TO BATON ROUGE, LA. Jesus teaches us in the parable of the Good Samaritan that loving God by loving our neighbor as ourselves is the privilege of each child of His. That love is shown in so many ways by Christians in their every day lives (in our families and to next door neighbors, etc.) But there are times when the body of Christ is hurting in extraordinary ways in distant places, giving the church at large ample opportunity to work together to bring the mercy of God to so many in need. Even in the New Testament church, God’s people sent money and representatives to far off destinations when people needed relief from their difficult circumstances. (1 Corinthians 16) It is a great privilege for Christians even today to extend acts of love across great distances to those who are in desperate need of the grace and comfort of the Lord. The recent floods in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which damaged over 40% of the region’s homes (over 140,000 of them), gave Pastor Bjornstad (Eastern District Disaster Relief Coordinator) the opportunity to swing into action and organize a relief trip with the help of Rev. Benjamin Bahr (Grace Lutheran, Niagara Falls). Rev. Bahr was a former pastor in Baton Rouge and was in contact with his former congregation leaders and members – and they pleaded Carsten, Karen and Derrik with a homeowner they helped “Come Now!” to help. Within 30 hours a wonderful team of six individuals from Grace (Niagara Falls, NY), and Peace Lutheran (Scranton, PA) was put together. Pastor left early in the morning from Scranton, PA, August 17, 2016 with Susan Crosbie, a registered nurse, and his father Carsten Bjornstad.
At the same time Rev. Bahr started out from Niagara Falls with Karen Kumm and her son Derrik Mahoney. They met in Akron, Ohio, all piling into the bigger van with the Eastern District disaster relief trailer in tow. They pushed on through the night to get to Baton Rouge by about noon the next day. They arrived to get their first work assignment which they tackled that same afternoon. Over the next several days they were able to touch the lives of at least six families. They heard the accounts of their flooding experiences, sharing hugs and bolstered the difficult tasks of throwing much of each family’s material belongings out on the curb and gutting their houses bare. Beautiful Christian fellowship was had with many other volunteers from Texas and New Orleans – and even from as far away as Susan Crosbie hard at work Germany! At each place the team worked they prayed with the survivor families and shared the Love of Christ with them. It was meaningful beyond words – both for the survivors of the flood, and for the team. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. Peace Lutheran’s van is so essential to these relief missions. Please keep praying for all the people of God that are flood survivors, and all the other relief teams that are coming in from all corners of our Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. You can donate to the cause at LCMS.org. In Jesus,
Pastor Bjornstad