Lutheran Church Charities and Other Compassion Organizations Prove ‘DOG’ Is GOD Spelled Backward in Uvalde – Opinion

Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount, in a series of statements commonly known as, “The Beatitudes,”

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

Now that the majority of the camera lights and narrative-seeking journalists have left Uvalde, Texas, the community has the space to grieve–and they have been. However, they’re not the only ones grieving and can find comfort in our four-legged treasures.

The subject of this week’s Feel-Good Friday.

The Oklahoman

A Lutheran church in Kingfisher sent a ministry dog and a crisis response team to comfort grieving families in Uvalde, Texas, after an elementary school shooting left 19 children and two teachers dead.

Emmanuel Lutheran Church, a Kingfisher affiliate of Lutheran Church Charities, dispatched its own team Tuesday to Uvalde as part of the church network’s broader outreach efforts with K-9 Comfort Dog Ministries.

Central to that Kingfisher team is a golden retriever named Miriam, who since eight weeks old underwent 2,000 hours of training to provide psychological comfort to people in crisis. The rest of the K-9 Comfort team includes “top dog” handler Keith Leimbach, Denise Jech, J. Juan Jech, Heather McCarty, Pastor Tim McCarty, and Susan Post, among others.

“For our handlers to be in the midst of people who are grieving, it’s really rewarding but challenging work,” said Deb Baran, director of communications and media relations for Lutheran Church Charities. “I even got the heads-up from our coordinator that one of our team members was talking with someone who was face-to-face with the shooter and survived. It’s really tough and really emotional, but the work is really necessary.”

The network includes many Lutheran churches ministries, not only Kingfisher (Oklahoma). K-9 Comfort ministry was deployed by Lutheran churches in Texas to Uvalde, which included Austin, Houston (Plano), San Antonio, Wichita Falls and Colorado (Fort Collins). Their K-9 compassion units were deployed by other canine ministry and support organisations.

USA TODAY featured one in San Antonio

Fox 35 also reported from Orlando on a group of Golden Retrievers.

These dogs undergo 2,000 hours training. This can last anywhere from one year to one year and a half. The Lutheran Church Charities K-9 Comfort ministry and Hearts of Mercy and Compassion ministry don’t charge their clients. They serve as a conduit for mercy, compassion and the proclamation of Jesus Christ.

Tim Hetzner is the CEO and president at Lutheran Church Charities.

In memory of the two victims and 19 children who died, all Lutheran comfort ministries in the different states and cities organized 21 crosses. Each victim’s name was written by the teams. A Bible verse was also added to the crosses. The victims and loved ones were identified by the people who walked through the streets. They stayed behind and let the community interact with the crosses. The dogs then followed suit. K-9 comforters were compassionate and available to help people with emotional needs.