California Sunday school children help young hurricane victims
August 8 , 2006

The children of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Sunday School in Goleta, Calif., recently made a donation to help with the rebuilding efforts of Bethlehem Children’s Center for abused and neglected children.

Bethlehem Children’s Center, which was located in New Orleans East, had cared for children for 125 years. Hurricane Katrina severely damaged the children’s center and the program is temporarily closed.

“Our children were honored to be a part of the fundraising effort for the rebuilding of the Bethlehem Children’s Center,” said Barbara Patterson, co-superintendent of Good Shepherd Sunday School. “They were concerned about the kids at Bethlehem and excited about sharing God’s riches with other children in need.”

The 56 children at Good Shepherd Sunday School conducted fundraising events at their church, raising $1,100 for the reconstruction of Bethlehem Children’s Center.

“It’s always amazing to witness the love and support Christians show for one another during their times of need,” said Kurt Senske, chief executive officer of Lutheran Social Services. “It’s moving to see these children, who live so far away, putting their time and effort into helping out other children they don’t even know.”

Before Katrina hit, the 46 Bethlehem residents had been evacuated to Trinity Lutheran Church in Baton Rouge, La. When it became evident that the damage on the campus was too severe for the children to return, they were temporarily relocated to a sister center, Bokenkamp Children’s Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. The Bethlehem children have since been returned to Louisiana where they have been placed in foster homes and other centers.

In the meantime, Bethlehem is temporarily closed. Lutheran Social Services, which owns and operates Bethlehem Children’s Center, is awaiting decisions from local, state and federal authorities on when and where the ministry could reopen.

For more information on LSS disaster response efforts and how you can help, call (800) 938-5777 or visit click here.

Lutheran Social Services is the social service arm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. LSS annually serves more than 30,000 children, elderly and poor in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi regardless of religious beliefs, ethnicity, gender or age. Its nationally accredited affiliated ministries include disaster response, emergency assistance, therapeutic foster care, adoption, children’s residential treatment, health care and retirement centers and adult day care.

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