Deerfield Lutheran Church

MISSION TEAMS

Congratulations to our new Mission Team Chair on the Congregation Council – Jodell Quamme!

YOUTH MISSION TEAM:

Next meeting – February 17^th after 2^nd service

Skiing trip to Tyrol Basin – Feb 12^th.

WHERE ARE WE GOIN’?

2008 NEW ORLEANS

WHERE HAVE WE BEEN?
          2007   MN      Cass Lake Indian Reservation
          2006   VA      East Coast - Onancock
          2005   IL         Chicago – Humble Park
          2004   MT      Blackfoot Indian Reservation
          2003   GA       Atlanta – Youth Gathering
          2002   WV     Appalachian Mountains
          2001   IL         Chicago – Inner City
          2000   MI      St. Louis Youth Gathering

*Do Justice* *Show Mercy*
*See Beauty* *Practice Humility*

2008 High School Mission Team – Chaperones: Lori Vogel and Paul Brandenburg. Please thank them!

The 2008 High School Mission Team will be traveling to New Orleans August 2-9. Please attend the advent brunch sponsored by our mission team December 8^th from 9-? Entertainment is Sisters of St. Mary’s (are they really nuns??). Stay tuned for fundraisers, events, and etc. to support the mission team in their endeavors. Our sending service will be July 27 (tentative).

View reflections of 2007 Mission Team (under construction)

ADULT MISSION TRIP BIOLOXI – A SATISFYING WEEK OF HARD WORK

Our Adult Mission Team was in Biloxi, Mississippi the week of June 3-8, assisting in post-Katrina work through Lutheran Disaster Relief. The 25 member team included Nola Sorenson, Mary Wagner, Laurie and Charlie Steen, Michael Rehak, Kent Cowell, Pastor Larry and Elizabeth Sexe, Carol and Tony Kubina, Brittany Storms, Diane and Randy Rivers, Ron Knapwurst, Mary and Arlyn Turnquist, Brittany’s grandmother Hazel Gaard, Oregon, Arlie’s sister Alice Feldman and friend Dottie Bjornstard from Owen, WI, Mary’s sisters Carol Johnson, Grand Rapids, MI, and Helen Noeldner, Madison, and Pastor Nancy Hoelter, Becca Sundby, Ann Marie Wincecke and John Lebeck from Covenant Lutheran in Stoughton.

Almost two years since the hurricane, much of the clean-up has been accomplished in that area of the gulf and volunteers are now involved in rebuilding. Work site teams led by Randy Rivers, Kent Cowell, Ron Knapwurst and Rev. Michael Rehak did a variety of construction work during their stay.

The Rivers group dug a 2 foot deep trench in which footing for a new home was poured and also painted the interior and exterior of a house. The Rehak team spent the five days framing and installing the interior walls of a home, including running electrical wiring. Cowell’s team did finishing work and painting in three different homes and the Knapwurst group cleaned up yard debris, installed hurricane straps, did electrical wiring and “wrapped” a home. A few team members provided specialized services. Tony Kubina, assisted by Carol,did plumbing in numerous sites. Two registered nurses, Hazel Gaard and Ann Marie Winecke, saw patients at the Bethel Lutheran Church free clinic.

The group was housed in “Orphan Grain Train” containers or barracks. Showers and toilet facilities were in additional containers. They had breakfast and dinner in a large tent and carried sack lunches to their worksites. A suggested $20 per day donation was given by each to cover the cost of the food. While many disaster aid groups have pulled out of the area – some as recently as the previous week to go to the site of the Kansas tornados – LDR has made a 10-year commitment to the people of the gulf area. Much work needs to be done.

As one team member noted, “In some ways, my contribution seemed ‘small,’ but when I observed the many acres of pea gravel lots filled with FEMA housing units, it really struck me that in each one there was a person or family, just waiting for folks like, us to help them get back home. My work took on a deeper significance!”

The team engaged in fundraising prior to the trip and was able to donate $8,004 for building and medical supplies. Heather Pupp of Heater’s Bar and Grill, Rockdale, sponsored a cash and basket raffle, clearning $4,147 and made a personal donation as well. Basket items were provided by Amy Schroll, Nichole Thordson, Ellen Eddy, Kim Suelsdorf, Jean Rogers, Nola Sorenson, Carol Johnson, Karen Robinson, Alicia Pertzborn, Tricia Hoesly, Heather Pupp and Carol Kubina.

Covenant Lutheran Church Foundation is Stoughton, along with members of the congregation, gave $3,595 towards trip expenses and a donation to Camp Biloxi. Cash contributions from Hoel and Belinda Storms, the DLC women’s group, individual members of DLC and friends of Carol Johnson of Grand Rapids, Michigan all boosted the total. In additions, handmade quilts and prayer shawls were taken to the Bethel Lutheran distribution center.

The need for volunteers, particularly skilled people, is acute and some team members are already making plans to return. There is also an ongoing need for donated funds to help purchase the materials essential the rebuilding effort as the homeowners being assisted by LDR do not have sufficient resources. In addition, it has been noted that construction of a Deerfield Habitat for Humanity home, planned for spring of 2008, offers another opportunity for local people to meet housing needs by volunteering.

Mary Turnquist