"Spiritual Ministry with Nails"

Bob Maas, our trip coordinator Today was our final day, embracing God's people in Carter County, Tennessee. We are totally exhausted physically ... but higher in emotions than you can imagine. God has walked with us every step of this amazing journey. We have felt your prayers during the entire trip. We can't thank you enough for allowing us to share YOU and your love for others. What an honor! Whatever efforts was made in winterizing and reconstruction of homes was t

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.                            (Psalm 90:17) Day 4 End of the day - Tired and dirty, but joyous! A person’s hands are able to perform SO MANY works, sometimes in completely opposite ways. They can bless and insult, grasp and release, push-away and welcome, caress and inflict harm, work and wave-off, praise and offend. Hands are quite impressive and capable i

Hurricane Helene was a deadly and devastating tropical cyclone that caused widespread catastrophic damage and numerous fatalities across the Southeastern United States in late September 2024.  Helene weakened as it moved quickly inland before degenerating to a post-tropical cyclone over Tennessee on September 27. The storm then stalled over the state before dissipating on September 29.   It was today, at Tommy’s house, that we faced head on, the ravages of Hurricane Helene. 

In a world of technology, social media, and news outlets, who do you trust? Do you see false information and failure in these various ways to get information and trust them? While leaving our third site, Bob’s navigation took us down (up) a logging road that we couldn’t continue to drive up. This “failure” in technology was a little nerve racking and left us feeling lost. Dave was in the back trusting the Lord through prayer that we could get out of our predicament.   Today,

We traveled to Roan Mountain Tennessee from St. Matthew yesterday after the blessing of the team during the first service.   It was great visiting with my carpool travel companions, Melody and David, during our eight-hour trip.  The roads were dry the weather was beautiful and there was minimal construction.   While I gathered the last items in the morning, my stomach was churning in nervous anticipation.  As I grow older, I tend to be apprehensive about new and different exp

We all arrived safely at the Chalet Retreat, in Roan Mountain, Tennessee. Our hosts are the wonderful Holm family who purchased the beautiful property to house relief teams and clergy families as their personal ministry. What a blessing! Parents Mickey and Nicole Holm, with their children Avory, Walter and Ollie The seven-eight hour drive had us all arriving at different times... but just in time to settle into our individual housing units... and sit down for our first meal

The Luther Choir, led by Rachel Knaggs, sang "It is well with My Soul" during the Sunday, November 2 worship service. Such a fitting anthem on the day that we began our disaster relief ministry in Tennessee. Luther Choir, November 2, 2025 The story behind "It is Well with My Soul" is a testament to finding peace amidst tragedy . It was written by Horatio Spafford in 1873 after he suffered immense loss, including losing his fortune in the Great Chicago Fire and, most tragic

Participants Pastor Steve Mahaffey, David Pohlad, Bill Knaggs, Melody Costello, Bob Maas, (Scott and Beth Johnson, not pictured) Blessing those who are being sent in the name of God

Seven participants of the disaster relief ministry trip gathered for a last-minute Zoom call on Wednesday, Nov. 29   The agenda for the call: What to take, clothes, tools, food, other things Confirm drivers Departure plans Arrival plans on Sunday Room assignments and codes (Bob) Meal planning (Melody and Scott) Plan for Monday morning, meet with Leya at 8:00 AM at The Chalet Spiritual Plan Update (Pastor Steve) Planned work assignments (Bob)   Bob Maas spoke with Leya at Cart

Hearing more about disaster relief ministry - Oct. 12, 2025 Sunday, October 12 - We welcomed Pastor Henry Zorn to worship and preach about the ministry of helping our neighbors in need, especially with disaster relief trips. Pastor Henry has years of experience with this ministry starting in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. He also shared more in depth stories about his experiences participating in disaster relief during the Sunday School hour between worship services in The Up

Tee Shirt Logo Following the Disaster Relief meeting on September 25, I was honored with the task of coming up with a logo for our group tee shirts. But where do I begin? Scott and I sat over a glass of wine once we arrived home from the meeting and began to chat about our 25 years of living in Western Maryland ... in the same Appalachian mountain range as Roan Mountain in Tennessee. We spoke about the down-to-earth, humble neighbors who we adored. A culture very different

Melody and Scott are the "Meal Crew" for the Disaster Relief Ministry trip, Nov. 2-7. They met (with expert assistance from Beth and Todd) and have the following plans:  Dinner 1) Sunday dinner will be spaghetti and meatballs (homemade), French bread, salad. Scott is providing 2) Monday through Wednesday will, as Bob has been told, be provided by local churches.  3) Thursday is planned to be at a local restaurant. 4) We will be purchasing fresh vegetables and salad makings l

Carter County, Tennessee (Roan Mountain) Great news!  The St. Matthew (Medina, Ohio) disaster relief trip to Carter County Tennessee is finalized.  The people of Carter County suffered extreme loss and property damage because of hurricane Helene that struck the area on September 27, 2024.  To provide recovery assistance, we are partnering with Bethesda on the Bay Lutheran Church located in Bay Village Ohio.  We have seven participants from St. Matthew. We will be departing o