Dear Friends and Members of Shepherd of the Hills,

Last week I had the opportunity to spend time with the leaders at Lutheran Church Charities.  They made a special visit to Ruidoso for a few days.  I spent time with them sharing the story of our summer which has been defined by fires in May and June, floods in July and August and a beautiful community wide response of compassion and generosity.  We visited some of the areas of fire and flooding.  We met with contractors who are in the process of removing debris from properties.  We attended a meeting with our village and county emergency managers.  We spoke with representatives from FEMA.

It was a full and intense day reliving our community’s story with them all.  Out of these conversations and observations two opportunities have arisen.  The first opportunity is to help with burned tree removal on properties that insurance and government assistance don’t fully cover.  This has become a common story for people trying to clear their properties of so many trees.  The second opportunity revolves around spiritual and emotional well-being.  The need for members of our community to process through trauma, grief and loss is critical. 

With the help of Lutheran Church Charities, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and members of our congregation, I am pursuing these two lines of relief that we as a congregation can participate in over the next several years. 

Tree Removal:  We are looking to set into place a Lutheran Emergency Response Team here in Ruidoso that will focus on tree removal for folks whose insurance and governmental aid has not been able to provide for all they need.  With the leadership, advice and training through Lutheran Church Charities we want to buy and equip a trailer with all the tools and supplies necessary to do this work.  This work would mean training our local folks in this work and inviting teams from around the country to help us.  These details are all still in the works.  If this is something you are interested in please call me and let me share with you the vision for this and how you can be part of it.  We have a tentative training and first work week set for October 10-16.

Spiritual First Aid Teams:  We would like to invite trained teams into Ruidoso to help continue the trauma, grief and loss counseling that is already ongoing here in town.  These teams would include comfort dogs and their handlers.  These teams would visit places like fire houses, police stations, schools and homes.  These teams would then also help train teams of our own here in Ruidoso that could help continue that work with follow up.  Again, these are all details that have yet to be planned, but look for more information to come.  If this is something you sound excited about let me know. 

Both of these opportunities require point people to help coordinate, people to help follow up on, paper work that needs to be done and logistics like food and lodging.  All that to say, if you want to be helpful in the recovery of our town through our church, I have a place for you. 

It has been a joy to serve with you through all the turmoil of the summer and I look forward to these new ways of serving with you.  Blessings and see you on Sunday. 

In His Love and Service,

Pastor Rust