WELS Relief » aid

Thank You

Phil Schupmann — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:03:16 +0000

Committee on Relief Chairman Pastor Philip Schupmann received the following thank you from Pastor Daniel Wagenknecht.

Dear Pastor Daniel,

I was at my brother-in-law Alex’s home on Mon. morning. His house had been completely destroyed by the fire. You were the first person to make contact with him and offer assistance from your church. You offered him whatever he felt he needed. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your church’s kind generosity. You came to him even before his own church did. He had left his house the day of the fire with nothing. He had no time to evacuate. He only had his car. He is a bachelor.

I have told everyone that I have come across about your church’s act of kindness. It will not be forgotten and was so much appreciated. This is what makes us the community that we are. Thank you!

Tom and Maria

Fire Disaster Help in Yorba Linda, Calif.

Phil Schupmann — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:12:03 +0000

Vicar Seth Bode, Pastor Dan Wagenknecht, and several other members of Grace in Yorba Linda, visited with some families who lost their homes in the area Sat. Two miles north of the church, on Dorinda Rd., one man had just arrived at his house to sift through wreckage. When Pastor asked him if he had immediate needs, he said he had no clean clothes. Pastor gave him enough to buy some clothes. He was so grateful, he showed a statue of Jesus and a cross he had found in the rubble, a precious keepsake from his Italian grandmother.

In the Green River development in Corona, about seven miles east of the church, Pastor and Vicar visited with four households whose homes were destroyed. Three of the families needed some cash to buy immediate necessities. All four families appreciated the food and drinks we brought, which were provided by the firefighters of Yorba Linda Station 32. Area residents have been so grateful and generous to the firefighters that they have more than they can eat! They were happy to share.

The majority of the money granted from the WELS Committee on Relief is being given to the member family who lost their house. The latest count of homes destroyed in Yorba Linda is 113. It is incredible that no lives were lost. The flames were driven by 20-30 MPH sustained winds with gusts up to 60 MPH. Some residents had no warning, and seconds to escape while flames surrounded their homes. Everyone here at Grace, Yorba Linda, is grateful for the support of our brothers and sisters in WELS. We know with God’s help we will be okay.

California Fires

Phil Schupmann — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:59:27 +0000

Current information on the fires in California can be found in the November 17, 2008, Together newsletter.

This photo shows the wildfire approaching Yorba Linda from the east. Photo provided by Pastor Daniel Wagenknecht.

Help for Family

Phil Schupmann — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:33:26 +0000

Pastor Schupmann,

Thanks again to you and the Committee on Relief. Just today we helped a Navajo family with their propane heating bill. You guys have been a blessing to this ministry in this little corner of the kingdom. God bless you for your kindness. I’ve included two recent articles from some of the happenings here, if you have an interest in doing a little reading.

Peace to you and yours,

Pastor Jim Fleming
Christ the Rock Lutheran Church
Farmington, NM

Hurricane Damage Update

Phil Schupmann — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:12:51 +0000

One of our missionaries reports: I am back from Cuba. I distributed $562.50 to the pastors to help fix six hurricane Gustav and Ike damaged homes. These damages to be fixed included roofs, crumbling walls, and wooden window replacement in various cities of the island. The pastors were very grateful that our WELS brothers and sisters are also concerned about their temporal welfare.

Grant Received from Thrivent

Phil Schupmann — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:22:47 +0000

WELS Relief has received a very generous grant from Thrivent’s National Disaster Response program in the amount of $148,000. We are very grateful to Thrivent for providing these funds to help with the midwest floods this past spring and summer that affected so many of our congregations. WELS members spent hundreds of man hours sandbagging, cleaning homes and businesses, and helping to restore them. Youth groups and area Lutheran High Schools helped with the clean up efforts as well. Help was provided for congregations from Cedar Rapids, Ia., to Baraboo, Wis., to Crown Point, Ind. In all over 26 congregations, their members and communities were provided disaster relief dollars totaling over $170,000. Thrivent’s generous gift was used to replace funds already spent so that WELS Relief would have ready funds for the next disaster.

Committee on Relief Disperses Grant Money

Phil Schupmann — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:07:18 +0000

WELS Committee on Relief has dispersed the following grants in recent weeks:

$9,000 to Christ our Savior in Angleton Tex.; and $2,000 to Beautiful Savior in College Station, Tex., for Hurricane Ike relief.
Released $35,000 to King of Kings in Alexandria, La. (committed $60,000). King of Kings is still deciding their future at their current location. Builders for Christ are going to Alexandria, La., to help assess their situation.
$2,000 in humanitarian aid through our mission in Thailand.
$2,500 in support to our mission to the Navajo Indians in Farmington, N.M.
$2,000 in humanitarian aid through our mission efforts in Nepal.
$4,000 in humanitarian aid after hurricane Ike to help with needs in Cuba.
$2,000 for flooding in northern Indiana through Our Shepherd in Crown Point, Ind.
$11,000 for humanitarian needs in Eau Claire and Baraboo, Wis.
$5,000 to the church in Fayetteville, N.C., for flood related repairs.
$1,500 in medical support for a member in Englewood, Fla.
$1,500 West Melbourne, Fla., for flood relief.
$2,500 for member assistance in Austin, Tex.
$3,000 for flooding in Watertown, Wis.

Of interest, we received almost $1,500 from the student body at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary for hurricane relief.

Hurricane Damage in Alexandria, La.

Phil Schupmann — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:55:51 +0000

Pastor Chris Esmay in Alexandria, La., reports that their church, King of Kings, suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Gustav. Pastor Esmay and his wife and two young children escaped their parsonage as about four feet of water rolled into their home and church. WELS Committee on Relief is providing financial assistance so that Pastor Esmay and his wife can rent an apartment until the church can decide what to do with their parsonage and church. Pastor Schupmann, Chairman of WELS Relief and Mark Vance, Project Coordinator, are planning to be on site in the next day or two to help with the damage assessment. This is the fourth time in the last 30 years this church has had flooding although none as bad as this. Unfortunately, this congregation has no flood insurance and so they will need our assistance to help rebuild. We will be letting people know who have volunteered their assistance if they can be of help to this congregation.

Listen Listen to a conversation between Pastors Schupmann and Esmay regarding the flood damage to the church and parsonage.

Support for hurriance relief can be found on “More Gifting Opprtunities“ under Hurricane Relief.

To volunteer contact Mark Vance at mark.vance@wels.net.

Weather or Not Video

Phil Schupmann — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:58:18 +0000

There are always all kinds of questions after disaster. The answers to these questions are always found in God’s Word. I pray that through Weather or Not you will find the answers to these questions and also be able to help somebody else out in their lives when they experience these kinds of disaster.

In this the sixth and seventh episode of the award winning Fifth Pew from the Front series join the Taylors and the citizens of Willow Bend as they come to the realization that they are not in control and yet have to prepare for the coming storm and the aftermath.

Watch Weather or Not - Part 1 and 2, on streams.wels.net.

Midwest Flood Updates

Phil Schupmann — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:48:24 +0000

Several midwest churches have provided updates since the June flooding. These updates can be found on the News Relief page.