Clear Lake Lutheran 2009 Current Events Archives

Franklin B. Miller, age 94, of Berkey, Ohio, passed away Sunday, December 20, 2009

Franklin B. Miller, age 94, of Berkey, Ohio, passed away peacefully on Sunday, December 20, 2009, at The Toledo Hospital. He always had the desire to live to see the year 2000 and was ecstatic to reach his tenth decade. Frank was born June 11, 1915, to Carl Franklin and Elizabeth (Cupitt) Miller in Greenwich, OH. He graduated from Greenwich High School in May of 1934. Frank was stationed at Pearl Harbor during

WWII and served in the U.S. Naval Air- Asiatic Pacific Theater from 1942 until he was honorably discharged in 1946. That year he married Ruth Elizabeth Murbach at St. John's Lutheran Church in Adrian, Michigan. They celebrated over 63 years together and raised two sons. Both were active Charter Members of Faith Lutheran Church in Metamora, where Frank also served on the Church Council and as treasurer for many years. Frank was a long-time farmer from 1948 until retiring in 1988. Continuously since 1961, Frank has been active in the Village government of Berkey, OH serving as Mayor, Councilman, and current Chairman of the Plan Commission. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Toledo Area Council of American Youth Hostels and as treasurer for many years. A natural youth leader, Frank served for ten years as a 4-H Club Advisor and a Cub Scout Master for another ten. He and his wife were world-travelers and visited all of the continents except Antarctica. Their last trip together was a memorable cruise down the Nile. Left to cherish his memory is his beloved wife, Ruth; son: James (Judith) Miller; grand-children, Jason, Melinda (Mark), Candice, and Douglas; daughter-in-law, Carol Miller, and sister, Janice Chisholm. Frank was preceded in death by his son, Glenn and siblings, Merrill, Mildred, Marion, Phil, Robert, Allen, Esther, Harry, Gaylord, and Eugene. The family will receive friends at the Reeb Funeral Home, 5712 N. Main St., Sylvania, OH, on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 from 3:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. and again on Wednesday morning from 9:30 a.m. until leaving for Faith Lutheran Church, 124 W. Main St., Metamora, OH 43540 where the funeral service will begin at 10:30 a.m. Interment to follow at Ford Cemetery. Those wishing to give donations in Frank's memory may be made to Faith Lutheran Church. Online condolences may be offered to the family at: www.reebfuneralhome.com

The November-BLOG was ready to be finished when we received the news of our Grandson Martin’s accident and death on November 22^nd. It was impossible to work on the BLOG at that sad time, as I wrote to you in the last Mission Newsletter. Lídia and I went to

Germany

to see our son Léo, Martin’s father, to give strength to each other and to look together for comfort in the Word of God. We came back to Nairobi on December 3^rd. We are still mourning and God is giving us strength and power to support us in such a big sorrow. Thank you all for so many messages that we have received! God bless you!

We are back with a new postage about SEVERAL ACTIVITIES (Q) at Uhuru Highway Lutheran Cathedral and in

Kenya

. I add some recent activities that happened in December. Just click on http://pastorwinterle.blogspot.com/ or copy this address and paste it on the Internet bar. Follow us and pray for us.

To UHLC members ands visitors, see the schedule of Services for this special season:

             Christmas Eve, 24/12 – 05:30pm – Joint Service English/Swahili
             Christmas Day, 25/12 – 10:00am – Joint Service English/Swahili
             New Year,        01/01 – 10:00am – Joint Service English Swahili
             The services are regular on Sundays: 09:00am - English
                                                                      11:00am - Swahili

The Advent service scheduled for 7PM 120909 has been cancelled due to inclement weather.

Today Bob had a carotid artery check - good circulation. The echocardiogram results were not available at 5 PM. The neurologist - excellent doctor - tested him and determined Bob had a stroke, not a simple TIA....so he will be evaluated by a physical therapist tomorrow, then will begin rehab. He did not have a good experience in rehab at Naples Hospital following his open heart surgery, so he has said he wants to take his therapy at Arden Court. This is part of the facility where Meg is a patient. He is considering residential care units in Naples, if he is unable to stay alone. This has been a traumatic 24 hours for Bob - realizing that his inability to walk and weak right arm will limit his physical activity for a while. (The right side of his body is weakened and speech affected.) Daughter Ellen arrived this afternoon, quickly assessed the situation and condition of Bob, then called Ann, who informed the other three children. Neil will be arriving Saturday afternoon/evening, with Ellen leaving Sunday morning. Ellen told Bob that his children will be rotating in/out for as long as needed/necessary. Pastor Keith came again today and spent a good hour with Bob - what a God-send he is to Bob. The hospital's chaplain also visited and prayed with him. He so appreciates hearing that people are praying for him - thanks to all of you.

Today (113009), at about 12:30PM, Bob had a stroke, or TIA, while in his garage. It weakened his right leg and impaired his speech. I arrived about 1:20, as we had tickets to attend a Dave Koz concert tonight. He had made it into the house and was sitting at the table. The EMT's were great, took him to the hospital, where he had good immediate care. Pastor Keith came to the hospital immediately and spent the afternoon with Bob. All tests were good and by late afternoon his TIA was "resolving" itself, which means the speech was improved and he could "kick" his right leg. He will be kept in the hospital 24-48 hours. Daughter Ellen Poffenberger from Indianapolis is flying in tomorrow afternoon and will be here until Sunday.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” – 1 Peter 1:3

Lidia and I are still in Germany with our son Leo, Martin’s father. We are giving support to one another, and we are receiving support from the Holy Christian Family from all around the world. Thank you for your message and for remember us in your prayers. It is so good to have friends as you in such a time of sorrow.

Martin was planning to visit with his father in Germany next January. Last week they were talking about this through the messenger (msn), Martin wrote: I’m anxious to go to your house… He couldn’t imagine that God’s plane was to take him to HIS house in heaven.

When Martin was with us last July in Nairobi, Grandma Lidia said him several times: I love you so much, Martin! And he answered every time: I love you to, grandma.

Sorry that I cannot answer personally to each of you. We received more that 200 emails and lots of messages through skype and msn.

If some of you want to send a donation in memory of Martin, please do it to God’s Mission in Kenya. Martin became very impressed with the work with the street boys and orphans when he visited with us in July. He spoke about it to his friends in Brazil. - You have the orientations in the Mission Newsletter.

God bless you all during this Advent Season as we all are waiting the coming of Jesus.

All Clear Lake Lutheran members are invited to help decorate the church for the Advent/Christmas season this Sunday, November 29th. Following the service we will begin the process, then break for a light brunch, and after eating finish up. Members are invited, if they so desire, to bring something to share for the brunch.

Also, on Wednesday, Dec 2 at 6:30 pm we will be co-hosting "Advent by Candlelight" at Peace. Please sign up on Sunday or call the church to let us know you are coming. The evening will consist of appetizers and desserts and entertainment by the Holiday Madrigal Singers. This is a great way to get ready for the celebration of our dear Savior's birth.

An update on Sonja: she flew home from Mayo Clinic today and will be receiving chemotherapy as soon as she can get the University of Michigan to schedule her. She had an appointment with a room full of doctors last Thursday morning and after three hours they concurred that repeating the chemo she had three years ago was the best treatment for her at this time. There are two new treatments, however, the possible side effects are worse than terrible. She was on an extremely high dose of steroids while at Mayo, which brought her platelet count from 19 at her arrival to 114 yesterday. She appreciates all the thoughts and prayers. She knows she is in God's hands.

N.B.: This Newsletter was ready to be sent this Monday morning when we received a very sad notice. Our daughter called from

Brazil

early this morning to tell us that our oldest grandson Martin died at a bicycle accident. He was hit by a car and was instantaneous unconscious and died.

Martin was living in Brasilia (Capital city) with his mother Carine and his grandmother. His father Leo lives in Germany and we are going to visit with him to comfort one another, as it is too far for us to flight to Brazil and there is no time enough to go to the burial (people in Brazil are buried into 24 hours). He was to turn 14 years old in next November 30^th., and was to be confirmed in the Christian Faith in the Lutheran Church of Brasilia on next December 6^th. We are sure that he is with our gracious God through the resurrected Jesus; but it is so painful for us all not to have him anymore with us…

Martin and his father Leo and our niece Martina visit with us in Africa last July (you read about in the last Blog). We did a safari with them and we spend marvelous days together. Just good remembrances! Please, see the attached letter with the pictures of Martin.

We are traveling tonight to

Germany

and therefore I cannot finish the Blog and I cannot put this Newsletter in the normal form. Sorry. I’m sure you will understand it.

THANKSGIVING will be celebrated next Thursday, November 26th; and ADVENT SEASON will begin next November 29^th. It’s a special time to think:

- About our responsibilities with God’s Mission around the word and all the blessings God is pouring upon us. Everything shall be used according to HIS will to ourselves, to our family, to our country, to our society, to God’s church. We are still managers of God’s blessings! And also to think:

- About God’s love in sending HIS Son to save us and about Jesus Second Coming, when everything in earth will have an end … but not our life with Jesus!

We go to home visits usually on Wednesday. Let me share with you one of these ordinary visits: I went from my home at 09:00am. I reach the church little before 10:00am and wait until other people were ready to go with me to the visit. We arrived at the home to be visited around 11:30am. The young couple had a baby to be baptized. The mama was cooking, preparing the lunch. We talked for a while and I called the mama to began the Bible Study about baptism. We sang, we read, I presented the Bible Study, we prayed.

As the mother has a Seventh Day Adventist background, she had several good questions and we spend a good time answering the questions. She accepted everything very well and she said: ‘As I married a Lutheran, I will follow him in his church. But I need to know better what the Lutherans believe’. It was a blessed moment at that home! The baby was so cute and friendly and he remained for a long time with me while the mother was finishing the lunch. Some relatives came and a new talk began. We had lunch around 02:00pm. After 03:00 we began the way back. The traffic was terrible! Lot of jam… I dropped the people who when with me to the visit at the church and arrived safety at home at 05:00pm.

These are some of the challenges of a mission in a big city like Nairobi, with more than 3 millions inhabitants and a chaotic traffic. God has sent His angels to protect every one of us in this traffic. THANK YOU, LORD!

A new Blog is ready. It’s a short one: just 22 pictures in one postage. Go to: http://pastorwinterle.blogspot.com/ (Sorry, because what happened with Martin, I couldn’t finalize the Blog. Maybe next week I will send it….)

· Praise the LORD for the rain in

Kenya

! In some places it’s raining a lot and there are flood problems. But it’s necessary to fill the lakes and rivers for the next dry season.

· Praise the LORD for the new people coming to the church and pray that the Holy Spirit may work in their hearts to become faithful Christians.

· Pray for the children during their Christmas break. Many are traveling to their home towns and will spend Christmas with the grandparents.

· Pray for the Namibians University students. They have a scholarship to study in Nairobi and are faithful members at the Cathedral. They went back to

Namibia

for the Christmas break and will come back beginning of January.

· Pray for Eunice (Kuki), Lidia’s sister in

Brazil

. She suffered two surgeries recently (cancer in her breast, and to clean her spine again from a chronicle infection after her surgery in 2005). She is in hospital for the last two months and will stay for a long time until the infection has gone.

· Pray for Mrs. Caroline Koschmann, Mr. Norbert Koschmann’s wife. She suffered a stroke and is recovering at Heartland of Oakland,Troy, MI. Mr. Koschmann is the founder of the Brazil Mission Society with Dr. William Thompson and a great

· Pray for the coming ADVENT SEASON. May the Gospel of our Lord Jesus reach the hearts of many while the world are listening to the Christmas Carols, are seeing the lights and pictures about the Nativity, and so many are doing a balance of their life as a New Year approaches.

· PRAY FOR ALL OUR FAMILY! WE LOST OUR OLDEST GRANDSON MARTIN YESTERDAY, November 22, IN A BICLYCLE ACCIDENT. It is so hard to be so far when something like this happen.

You can help our mission. Pray for us and help us to reach our financial goal. Send your donation to the following addresses:

Mailing address: (Please, don’t send checks to this address; just cards or letters):

Sonja had a relapse with the ITP in September. She was on steroids for a month, then tapered off - she was fine during this period of time, however, two weeks ago her platelet count was dangerously low again (32) so she contacted her hematologist at Mayo clinic. Her local hematologist sort of dropped the ball on this occurrence. Last week the count was back to normal with no treatment or reason. At Mayo, her doctor is hosting a Fellowship Program and wants Sonja to meet with the group Thursday morning at 8:00.........

Would you please pray for God's wisdom to be "poured out" on those attending and that He will reveal what plan needs to be used in her case?

Mark Gaertner and Ken Eichler of the Clear Lake Lions donated funds to Steuben County Council on Aging executive director Donna Holcomb recently. The money will be used as matching funds to purchase a new van for the COA’s public Steuben Star transportation service.

ROBERT "BOB" WESTERMAN, 73, went to Jesus on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2009, at home. Born in Fort Wayne, he owned and retired from J & B Engineering Sales Co.; volunteered at Cross Borders; and was a member of Holy Cross Lutheran Church. Surviving are his wife, Sheila; son, Kevin of Fishers; daughter, Karen (Joe) Hochgesang of Carmel; daughter, Lynn (David) Marks of Bluffton; grandsons, Richard Marks and Jory Westerman, both of Fort Wayne; granddaughters, Rachel and Sara Hochgesang, both of Carmel; brother, John (Nancy) Westerman of Indianapolis; sister, Sandra (Harry) Meshberger of Lafayette; two nieces; and two nephews. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Cheryl Westerman. "Bob loved the Lord and his family. He left his thumbprint wherever he went." Service is 11 a.m. Monday at Hockemeyer & Miller Funeral Home, 6131 St. Joe Road, Fort Wayne, with calling one hour prior to the service. The Rev. Mark Neubacher officiating. Calling also from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. Burials at Concordia Cemetery Gardens. Preferred memorials to Holy Cross Lutheran Church or Worship for Shut-Ins ministry.

Bernice Reichert, Russ Reichert's mother died this morning. Russ and Jan thank everyone for their prayers. Bernice doesn't have to suffer anymore and is now with the Lord. She was cremated and a memorial service will be held in Illinois. Russ and Jan Reichert thank everyone for their prayers

It is remarkable to notice that the lessons for the Sundays in October/November speak about stewardship and money. Follow me:

Oct11^th – Mark 10:17-22: The rich young ruler. He loved his money more than he loved Jesus and the poor; and “went away sad, because he had great wealth”.

Oct 18^th – Mark 10:23-31: “How hard it is for a rich to enter the kingdom of God” said Jesus. But He added: “All things are possible with God”, because salvation alone belongs to Him!

Nov 8^th – Mark 12:38-44: The widow’s offering. “She, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.”

Nov 15^th – Mark 13:1-13: The world is transitory. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” Why do we worry so much about our properties?

Nov 22^nd – Mark 13:24-37: “It’s like a man going away. He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task.” We are the servants, we are the managers.

Thanksgiving Day - Luke 17:11-19: The Ten lepers: Only one came back to say “Thank you!”

Kenyan athletics veteran Kipchoge Keino (69), President of the National Olympic Committee, runs a charity foundation for orphans. He said in an interview: “My wife and I share all our meals with the 97 orphaned and abandoned children. We came into the world with nothing and we will leave with nothing, so we should give to others as much as we can.” Is this not a great example of good stewardship?

Thank you for all good stewards who are supporting the Mission of God in Africa and all around the world! God bless you!

A new BLOG is ready. Go to http://pastorwinterle.blogspot.com/ and see/read about: A) Our Family in Nairobi; B) Get-Together-Sunday + Installation; C) Services and other Activities; D) LCMS Missionaries’ Retreat; E) Do You Know These People?

Please, send your reaction and comments directly to our e-mail address: cwwinterle@yahoo.com.br

God has strange ways to work. Pastor Peter Varvaris (USA) wrote us an e-mail: “Recently, our team was in Washington, D.C. doing a service event with Samaritan's Feet ministry through a local church there. While serving there we met two people from

Kenya

. One… The other person asked if we would go to see her daughter and speak to her about Christ, when we get there. When I told her it will probably be months before we go, she seemed concerned. So, I asked her if she would like me to ask Christians in

Kenya

to contact her daughter to talk to her about Christ and/or invite her to church. She said yes, right away. - Her daughter's name is Florence… The contact phone number she gave me for Florence is …

So, I was wondering if one of you would be willing to try to contact Florence and if she is open to it, see her with this message from her mother (her mother's desire that someone tell her about Jesus), and/or to invite her to church - but you probably know that just inviting someone over the phone to church isn't very effective, especially if you don't know them. But, I leave that in your hands, with whatever you could do, and with the Holy Spirit. “

I called Florence. She was a little resistant. After some days, she called me back and asked for the church address. And she came to the service! With her family! Praise God! We talked after the service. She lives far from our church. She is going to a Christian Church. She promised to come again. She gave me her mother’s phone number and I sent a “report” to Pastor Peter who contacted Florence’s mother again.

We were with many of you from October to December last year. You helped us to raise the necessary funds to come back to

Kenya

. THANK YOU! One year has passed. Now we need your help again for the second year. Remember us in your Thanksgiving offering and in your Christmas gift. See the direction in this Newsletter attached how to help.
THANK YOU!
Carlos Walter & Lídia Winterle

FORT WAYNE, IN (CTS)—Miss America 2009 Katie Stam, a native of Seymour, IN, and member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Seymour, is on a national speaking tour promoting the Miss America Organization and her personal platform of “Community Service.” As part of this tour she will stop in Fort Wayne for an appearance at Concordia Theological Seminary, 6600 N. Clinton Street, on Thursday, October 15, at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in Sihler Auditorium.

“Our entire culture benefits when role models exhibit the virtues that inspire and stimulate persons to contribute their best efforts for the welfare of their neighbors, their community, and their country. Miss America 2009 Katie Stam is such a role model,” says Dr. Dean O. Wenthe, President, CTS. “The seminary is delighted to host her and to invite the community to hear her.”

There is no charge for this event. For additional information, please call 260-452-2250.

The mission of Concordia Theological Seminary is to form servants in Jesus Christ who teach the faithful, reach the lost, and care for all.

For additional information concerning educational opportunities and events at CTS please contact: Jayne Sheafer, CTS Director of Public Relations, 260-452-2250 or PublicRelations@ctsfw.edu

Hello, again,
I can’t seem to stop thinking of one more thing I want to write about, despite the strain of Fritz being in the hospital and life getting back in full swing in FTW. I no longer have the excuse of “I just got back…..”

So today I am drawn to the front of my Bible I travel with and the post it notes I keep there of favorite thoughts. My all time favorite is this one “life narrows down and crises come. Suddenly only one thing matters and there, in the narrow place, stands Jesus.” But I wrote about that one last trip so here is one that was included rather prophetically I guess to prepare me for some of the struggles of this trip.

“To inoculate me from the praise of men, He (God) baptized me in the criticism of man until I died to the control o f man.” Francis Francipone.

Well, I sure was dipped into the criticism of man one day in Yambio -- our opening day of the new building. I had tried to keep myself in low gear; for refreshments we would not be “slaughtering a bull” but instead budget only for drinks, sweets and our typical beans and rice meal we eat at HOM. And the typed invitations were just going out to the official dignitaries. Everyone had delighted in seeing a self inking stamp I had brought and we stamped each invite to make it look very official. And I was prepared that 10 am African time could mean anything from 11 to 12 noon before everyone would be assembled. But what I was not prepared for was who was NOT coming.

That morning as I ran between the HOM building and the church guesthouse, I saw the church official leaders and principal of seminary hanging around. I assumed they were coming but casually mentioned seeing them shortly, when one of them piped up “but I wasn’t invited.” What do you mean?-- I tried to sound calm and unassuming. “I didn’t get an invitation” came the response. “But we didn’t send paper invitations (costing me 60 cents per piece of paper at the computer center….) to our church family-- you know you are all invited and expected to be there. HOM is part of the church…..”
The response came again “but we didn’t get an invitation.” (you should also know there is a lot of tribalism and prejudice that the Hands of Mercy manager is of a different tribe than the rest, which is why he has not gotten a congregation position in the church)

Well, I knew enough to be quiet then, as my blood began to boil, thinking of the long list of things I had done for the church and now they were not supporting ME???

So I went back to HOM and eventually we had the opening, complete with a lavish supply of both bottled water and cokes, hard candies and store bought cookies. And then one member of the group I had confronted earlier, saunters in, just in time for the food…..

Well, I wish I could say I meekly let it go, accepting what the deaconess later told me was just plain jealousy on their part. But later when I saw that person who came f or the food, I let go of a few frustrations -- “righteous anger” I probably told myself, but really venting anger that needed to be dealt with elsewhere. It caused a huge rift between us and took several days before I had the courage (and conviction from the Holy Spirit that even though I was right, my anger was not Christ like) to take the first step to make amends.

Well, I know I have not died to the control of man (from the original quote) and still want the praise of men, and it sure was a baptism or dipping into criticism that I was not prepared for. And then didn’t handle it in the best way, but…..

One of my favorite thoughts from Kay Arthur is “Act, not react.” which I embellish to: “Act towards God, not react to men.” Asking not to have the knee jerk reaction when someone hurts you is the Christ like thing to do, but it sure is hard. All in all, I titled the opening day a “Red Letter Day” which Fritz, in one of his clear and witty thinking times said-- “is that expression come from writing the words of Jesus in red in the Bible?” Probably so.

Would that we all handle our “Red Letter Days” with true Christ like humility and grace. And when we don’t--
Guess that is what forgiveness is all about.

In Christ,
Pat

pictures are: meat sold in market -- fresh (and would turn the hardiest soul into vegetarianism) hanging up and dried fish tied in ropes in other picture and our sign

It is always interesting to me what books you choose to take on a long trip( I do not say vacation, in that I go to Sudan to work, not vacation!) The books you choose have to last for the long nights of solitude and long rainy stretches that might keep you in your room a lot. Plus they are going to be read more carefully and meaningfully when there are few other distractions or entertainment. Maybe to a reader, good books are like good friends.

So this trip I packed heavily. Typically, missionary stories are of great interest so I had two: Soon OK Lee’s memoirs of her time in North Korean prison camps and a Columbian missionary’s escape in the jungle-- both of which were also a little too graphic and scary for my emotional state this trip. One I would recommend for disability insight is Jean Vanier’s reflections Living Gently in a Violent World.

But the one that really captured my attention was a compilation of writings by African theologians called The Faces of Jesus in Africa, compiled by Robert Schreiter. To anyone wanting to put a face on Jesus in a different culture, this is an interesting read. Putting the face of Ancestor, or Elder Brother, or Initiator may seem strange to us but to an African, these provide bridges to differing cultures that prove helpful. And the face of Jesus as healer was the one that captured my attention the most.

Very sensitively written (by a woman), the challenge was this: what can we offer(using Jesus as Healer) to a person who has never taken up his pallet and walked (be healed physically)? What courage can we ask of those who only know the face of the Crucified Jesus and never that of the Risen One? A good question for all of us who work with people with disabilities who have not been “healed” of their disability.

The answer she offers is the one I would as well: healing perhaps can only be understood through the Cross. This means understanding that “healing” cost Jesus (God) His life. Healing through death to self, healing through the giving of Another’s life. “By His stripes, you were healed” (Isaiah 53:5). This is the “wounded healer” image that by Jesus’ wounds, you were healed.

This is an effective motif of healing to an African who knows tribal healers. Tribal healers give the “gift of self in fusion with the patient. The healer becomes the patient as he merges with illness in order for healing.”

Well, this is a bit academic and not where I planned on going in this reflection. But I hope it is an interesting commentary of presenting Jesus in a different culture.

Learning from the Lord through this ordeal with Fritz’ bipolar was daily a subject in my journal writings. I could not escape that I was not at home, helping or problem solving, or supporting or in any way being a part of what was going on in his (and Rick’s) life. To a mother who is a “fixer” this was the challenge. But in looking back over my journal, I was amazed at how often being still was written and rewritten:
“ how do I learn to be still? Why would God want us to be still? “

“It is human to question God -- it is not sinful or a sign of weakness-- it is just our human condition to want to know why. So I continue to question God about Fritz’ manic episode that caused them to turn back and for Fritz to be in the hospital all this time. I can ask God -- He is my loving Father who knows me (and my desire to know the whys).

And then in the quiet moments, God sometimes answers-- sometimes not. Mine is the questioning: His is the right to answer or not. He asks me to trust Him either way.
So there was a day when “be still” came to my mind. God desires me to be still, amidst the mental turmoil of Fritz’ illness and God has taken me out of that turmoil to be still and KNOW (that I am God).

The words (Psalm 45:10) came into my mind so loudly that I turned to see who had spoken them… Tears continued to come but now they do not seem to be the tears of desperation or tears of anguish, but tears of perhaps understanding God in His wisdom and love has called me from the front line of Fritz’ illness to learn to be still and know He is the loving God who is in control.” But….

“How long, O Lord? How long?”

“A thought came strongly into my mind today -- “the Lord is shaping Fritz-- He is doing this now through pain and suffering. I was reading 1 Timothy and thinking of Timothy, an illegitimate child, barred from the Temple due to his birth, seemingly disqualified. Yet God sought him out-- Paul climbed that Lystra hill three times to find Timothy and separate him out for leadership in the church.”

And lastly
“ God is at work in Fritz, molding and shaping him through great suffering. The crucible for Fritz is so painful, but in the midst of it, we look to see Jesus, in His love, suffering for us. Help me, Lord, see You in this crucible.

Lord, you send me to Sudan to teach me your ways. You strip me of my family, comforts, security, even my husband to get me alone to be with you as my Teacher. Thank you, Lord, for loving me so much.”

Well, I hope these reflections will encourage you to see how God is likewise calling you “away” to be taught by Him. We each have stories- and lessons learned along the way; whether it is as far away as Sudan, in pit toilets and through sweaty bodies, God gets our attention. He really does love us so much as to teach us to be still in the midst of turmoil and know that He is God, actively working on our behalf, in all ways and all times!!!

In Jesus, Who heals us in His ways,
Pat

ISP Chaplain to receive the Scone Stone international recognition for kindness

The Reverend Jack Hess, a chaplain for the Indiana State Police at District 16 in Peru, will be one of the first several recipients of an international recognition for kindness. The Scone Stone is coming to Indiana. Learn more about the Scone Stone at: www.sconestone.com

The recognition is called the Scone Stone of Kindness. The six-sided stone, about the size of a grapefruit was carved in Nova Scotia, Canada; first bestowed in Scotland and has now been passed to a recipient in New York City who will entrust it to Chaplain Hess. He will have it in Indiana September 16th – 23^rd and it will be on display and available for touching on September 17 in Peru, Indiana. At the Peru City Hall lobby, on the 17^th, there will be a brief welcoming ceremony at 11:00 am and then the stone will be available for viewing and touching until 7:00 pm. By September 23^rd, Chaplain Hess will have entrusted the stone to the next “Keeper”. The Scone Stone will continue on person to person, crossing borders and inspiring kindness around the world.

Chaplain Hess indicates that the carving will leave Peru to go back to New York City for ceremonies at an October 2^nd fire fighter memorial day; after which it will be in California for another special event; and on November 11^th it will be in Ontario with the Canadian Secretary of Defense for remembrance day ceremonies. After that the stone travels to Taiwan. “What a privilege we have in being a part of this journey of kindness that will touch the lives of so many across the world!” says Chaplain Hess.

Chaplain Hess has served as police and fire chaplain for many agencies throughout NW Ohio and NE Indiana since beginning ministry in 1971. He retired from active parish ministry last April, but continues to serve in public safety chaplaincy. Congratulations to Chaplain Jack Hess, Keeper of the Scone Stone of Kindness.

While it is Labor day to many of you, it seems rest is elusive to me, as the reality of the demands of life here start to crowd out my Sudan reflection time. But my journal -- and many of you, Sudan supporters, keep me going back for more. So today I will bring you up to date on Simon Peter, the young man in Uganda who is challenged by severe cerebral palsy. I first met Simon Peter in a special residential school in Kampala and began a friendship that saw a wheelchair taken for him to be able to go hoe to live again-- then note cards to sell that bring that wonderful smiling picture each time of him receiving with his foot the income from the cards. Peter came near to death this past winter and through the sale of his cards, I was able to wire money for his hospitalization and subsequent recovery. He is a very thin man now, still weak, but with an indomitable spirit that is infectious. An easy to love person.

So every return to Sudan allows me several days in Kampala and time to visit Simon. He has only voluntary control of his left foot but his mind is intact and it is amazing what he can do with one foot (like eat, sew, paint, shake “hands” etc). For many of you who have bought his stenciled note cards, this is Peter’s thank you….(see picture of Peter with a wad of Uganda shillings in his foot - one dollar is 1800 Uganda shillings…)

Peter is now an artist: a left footed painter. When I arrived his mother and sister had arranged an art exhibition of various things he had made.(see picture) He had pasted bac cloth (traditional material made from the root of a tree, originally pounded into cloth for clothing) cut outs on cards, carefully copied by pencil pictures from a calendar they had found, had done more string art and had a whole stack of cards for me to take back to sell. Pride in his work, though crude by many standards, is so obvious that you just have to love this guy. He wants to contribute, to have something meaningful to do with his life.

So a year ago we set out to apply for him to join the FMPA-- Foot and Mouth Painters Association. It wasn’t easy to get all the documentation, like a birth certificate and documentation of his disability from a doctor and it took a whole year but finally I was able to send to Switzerland originals of his art work and the paperwork. They are deciding this month if he will be accepted, which means he would get a monthly stipend to continue creating his art.

Uganda is where I also get some new ideas for HOM projects. I go to the market to buy my souvenirs but also to get ideas of what might sell. This time I saw note cards with a printed picture on that baccloth, so I talked to one of the women crafters who got me a large piece of that cloth. Now people of Hands of Mercy are stencilling African designs of scenes in Sudan to make note cards. (see picture). As the “market” for most of our wares is really here, I can bring back bead jewelry and now more note cards to have when I speak.
Also from Uganda has come a new income generating idea -- making candles and soap, both of which they need and use locally. For me, personally the ideas came as a wonderful opportunity to see something I had only read about previously-- the French L’Arche (the Ark, as in Noah’s).

L’Arche is the outcome of Jean Vanier spiritual journey to answer some questions about God and Jesus Christ. This led him to choose to live with two young men who had severe disabilities, learning to live not as caretaker and care receiver but to live in mutual support as fellow Christians. This has spawned “L’Arche”s around the world (I think 60 of them) and one being in Uganda!!! So our driver, and Pascal, my local Sudanese friend and contact in Kampala, and I set out to find this tiny little “ark” in the middle of the capital city.

L’Arche Uganda is a small farm/residential place where they raise pigs, grow vegetables, make candles for local churches and soap-- right in the sprawling capital city of the “pearl of Africa.” And more importantly people with and without disabilities choose to live there in a symbiotic way.

Well, I have to admit it did not look really like that; there were rows of bunk beds with people with severe disabilities just lying there and paid “caregivers” watching the one lone TV that dominated the living space. The German woman who ran the place no longer lives there, as she got married and has children now. Some people were making bead necklaces (see picture of Faith who made my necklace) but also one woman was tied in a chair, to keep her from wandering up to the main road, they said. To me it looked like a picture out of Christmas in Purgatory, if you have seen that historic photo essay on our treatment of people with mental retardation and illness.

But the idea is still valid and I hope someday to get to Toronto to see Daybreak, a L’Arche where Henri Nouven lived and wrote some of his most profound writing. And if next trip I write that Hands of Mercy is now making candles for the churches in Yambio and soap for sale, it will have been worth seeing L’Arche Uganda.

One final thought to relate-- about sharing ideas. Each time I return to HOM, I take a new song for them to sing and learn the English and the theology. This time we stretched the borders a bit with a Michael W Smith song, “a New Hallelujah.” It was given to me at Christmas by a dear friend from Texas and also has the Uganda children’s choir and lots of drumming in it. So they learned it, I taught sign language to go along with the words and we had a great time watching and singing with the dvd-- and 1700 concert goers in Houston!! So I will close with some of the words we sang; while I cannot attach a video of our singing(although I took several), you can hear him sing it on the internet, and smile as you imagine what it was like in Sudan.

“Can you hear, there’s a new song
Breaking out from the children of freedom
Every race and every nation
Sing it out, sing a new hallelujah.
Let us sing love to the nations
Bringing hope of the grace that has freed us
Make Him (Jesus) known and make Him famous
Sing it out, sing a new hallelujah.”

May we sing with the gusto and spirit of a man who can only use his left foot or Ugandans with significant intellectual challenges like Faith-- and bring Christ love to the nations in the hope that has made us free.

In Christ,
Pat

Having returned to Sudan eight more times has given me a “history” with this little piece of Africa and our church there. I have seen some changes (for better and for worse in my opinion), people I knew and loved have died, some have “deserted” the church (we are now down to two deaconesses out of our original 4, besides me) and I have been pulled into church politics, as they struggle to be a united, visible presence of both Lutheranism and Christianity in this war torn and backward nation. I have never seen 99.9% of places in Africa that other people have been to, nor do I see myself as any kind of African expert but I have found being present at critical moments has been a defining experience of missionary work for me. What a privilege to be there for the first John Garang Independence day, now celebrated in late July every year; there when the first Constitution of Sudan came to Yambio to be signed; there for the first Women’s Day celebration. And now I can add some rather “critical moments” of a different flavor this time.

My first full day in Yambio would be a packed one, with meeting the builder to get things moving again on the permanent building. But also waiting for me was an urgent call to see a baby born 4 months ago with “something on her back.” So late in the afternoon, Ketura, the other deaconess, and I walked the half hour journey to the hut of Agnes and her baby, Marta. This was the first “critical moment” and opened the door for probably the thorniest issue I had to deal with this trip. The baby was born with an opening in her back, called spina bifida. Unfortunately no one knew what it was, except to say the baby had to go to Kampala or Khartoum for treatment .. This was out of question-- both money for transportation, and medical expenses as well as visa to leave Sudan. No one had told the mother what was really happening with her baby. So began a month long quest for the “right” thing to do. The bulging pocket of spinal fluid was increasing daily and weeping;; already the damage was evident in the baby’s dangling, limp legs. So I took some pictures and arranged for a motorbike to get me to Nsara where my friend, Sister Jovanni, an Italian sister of Comboni, heads the Leprosy Hospital.

Together once on the MAF plane going out of Sudan, we have maintained a friendship and sharing of needs and resources. And I knew she had a qualified nurse and hopefully a doctor who could help. The next day, Charles, one of the sem students who has a motorcycle, and I left for the trip to Nsara. Sister Maria Louisa, the hospital’s one nurse, was there and confirmed the diagnosis by the pictures and pronounced the inevitable-- that surgery was the only hope and even at that, she would only give the baby a slim chance of surviving, let alone escaping further paralysis and brain damage with each day of loss of spinal fluid. There was no surgeon,no adequate hospital in all of South Sudan that we could turn to. This news hit me like the hot afternoon sun in Sudan can -- just a wall of impenetrable, inescapable heat. After giving Agnes,the mom, a most hopeful look at living with spina bifida in the US, I now was going to be the bearer of bad news.

An interesting side note is from a book I read this trip-- The Faces of Jesus in Africa. The author related the African view towards death-- that it is a passage to life, a “wedding of death” that reunited you to your ancestors (if animist, or to Jesus if Christian). Then death becomes a very public, community event that ,while sad, is a sure passage if you “die well.” But having a birth defect means to them in fact not “living well,” so dying from one would prevent that ’celebration “ of reunion.

Yikes! I was to be the bearer of this bad news. This young family was Christian but news like this tries even the most mature believer into questioning God. So home we went to tell Agnes and her husband it is just a waiting for death to come. That bulging spinal pocket would burst, infection would set in and Marta would die-- perhaps quickly after that. I wrote later in my journal I that night with Agness was a true “deaconess moment” for me-- when all the theological training of being at CTS would have to come to the front in the words I would use to bring truth and comfort to this situation.

Well, several weeks past, with the baby continuing to nurse and the bulge growing until one day the news arrived-- it had burst and the couple had taken the baby, in a panic, to the local medical person. There they were given a paper that said the baby needed antibiotic pills and supplemental packets of dry formula. These packets, plus the pediatric antibiotics would cost over 200 Sudanese pounds that the family had to bring back. They called me to come and we “discussed” this. Ketura explained that whoever makes the decision to take or not to take this advice and medicine is then responsible for the baby’s death. Yet to find that kind of money, knowing the meds will only prolong the baby’s inevitable death, was also beyond reach. What is the loving thing to do?

We wrestled with this, in the context of facing death as a Christian. I had only baby aspirin and Tylenol to make the baby comfortable, but the true words of comfort came from the Bible that though the baby dies, she lives in Christ. From a first aid kit, we helped dress the now flat opening on her back with antibiotic cream and large dressings and prayed the Lord’s mercy (as so many times I had personally prayed for mercy for the struggles I was having this trip).

The day before I was left, Marta was still alive, though unable to nurse any longer and her once sparkling eyes were dulled. The parents had not returned with any money for the formula or antibiotic. I left what few pounds I had left with Ketura for her funeral expense. I have a beautiful memory of the quilt I took the baby on the first day-- a quilt hand made by someone at a fellow deaconess’ church in Michigan, -- the quilt they will bury her in.

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.” John 11:25-26.

It was a critical moment to know that truth, to trust who said it, and to live in the secure reality of it. May we, likewise, who are there at critical moments in other people’s lives, bring them the greatest comfort and truth of the Christian faith.

In Christ,
Pat

Sudan Reflections 8 -- Becoming “Real:” a special moment at HOM Sept 1, 2009

This the first letter from Pat Nuffer who was in Sudan with her Hands of Mercy Mission.

This was the first entry into my journal, August 2, 2009

“Much stress as we prepare to leave (Rick, Fritz and myself)-- having been gone for almost three weeks in Michigan, then a week of sign language classes, and now the stress of Fritz’ mental health. I just don’t see what God is telling us? Is this door closing for Fritz to go to Africa because of this brain chemistry???

Bipolar is a curious thing-- one day it is here-- in your face, inescapable and awful. Your son is no longer your son, but has become a “changeling.” That is a medieval belief that satan came and stole your baby and left a different one.

And how long that changeling lives with you-- you just don’t know. So when it happens, you cry a lot, you scream silently at the Lord that it is just not fair; it is too heavy a burden to bear. But you just have to wait it out, with medication. Some times that has meant the hospital is the place to wait it out, supposedly a safe place but that has not been the case for Fritz( where he was even given the WRONG medication).

But this time when the changeling arrived, we were marching down the path to Sudan. And that march involves a lot of details to cover….440 pounds of supplies all packed, labeled, weighed, strapped into containers, home details…lots of details and not a good time for bipolar to visit.

Our changeling is a rather quirky young man, dressing differently, layering shirts, shorts, pants, bandanas and lots of things dangling from carabineers. He talks fast, thinks even faster and is very unpredictable.

So through my tears, cries, bargaining, pleading with the Lord, that still small voice came: “this is only a test.” Strange that that phrase would eventually calm my turbulent state, but I heard the Lord reassure me: this is only a test.

Yikes -- I am not ready for another test! Hands of Mercy already tests me enough….In Isaiah 58, God asks to look at the things Israel called a fast (things acceptable to the Lord). But the Lord replies what He calls and what we call are different, so that the people will cry out to Him. And He (God) will simply say “Here I am.” Simply that. God promises His presence and the I AM is enough.

Monday Aug 3. 2009

The waiting is over for now. Fritz’ bipolar began to escalate in Amsterdam… Closed doors all around; Rick turning back and cannot teach the sem students again! How can he face LHF with this second failed attempt to teach in Sudan???….

What do you do with a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raison in the sun? I can’t remember the rest of the poem by Langdon Hughes but I wonder -- what will come out of the ashes of this day? The long goodbye hug from Lois at church yesterday was prophetic-- did she know I would need to feel it in the hours and days ahead?……

It is funny who the Lord sends to you in a time of need. “Angel unaware” I attribute to Dale Rogers (of Roy Rogers fame) in her book about her daughter who had Down syndrome. Such was a woman to me on the plane from Amsterdam to Uganda.

An awkward setting-- between rows of a KLM flight. A seemingly awkward combination-- a white woman (me) struggling to lift her 50 pound carryon suitcase overhead (while many men sat in their seats)and a large, African American, Methodist pastor who simply looked at me and said “let me help. I know where you are- I’ve been there myself.” Was it the struggle physically she recognized, or was it my red, tear stained face that she recognized? Whichever, I needed her help.

So in the course of the 8 hr flight, often between rows of the crowded plane and often in adjacent seats (when the man who was a Jew sitting next to me, listening intently off and on, gave up his seat for her). She was probably a deep theologian, a PHD from SMU, and we discussed both our different theologies and same commitment to witness Jesus to a hurting world..

I could not hold in my grief over Fritz and Rick having to turn back.. I knew in my head the imbalance he was experiencing needed to be attended to at home, but I could not let go of the grief that it was causing. I had no control, no means of solving this. But to leave them, Fritz, groggy now from taking a sleeping pill and barely able to walk and only Rick to handle guitar, carryon suitcases and not even the reassurance of seats on a fully booked return flight home. So I could not stop the tears, as I left them, not knowing when and how they would get home, to go on to Uganda.

So there she was, an unmarried, no children, female pastor-- all the externals that seemed the opposite to my situation-- yet she met a huge need for me as we connected as fellow followers of Christ. She accepted my tears, as knowing they are God’s healing agents. As we parted when the plane landed, I told her she helped me immeasurably, but she said, no, it was the other way around. How I, drowning in a sea of tears and emotion, could have encouraged her is beyond my knowledge, but I accepted her comment as from the Lord-- He calls us to bear one another’s burden. By bearing our crosses, being vulnerable, wounded, are we also healed by Christ and thus become Christ-bearing “wounded healers” to others.

May we learn the simple truth “a burden shared is cut in half. “ And may I always remember much comfort was conveyed in the eyes and touch of a fellow sufferer, however different we might have also been”

End of journal entries and enough for today. May these incidents and difficulties of those first days getting to Sudan, encourage you to stand humbly in the crosses and burdens the Lord allows you to bear, knowing He provides “angels unaware” along the road to keep you secure in His love.

In Christ, our Healer,
Pat

FYI: to the family: I am not sending these reflections to Fritz at this time; his brain chemistry is still not balanced and he does not need to be burdened with "history" of the trip to Sudan. I appreciate your understanding that these not be shared with him at this time.

and the pictures are just pictures in Sudan - and one of Fritz before we left so people can put a face on Fritz.

From my journal, August 28, 2009

“ The best of times and the worst of times. How could it have been both? To achieve the successful building of a permanent home for Hands of Mercy, all paid for, was the making of the best trip possible. And for me, personally, the struggles of being in Sudan while Rick and Fritz had to turn back and Fritz being hospitalized for most of those next 3 ½ weeks, the burden all falling on Rick’s shoulders alone-- it was the worst nightmare I could endure. The endless tears, the long dark nights when sleep was elusive and fitful at best, the anxious satellite phone calls to hear of no improvement, of worsening, hospital release and reentry, dreading getting my email to hear one bad report after another, and now facing going home to whatever awaits me after the last call of the desperate, frustrated voice of my husband. “We have to wait” was the final advice from Fritz’ doctor-- “just wait it out.” …..

So my struggles as a mother/wife were the classroom for the Lord to teach me -- and the lesson was over and over “Be still and know that I am God.” Many times that truth came to my mind to quiet an anxious heart. And what did it mean to be still?”

End of journal entry for now. I will save the answer to that question for another reflection to come, as it was a major theme to this trip. And to fill in the blanks about turning back in Amsterdam, of parenting a son who experiences life with the challenges of a brain chemistry disorder called bipolar, and most of all learning that God’s grace is sufficient, as He taught me His power is made perfect in my weakness, even when the answer is “be still and not yet.”

But to many of you, loving called “Sudan supporters” on my email list, these reflections to come will be about the “best of trips” --- how distributing 70 pounds of first aid to needy lives, of wrapping a baby, dying with an open spine, in a lovely hand made quilt, of taking eye glasses out to remote villages to witness the amazement of weathered and worn old people say “I can see, I can see!” of the laughter of children learning to throw a Spiderman Frisbee, send by children in Lanesville, Indiana , or watching me try to demonstrate and explain a Disney Cinderella yo-yo. Yes, lots of laughter and tears on this trip--

And the ultimate joy of watching the permanent home of Hands of Mercy take shape before our eyes. That will be the wonderful reflection of “Money talks in Sudan,” and how a building gets built, thanks to those little mite boxes of faithful Lutheran women in Indiana. So I will end this “teaser” of more to come, and include some of my favorite random pictures of precious souls in Sudan, a beloved second home.

I concluded my journal with these lines: “So I return home, weak and broken, smelly and filthy from the Sudanese red dirt that even defies washing in the Kampala airport sink, ---but confident the Lord is at work -- in Fritz, in me, in people with disabilities struggling at Hands of Mercy, in all His beloved children -- at work for good (Romans 8:28); for whatever ‘good ’ looks like, we can trust in a loving Father. Amen and come quickly, Lord. (Rev 22:20) .”

Sudan Reflections 8 August 29, 2009

Back home on wonderful USA soil, after almost one month. It was a 41 hr journey, due to some bad weather at the end, but it makes it worth all the effort when the US customs officer says-- “welcome home.” Being in Sudan or almost anywhere you travel outside, makes you so appreciative of being born an American; while you see the faults of your country with the reflective eye of distance, you also understand the gifts we have been given here-- like clean water and free education that have come through the short history of our country. And I am personally thankful for receiving the gift of patriotism from my parents.

Charles Dickens opened his novel “A Tale of Two Cities with this famous line: “It was the best of times and the worst of times.” And I chose that line to title the last entry into my journal of this, my 8th return trip to Sudan. So if you only read one of these upcoming reflections, I guess this will be the overview of what happened and what I learned from the Lord. I am painfully aware I go to Sudan not so much to take them relief items and even the Gospel, but that the Lord draws me to Sudan to be in His classroom of learning what it means to call myself a Christian.

Sudan Reflections 8 August 30, 2009

“Money Talks: being a businesswoman in Sudan”

Good morning,
From my journal : “Armed with $13,000 strapped around my waist, I boarded the plane for Sudan. I think I looked at least 7 months pregnant, but then I was going to Sudan to give birth to a permanent building, so why shouldn’t I look pregnant? Vanity strikes, though, even with the freedom of going somewhere where nobody knows how you really look anyway. As Rick knows, I don’t have much experience handling large amounts of money, nor do I know how far it will go, but I am a very tight person.

But this trip I had an unexpected money blessing. Like loaves and fishes, God increased the dollar from 2 pounds to 2.7 Sudanese pounds. That is almost 1/3 more! So to get the building going fast:
strategy #1: set an opening date. They love ceremonies here (often I think for the reason you buy water, soda, sweets and biscuits for the participants!) My last Saturday , the 22nd, would be it.
Strategy #2 : pay in bits and pieces but keep it coming in crisp $100 bills.. That kept the builder’s eyes open and focused on moving along
Strategy #3: have some features for important people to come and see
Strategy #4 “ invite the big guys.”

August 31,2009

Good morning again. While the time change presents a problem for my body , my mind looks forward to these early morning arousals to reflect and put onto paper what going to Sudan has meant this time. Our son Fritz asked me what I would like to bring back most from Sudan; after some thought I replied “ their simplicity of life.” I did not mean having to draw water from a well and carry it on your head, but I meant a life where there was no “to do” list generated every morning in my head, nor a daily run to a store to purchase something. I had had enough of being the bank of Yambio and focusing on where and how to spend money all the time. But simplicity is an dangerous goal when it turns to stagnation and boredom and an excuse to no longer grow.

This morning as I reflected on some of the lessons of this trip, I thought about our national goal of independence and how that trait has gotten me into trouble. Being a middle child of six allowed me to grow up very independently, with a strong sense of self worth, self direction and a feeling generally of being in control of my life. Not all bad you say, until…..
“The heart of man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:9

We think we know what to do, where to go, how to live in His will. We plan, we prepare, we pray, but then God…..

(A word of background to some readers: Fritz, our fourth child, experiences life with a brain chemistry challenge called bipolar. It is a scary word, but, like Down syndrome, it has become a part of our family and like landing in a different country, it takes some getting used to. There is a different set of boundaries in living with bipolar, but the more you use the new ground rules, the less scary it (hopefully) becomes and the more you get on with life. The most important thing to know about bipolar is -- it happens -- and it is not our son. He is a known and created child of God who is not an accident or mistake. God knew his brain chemistry and what He has given Fritz to live with, he lives with. Call it a cross, or a thorn, or a burden; I rather think of it (on good days) as a challenge. We live in a fallen world, and Jesus tells us in this life we will have struggle, sadness, heartache, but thanks be to Him (Jesus) who has overcome the world and weeps with us, as we navigate the way to heaven.)
It dawned on me after a few days and word got out that I had American dollars, that I was functioning as the bank of Yambio. This town is the county seat for Western Equatoria State in South Sudan, but the one bank that was there had failed and closed. American dollars are the trading medium for the business people to go and buy goods in Uganda or Congo and resell in Yambio. It used to be going to Congo was the oft repeated trip but now the stakes are too high along the Congo road with LRA activity so the longer trip to Uganda to buy is taken.

So I learned not only to insist on the2.7 exchange rate but also that just exchanging dollars had some buying power to get “your best discount,” a phrase you always use to find out the final price of things. So once I realized I had enough money to complete the building, I set out to buy a wished for item for each person of Hands of Mercy. That meant a mattress for 8 people, radios of 4, blankets for 2, clothing for one, etc etc. It was a red letter day towards the end of my trip when in fact those things were purchased and distributed; I had likened giving out first aid kits to giving someone a$500 bill, but a mattress (to a person crippled by polio or club feet and drags himself on the ground) was greeted with unending whooping, clapping and “tambuahe, M’bori” thanks to God. Never will I spend $45 on something without remembering what relief, what joy that expense in the form of a mattress brought to some people in Sudan.

Back to the strategies of money talking in Sudan.

So we set the date for opening right from the first day of my meeting with the builder. I will save the actual opening details for another email, but having a deadline really got things in motion, in a culture where you remember me writing earlier: African time is NOT our concept of time. We set about to write up invitations, costing me a pound to print one page at the computer center, so we did half page invites with room for our official stamp. I made a whole journal entry one day on the power of a stamp, but for now, having a typed invite with a Hands of Mercy stamp meant a lot!

Strategy #3 was really fun. I have written about the challenges of clean water before-- of the daily function of children to go to the wells (rather than school) with their yellow jerricans many times a day. And so many times I had talked about collecting rain water off the church guesthouse roof but no cisterns to be found. They just had not done it that way before…..But t hanks to a US pastor visit recently, two plastic cisterns and gutters now provide wonderfully clean water, delivered right there at the guesthouse with e ach rainfall.

So I set about to have our own cistern and rainwater collection at Hands of Mercy. It didn’t take much to convince the builder, once he saw I had the money to pay him to get a cistern from Uganda. He had a brick raised platform built right off the middle of the veranda (not where I would have put it!) to speak loud and clear -- Hands of Mercy was having something new in town!!! Unfortunately it did not arrive before the grand opening or before I left, but I am trusting my next visit will hear the praises of using water from the heavens. (see picture in opening ceremony)

So every day, I would walk down to see the progress, take the many pictures of guys doing this or that; everyone wants their picture taken with some evidence of doing some “real work” (see picture of men plastering the shop) In case you don’t remember: Hands of Mercy permanent building is an L shaped building consisting of a large classroom, a shop (complete with metal door, a real splurge of an expense but one the builder insisted was necessary), an office, a storage room and another room for our photo studio (future income generating effort), all with a veranda to keep our machines under cover. And an embarrassing large “cornerstone” that is really a monument, commemorating the foundation laid August 6, 2008.

So with typed and stamped invites given to the government people and other churches, with the rain holding off most of my whole time there so construction kept going and the necessary food bought and most of the project completed, we had the grand opening. Supposedly at 10 am, but at 11 there still were only two invited guests, plus the Hands of Mercy people but I was too excited to be worried. Then came the seminary students to fill up the seats and the usual straggle of children watching for any excitement of the day and at 11:30 we began to open and dedicate the building. The painting was not finished, nor clean up accomplished but the building was, for all purposes, really ready to be opened. Out of the our bag of sewing notions from the pillowcase dresses, we found some white
bias tape and stretched it between two posts for a ribbon and I remembered to locate the scissors.
For the next hour, we heard speeches from the few government officials who came, from the Episcopal priest who came and from the SPLM (freedom political party of South Sudan) friend of our manager and our church representative. And I got a chance to speak, with the Lord giving me the words of what it meant for the church to welcome the vulnerable as important members of the Body of Christ.

But the speech that burned into my heart that day came from Angelo (if you remember the young man who walked on his hands upside down until we got him his own three wheel adapted bike-- and whose story I repeatedly tell as “Angelo’s wheels”). Fortunately I have it on my little flip video camera because as he spoke for the group, he explained how these people were once scattered beggars of the town and now are not a forgotten group of real people. It could not have been spoken better by the most eloquent speaker in the world, as everyone hushed to watch this vibrant young man swing himself out from the crowd on the ground to come to the front. I think the most important government official or leader there was humbled by the testimony of this man of what it meant to feel in himself some esteem. And to recognize he is esteemed in God’s eyes just as importantly as t he one who wore the government uniform and arrived on a motorcycle. That moment made any of the hardships of going to Sudan, or raising money for HOM, (my main occupation at home) fade into the realization: the Lord’s Hand is the Hand of mercy, making “One Body in Christ” a reality.

Could I ever ask for more than this? The privilege of taking first aid, and glasses in the name of Christ, of taking lovely quilts for widows or hygiene for orphans and children, of taking toothbrushes and pens for seminary st udents-- all of those wonderful “things” I am sent with, important as they are, fade in comparison to this one statement-- that people, who were once excluded, ostracized and forgotten, have begun to realize they are precious, worthy and valued members of God’s family and His Body, the Church.

Would that we all realize the gift the Lord offers to us-- an inheritance as a child of God, eternal life and value found only in Him. While I began this reflection with the fact money talks (and it did), the real talking of that day was done by the Lord through Angelo. To truly know God cares for you and will never abandon you is the gift Angelo gave us. May we live in the light that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son Jesus Christ so that the outcasts, the lame, the blind, the poor, all of us could have a place forever with Him, free and whole and loved.

In Christ the Prince of Peace,
Pat

ps. the picture of the little girl with the glasses is the first child ever to be fitted for glasses from the few children's glasses I have taken. Plus she is wearing one of our pillowcase dresses made during the previous trip.

Storms cause problems and also provide opportunities for us to serve our fellow man. The storms of last year and also last night (August 19th) have left people in NW Indiana in a dire state. Please share the following information in your congregations (bulletin and/or verbal) so that those who are able may consider being in NW Indiana on Sept. 12 for a special one day event! It is my hope that people from around the district will keep this matter in their prayers and maybe even take it their own hands! In Christ, President May

The NW Indiana floods of last Sept have left many people in Munster, Hammond, Gary, Lake Station, Portage, and Crown Point with severely damaged and unlivable homes. LARRI (Lakeshore Area Regional Recovery of Indiana) is trying to help those who cannot afford to rebuild themselves. On Saturday Sept 12, LARRI is sponsoring a “Blitz Build” to help a few of these victims and to increase awareness of their plight. If you would like to participate with other Lutherans in this day of “doing good”, please contact Tom Brown of the LCMS Indiana District Disaster Response at 219/771-0760 or thomasfrancisbrown719@verizon.net.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Galatians 6:9-10

The first 5 photos were submitted from Kathy Shuman. She copies them from Darlene's face book page.

Attached are a few pictures from Mark's ordination on Sunday. Our e-mail right now is hit-or-miss, depending on when we can get a wi-fi connection. It was a wonderful day, and we look forward to starting the final part of our trip to Canada soon.

Jane Harriet Pepe, 88, of Fremont, Indiana and formerly of Toledo, Ohio and Scottsdale, Arizona died July 28, 2009 at Northern Lakes Nursing Center in Angola, Indiana. She had been a patient for 21 months. Jane was born May 17, 1921 to Charles E. and Irene L. (LaPointe) Akers in Toledo, Ohio. She married Stan Brown on October 17, 1944. In 1967, Jane and Stan built and directed Brown’s High Hope Camp, an outdoor education center and summer camp for children at Clear Lake, Indiana, until Stan’s death, February 26, 1976. Jane sold the camp to her son and later her daughter, who continued operation of High Hope Camp until 2005. She married Les Pepe in Phoenix, Arizona on May 29, 1980. He survives in Fremont.

Jane is survived by one son, Paul Chapman Brown (Sue) of Tiki Island, Texas and one daughter, Kathleen Jane Shuman (Bill) of Angola, Indiana. Her grandchildren include: Karen Barnes, Michael Brown, Sarah Jane Hunt (Don) and William L. Shuman, III (aka Billy) (Courtney). She has 2 great-grandchildren, Whitney Barnes and Austin Joseph Hunt. Les’s family includes Dennis (Penny) Pepe, Arlene (Richard) Boyer, Jan (Harmon) Morell, Larry (Joanie) Pepe, and Tom Pepe with numerous grand-children and great-grandchildren.

Jane treasured life. She loved to dance, shop, play cards especially euchre, watch “Pretty Woman”, and later in life root for the Phoenix Suns. She was a classy and feisty lady. Her three top priorities were her husband, her family (and close friends), and her home. You often would hear her say, “We have so much to be thankful for.” Jane made friends wherever she went. She learned to ride horses when her children were young, since she and Stan felt it would be a great family hobby.

In addition to her parents and her first husband, Jane was preceded in death by her brother Paul Akers and his wife, Beverly.

A memorial service is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, August 8 at 11:00 a.m. at Clear Lake Lutheran Church (270 Outer Drive, Fremont, Indiana). Calling will be one hour before the service. Burial will be immediately following the service in Clear Lake Lutheran Church cemetery.

Jesus’ promise was fulfilled on the disciples at the first PENTECOST: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses… to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). The disciples spread the Gospel of Jesus and since then the Christian Church has been going all around the World to give testimony about Jesus and to show God’s love to the needy people. - Volunteer groups and individuals who came to Kenya last June were filled with the Holy Spirit and love as they worked in Medical Clinics, on buildings, schools, and as they interacted with children (especially the HIV/AIDS Orphans), youth (especially the homeless boys), and adults (especially the HIV/AIDS infected and affected people). It was a privilege and a blessing to be and to work with these groups. THANK YOU for coming to

Kenya

and helping our people and our projects! God bless you all!

**********************************************************************************

I am sorry that I was not able to prepare the BLOG this month, because of lack of time. I have hundreds of pictures to share with you about the work of the volunteers. I will try to do it in July (I hope so). One of the volunteers who is still in Nairobi, Joseph, is sharing his experiences in his BLOG. Go to http://josephafrica.blogspot.com/ Thank you.

A Builders Team came from Redeemer, Springfield MO + King of Kings, Gardner, KS to help to build the church in Kiambu. Joseph wrote in his BLOG: “The building contractor whom David Reynolds spent a lot of time talking and chatting and getting to know, as well as many of our other people like Bob and Pastor Dan and Michael, has decided to seek out the Lutheran Church in his area (Kibera) and is going to get baptized along with his wife and two daughters!!! God truly works in amazing ways! We were here working, and our team and David reached out to him with the Word of God, and our entire team created a strong Christian environment, and the contractor (Samuel) was then led to be baptized! I believe the baptism is happening this Sunday (7/5) if I understood correctly. Truly something to be joyful for! Our presence made a difference, even if just him and his family.”

Many are working on the budget for the new fiscal year in the

USA

. Please, remember our mission in

Kenya

! To all who helped us during this last fiscal year – THANK YOU! You are invited to support our mission again. See the direction in this Newsletter. Blessings!

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We've created it to keep friends and family updated about our loved one. Get started by reading the introduction to our website, My Story.

Visit often to read the latest journal entries, visit the photo gallery, and write us a note in our guestbook.

At 3:30 p.m. on July 8, Al was at work at the Angola Police Department and experienced crushing chest pain that radiated up to his neck. He later rated it a "45 on a 1-10 scale". Through God's hand there was an officer sitting beside him who noticed his situation and immediately called for help. The Angola Fire Department and other officers, EMT's were on the scene within 2 minutes. He was taken to Cameron Hospital ER and was flown to Parkview ER via Samaritan Flight service. He was taken directly to CT for imaging and it was discovered that he had a dissecting aortic aneurysm from the thoracic arch down to the iliac and femoral arteries. At 6:00 he was wheeled into surgery for replacement of the aortic valve, aortic arch and repair of the remainder of the aorta. The cardiovascular surgeon expects the surgery to take between 8-12 hours. Please pray for Al. He's very special to us and we want to see his smile another day.

Hello to all, Our grandson was born at 5 pm June 23, 2009. He weighed 8lbs 14 ozs and 21 inches long. A big boy for such a little mama!!! Everyone is doing great. Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. They are naming him Daniel Michaelvitch (may be spelled differently ???) not sure.
Anyway, we plan to leave Friday morning and will be gone next week. We will miss church and the VBS program. We will keep that in our prayers.
Hope the week is going well. Tim and Char

Hi Ron, Can you send this out to our contact list? For some reason they used my alias, Mike, in the email notice. Pastor Mark

I'm proud to tell you that I'm being locked up...that's right, I'm going behind bars to help Jerry's Kids© and MDA. To be released on good behavior I have to raise bail and I need your help!

All you have to do is click here to make a secure, online donation before 07/08/09. Your donation will help families living in our community and help guarantee me an early release. I can't wait to add you to my list of contributors.

Thanks in advance for your help. Don't hesitate to call or email me with any questions.

Together we'll make a difference,
Pastor Mike

P.S. I'm counting on you, click here to donate.

If the link above does not work, please cut and paste the address below into the address bar of your Internet browser.

“…always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador… Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should… Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”(Ephesians 6:18-24)

With these words of Paul I greet you as a partner of the Gospel in Kenya through our ministry. Thank you for your prayers and thank you for your support. God is blessing our work. We have so many challenges!

According to my records and the last report I received from LCMS World Mission – St. Louis Office (ref. April/2009) you have sent four (4 ) offerings of $1,500.00 + one (10 offering of $300.00 = $6,300.00. Thank you with God’s blessings!

I have almost reached the goal for the first fiscal year. This is a blessing! I hope that with the donation of May and June I will complete the goal. You are part of these efforts! I’m so thankful to God for this blessing and for so many friends who have their eyes and hearts directed to Kenya! – Now, let’s wait for the second year. But I’m sure that God will bless us through our supporters as we are working in Kenya for the 4^th year.

About our health: My left leg and my right knee are still bothering me. Lidia is driving when we go together... but I must drive when I go alone to visits or meetings. It was so good to receive the visit of Bill and Katy while I was admitted at the hospital in Fort Wayne!

Finally we used the Easter Wreath at a SS+Teens Retreat some week ago. I was saving them for the Easter Season. Thank you. The children and the teens love to prepare the wreaths.

We are waiting now several volunteer groups in June and our grandson and children in July/August. We are so happy!!!

On May 23rd we will be holding our annual bake sale. Can you help out by bringing some baked goods? If you would like to donate some baked goods or treats for the sale please have them at the church on Friday (between 9 & 5) or before 9 a.m. on Saturday. The bake sale starts at 9 a.m. and goes till 11 or (like it has the past couple of years) till we run out of things to sell! .The monies raised will be matched by Thrivent Financial. If you cannot bake, a donation to the LWML would be greatly appreciated (please put your donation in an envelope and mark it LWML).

Don’t forget that the Clear Lake Lions Club will be selling their great BBQ chicken across the street at the same time.

Do you think any of the moms of our church could have used some of these expressions?

Our son, David's surgery was very successful and his recovery so far is coming along just great.
He is home now to complete his recovery and be able to return to work before too long.
Thank you for your prayers again.
Blessings, Bob and Phyllis

Laura Boyer requests prayers for her daughter, Nancy Schall, scheduled for surgery today and her son-in-law due for surgery on May 21st.
Bob and Phyllis Bruick request prayers for son, David, who surgery was yesterday. May God grant healing, hope and renewed strength for service, In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Spring clean up day at Clear Lake Lutheran Church is this Saturday, May 2nd beginning at 9 am. We may be cutting down a few pine trees, washing windows and generally cleaning up the grounds. Please come an give an hour or two or three!

Typically the fieldworkers have posted their own reactions to their placement and then information is posted in the newsletter. However, this much I can share:

Nathan received his vicarage assignment Monday evening to Immanuel Lutheran Church of Pensacola Florida. He is due to start there on August 1st and will probably spend June and July in North Dakota. His parents wish that he would have been assigned closer to home, a feeling shared, I think, by Nathan. But Nathan is flexible and looking forward to the work in Florida. He will have a furnished apartment about 10 minutes from the church. The church was established in 1885 and has about 450 baptized members with an average attendance of 190 per Sunday. Incidentally, Deaconess Intern Beth Dittmer, Nathan's new girlfriend, was assigned to a church in Wheaton, Ill.

Kathy Shuman requested this message from our Kenya missionary be distributed

so begins our Easter Season Order of Service – ABLAZE – at Uhuru Highway Lutheran Cathedral, Nairobi, Kenya. We celebrate the Living Christ among us and we ask people to share their faith with their friends and relatives.

Every Sunday is an Easter Celebration! The crucified and resurrected Christ is proclaimed and worshiped at the services, and He Himself is present in His Word and in the Holy Sacraments, blessing His people with the blessings that only He can give us: Forgiveness of sins, life and salvation!

As we are in this Holy Easter Season until Pentecost, let us rejoice and celebrate the LIFE that Jesus gives us, serving our neighbor and growing in the hope of the eternal life through faith in Jesus.

BLOG: Please, see a report about the last SEVERAL ACTIVITIES (M) at Uhuru Highway Lutheran Cathedral – UHLC and at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in

Kenya

– ELCK clicking on http://pastorwinterle.blogspot.com/ . We are sharing with you six (6) new postages about the activities during the months of March/April: I – HOLY WEEK SERVICES; II – BAPTISMS; III – KIAMBU; IV – ELCK ORDINATIONS; V – DO YOU KNOW THESE PEOPLE? – VI – JUST FOR THE EYES AND FOR THE SOUL. (To see the pictures of the BLOG bigger, please, click twice on the picture). Send comments direct through our e-mail cwwinterle@yahoo.com.br and not through the BLOG. (Pictures of the BLOG by Lidia Winterle).

*Alison Dumas, Del and Lynn Haven, from California, are coming end of April and will spend some days with the children and with the HIV/AIDS infected/affected women in Kawangware, beyond other activities in Kenya. Alison and Lynn were here last year with a LWML group.

*Tombal, TX – Pastor Graumann and some leaders are coming in April to organize the next Mission Trip.

*Dr. Mike Rodewald, LCMS Africa Regional Director, is coming to Nairobi in April and will be hosted in our house.

*Pastor Dan Wehmeier, from Kansas, is leading a group of 13 coming in June 17^th to 30^th. They will help to build a church in Kiambu (see postage # III in the Blog) and also work in a Medical Clinic in Kibera. Pray for the group and for the building + small congregation in Kiambu

Of course you can share the News Letter with Clear Lake members. Say a special "THANK YOU" for all.

Yeah, internet is a blessing. Now, with our sister-in-law at the hospital in a critical situation, we are in touch every day with German to know the knews. Yesterday my son Leo called at the same time 6 people through msn to tell the news when he came from the hospital.

On Easter Sunday Clear Lake Lutheran will celebrate the resurrection of our Lord with Holy Communion at 9 am and an Easter egg hunt and brunch at 10:15 am. We hope everyone will be able to stay for the brunch but it would be helpful to know ahead of time if you are planning to attend. If you haven't already signed up call the church to let us know how many to expect. There should be plenty of food but if you would like to bring something for the brunch it would be most welcome. May God grant you a blessed Easter!

Father E. Brian ‘‘Skip’’ Carsten, 65, of Auburn died Friday, March 27, 2009

AUBURN — Father E. Brian ‘‘Skip’’ Carsten, 65, of Auburn died Friday, March 27, 2009, at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne.

Father Carsten served as a Metropolitan Bishop at the Crossword Centre in Auburn and was the chaplain of Cameron Memorial Hospital.

He had been a chaplain at Cameron Hospice and Home Health and a former chaplain of the Steuben County and Allen County Sheriff’s Departments.

Father Carsten was affiliated with Crosswood Centre in Auburn and a member of the Orthodox Catholic Church of America.

He had a Master of Divinity degree.

He was born Jan. 31, 1944, in Gary to Earl J. and Isabelle (Warwick) Carsten. His mother survives in Auburn. His father preceded him in death April 1, 2008.

Services will be at 4 p.m. Friday at Fairview Missionary Church in Angola with Most Rev. Alfred L. Lankenau, Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus, Orthodox Catholic Church of America, officiating. Calling will be from 1-4 p.m. Friday at the church.

Memorials are to Crosswood Centre or to the donor’s choice.

Weicht Funeral Home in Angola is in charge of arrangements.

Could you please add Shaun’s name to the prayer list this morning. She hurt her back Friday and is having a hard time walking. It’s fine if she lies still but when she tries to walk, her low back is painful. It appears as though she pulled a muscle getting the baby out of the car. She was up at 4 am in tears today. We had some old prednisone tablets and a few left over vicodin tablets from my shoulder surgery so she is a little better this morning, but she is having a tough time. The good news is Baby Reagan is doing well.

During LENT SEASON we follow Jesus’ steps until the cross. When Jesus said “Let us go back to Judea”, Thomas commented ironic (or with courage!!!): “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” (John 11:7,10). Was this a prophecy? Paul says in Romans 6:4: “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was risen from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

Lent is death and life. The Lent Season ends on Good Friday, but it is immediately followed by EASTER. Therefore, we are celebrating a special Lent Order of Service at Uhuru Highway Lutheran Cathedral, followed by a special Easter Order of Service. Jesus’ death for us, His resurrection, and our new life by God’s grace are the focus of our Lent-Easter Services.

BLOG: Please, click on http://pastorwinterle.blogspot.com/ to see a complete report about SEVERAL ACTIVITIES (L) in Kenya. We are sharing with you seven (7) new postages about: I – Uhuru Highway Lutheran Cathedral -UHLC –Activities; II – Evangelical Lutheran Church In Kenya – ELCK – Activities; III – Mozambique; IV – Visitors; V – Kawangware; VI – Cleaning the Cathedral; VII – Do you know these people?

The BLOG was finished just at the same time as this Mission News Letter and goes with it as a complement. (See the full edition of the MISSION NEWSLETTER ATTACHED, please).

FINANCIAL GOAL: The financial goal proposed by the LCMS World Mission has almost being reached for the first year. If you or your congregation is a donor, THANK YOU from the deep of our heart! Help us to reach the goal for this year and for the second year too, sending your donation according to the orientation in this Mission News Letter; and share with your friends the opportunity to be partners in God’s mission in Kenya!

Austin Joseph Hunt, new son of Don Hunt and Sarah Shuman Hunt….

Born: 03/22/2009, approx 8:00 p.m.
Weight: 9 pounds, 1 ounce
Length: 20 ¾ inches

Mother and baby doing fine. Went to the hospital at around 3:30 a.m., so it was a long wait. Mom did it all without medication (except for some numbing for the stitches afterward; Sarah wanted to be sure were honest about the meds!)

Don and Grandma Kathy were present for the birth and Don was able to cut the cord. Grandpa Bill and Aunt Deanna will be headed out to Crown Point tomorrow as soon as bassett Gilligan is dropped off in Fort Wayne for torn ACL surgery.

I hope I have all that correct. If not, corrections will follow. (First grandchild, you know.)

Thanks be to God!

Thanks

Bill

We would like you to meet Reagan Elizabeth Hart. She arrived Sunday at 9:15pm. We are blessed to have her. She and Shaun are doing well and came home tonight. In a world full of depressing news, it is nice to have a little Reagan!

On Saturday, April 4, 2009 Steuben County Thrivent again will be filling Easter Bags to distribute to the residents of the two local Angola nursing homes, Northern Lakes and Lakeland. The morning will begin with assembly of the Easter bags at Peace Lutheran at 9:00 a.m. and distribution will follow at 10:15 at Northern Lakes and continue on at 11:00 a.m. at Lakeland. CLLC Sunday School has been busy making magnetic crosses for each resident. Pam Hall from Peace will again be dressed up as the Easter Bunny. The residents love to see her! We encourage families to accompany her and distribute the bags. The residents love visitors! Questions? Please see Kathy Shuman or Pastor Mark.

Many thanks for your thoughtful and generous Christmas gift. It is appreciated very much.

LEAH HELEN DAMMEIER, 82, formerly of Napoleon, Ohio, passed away Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 30, 2008, at Shepherd of the Hill Nursing Home in Kendallville. She was born Oct. 12, 1926, in Napoleon, to the late Ernest and Helen (Baden) Vorwerk. She married Paul A. Dammeier on June 23, 1951; he preceded her in death on Nov. 3, 1987. Leah was a devoted homemaker and member of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Napoleon, where she was formerly active with the Ladies Guild and Mission Society. She was a member of Napoleon American Legion Post 300 Auxiliary. She is survived by two sons, Roger (Sue) Dammeier of Clear Lake, Fremont, Ind. and Scott (Melanie) Dammeier of Fort Wayne; three daughters, Janet (Jim) Portisch of Columbus, Ohio, Nancy Stotts and Lisa (Craig) Dille, both of St. Charles, Mo.; two sisters, Kathleen Conrad of Napoleon, Ohio and Betsy (Warren) Kahrs of Wauseon, Ohio; and 11 grandchildren. Service is 10 a.m. Monday at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Napoleon, Ohio, with visitation one hour prior to service at the church. Rev. Peter Marcis and Rev. John Holyer officiating. Interment will follow service at Glenwood Cemetery, Napoleon, with a luncheon immediately following, served at St. Paul's Trinity Center. Friends and family will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Snyder-Wesche Funeral Home, 830 Scott St., Napoleon, Ohio. The family requests memorial contributions to St. Paul Lutheran Mission Society or Shepherd of the Hill Nursing Home, 351 N. Allen Chapel Road, Kendallville, IN 46755.