Grace and peace in Jesus!
I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)
We have very good news today: A team from Lutheran Church Charities is coming to Napa on Thursday evening with four K-9 Comfort Dogs. They will be available to the St. John’s school community on Friday and Tuesday, here for worship on Sunday and in the Napa community the rest of the time to comfort people suffering mental or emotional stress as a result of the earthquake.
The K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry is a program developed by Lutheran Church Charities of Illinois to put specially trained golden retrievers into communities where disasters have occurred and people are in need of comfort and compassion. Dogs have been sent to Boston after the marathon bombing, to Sandy Hook after the school shooting, to Joplin, MO after the devastating tornado, to Arizona where 19 firefighters perished, and many other places around the country. These gentle dogs offered comfort to people in need. And they are now on their way here.
As you may be aware, St. John’s is in the process of permanently obtaining one of the LCC dogs in training for ongoing ministry to the Napa community (and state) They can best serve the people in need (hospitals, nursing/retirement homes, the veterans home, etc.) We are expecting to receive our dog next spring.
Once again we encourage all to let us know about any needs that we as a church and school community can address. This invitation is not only for church and school families, but for anyone you know of who is in need. We will try to match the need up with assistance as we are able. We are called to be the presence of Christ to those who are in need.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
Pastor Mike
Pam Johanson
Praying these dogs and their handlers will be a blessing to your church, school, and community!