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Dear Christian friends,
Once again the hearts of America are shocked and turned to sorrow by
another school massacre that left up to sixteen students and faculty dead
in Littleton, Colorado. Once again a senseless act of violence has left a
community, if not the entire country, in grief and mourning, doing
soul-searching and self-examination.
At least one Lutheran student is presently hospitalized due to wounds she
received in this ambush. Five congregations of The Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod and four congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America have students, family members, and neighbors directly
affected by the events at Columbine High School. Our Father, St. Phillip,
and Abiding Hope Lutheran congregations are among the congregations
reaching out in ministry to the survivors of this human-caused disaster.
Last evening St. Phillip Church provided a listening circle for about 30
students that escaped from the horrific shooting, and will continue that
outreach over the next several days. Abiding Hope Church will have healing
service this evening. Both the LC-MS Rocky Mountain District and the ELCA
Rocky Mountain Synod are in direct contact with their pastors and
congregations as the calamity is assessed. In the midst of this great
tragedy, a message of hope is being offered to the grieving and hopeless.
Lutheran Disaster Response is helping to extend that Gospel message through
Lutheran Family Services of Colorado (Chet Everson, President). Chet said
"it seems like war in Denver. Ask the folks for their prayers as this
community reels from a shocking tragedy." LFS is providing trauma and
grief counseling support through the church gatherings, and will be meeting
with the area Lutheran pastors today. The book, "Making Sense Out of
Sorrow" (written by Dr. Foster McCurley, a prominent Lutheran theologian
and teacher, and Rabbi Alan Weitzman) is being distributed through
congregations to members of the community. As the community begins to come
to grips with its grief and loss, LDR will continue to offer help and hope
in the name of Jesus Christ.
In the midst of this Easter Season, we people of the cross remember that we
do not walk alone through that dark "valley of the shadow of death."
Please keep our brothers and sisters in Littleton in your prayers and in
your hearts, that God may be a strong and loving presence in us and through
us.
To help with this response:
ELCA DOMESTIC Disaster Response
PO Box 71764
Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764
Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
LC-MS World Relief
P.O. Box 66861
St. Louis, MO 63166-9810
Credit card gift line: 1-888-930-4438
In Christ,
Gil Furst
GILBERT B. FURST (written on Wed, Apr 21, 1999, at 12:02 pm)
Director, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response (Division for Church in Society),
Lutheran Disaster Response (A cooperative ministry of the ELCA and LCMS)
8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago 60631 PHONE: 773-380-2822 FAX: 773-380-2493
Visit our website: www.elca.org/dcs/disaster
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