Mercy forever.

Mercy Ministry Begins Work in Battered Missouri Community

by LCMS World Relief and Human Care Jackie Duncan was recovering from brain surgery when a killer tornado ripped through St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo. The storm’s force pulled Gary Duncan’s 76-year-old mother “down the hallway, with debris flying everywhere,” says the operations manager at KFUO Radio, an LCMS broadcast ministry. “When [...]

Joplin, Mo., twister kills 116, destroys four LCMS teacher homes

by LCMS World Relief and Human Care At least 116 people died in a powerful tornado that devastated Joplin, Mo., on May 22, tearing into a hospital and leveling neighborhoods, including the homes of four teachers at Martin Luther School. The twister damaged the school and the Immanuel Lutheran Church parsonage. “The reports that I [...]

Volunteers needed now to serve on Mercy Medical Teams

by LCMS World Relief and Human Care More than medicine. That’s what Sharon Thomas says she shares each time she takes part in an LCMS World Relief and Human Care Mercy Medical Team (MMT). When people in some of the world’s poorest overseas communities ask the registered nurse and member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Belvidere, [...]

Bringing Spiritual Care to Devastated Homes

by LCMS World Relief and Human Care Lillie Lightford desperately wants to return to the mobile home where she and her sons lived in Huntsville, Ala., before a tornado peeled off the roof and rain drenched her possessions. Rich Stimson probably shouldn’t sleep in his damaged home in Hanceville, but the senior citizen says it’s [...]

Three Southern Illinois Congregation Families among Flood Evacuees

by LCMS World Relief and Human Care Floodwaters rose so quickly that one member family of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Golconda, Ill., barely had time to grab some clothing before joining rescuers in a motorboat. “This is the worst flooding since 1937,” said Rev. E. James Rivett, pastor at the Southern Illinois church near the [...]

Thrivent Financial Commits Funds for Tornado Response

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has committed up to $275,000 for tornado disaster response in the South, including funds that will be sent to LCMS World Relief and Human Care and two other Lutheran relief organizations. This disaster response support includes up to $250,000 to supplement funds through Thrivent Financial chapter service teams nationwide and $25,000 [...]

As one-week anniversary nears, devastated communities “really need you”

by LCMS World Relief and Human Care Nearly one week after historic storms ripped through the South, Eleanor Allen looks at the rubble where she once lived and wonders aloud how she can put her life back together, asking “where to start?” The member of Pilgrim Lutheran Church, Birmingham, Ala., described how she and her [...]

Mercy Ministry on the Ground in Devastated Alabama

by LCMS World Relief and Human Care Four days after the deadly tornado devastated Cullman, Ala., congregation leaders thought maybe 35 people would take time away from sifting through debris and struggling to clean up damaged homes and neighborhoods to participate in worship at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. Instead, nearly 170 people packed the fellowship [...]