The Southern Illinois District Disaster Response LERT team will deploy to Ascension Lutheran Church, Madison, TN, (NE of Nashville) to provide assistance to the area from the tornadoes of Saturday, December 9.
As such we will be leaving Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1915 Pine St. Murphysboro, at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, 12/16. Those wishing to carpool may leave their vehicles in the church parking lot. As of now, the deployment is expected to extend to December 31. The SID team will return home on December 23, and if the need remains, will redeploy December 26.
As Madison is only slightly over 3.5 hours from southern Illinois, please feel free to sign up for any days that you are willing to drive down, even if not for the full deployment.
A formal notice on the LCMS-LERT.org web portal will most likely be posted either this Thursday or Friday. Make sure you have 'flagged' the Mid-South District to receive emails about the deployment and to officially register for the deployment. As a reminder, if it has been over a year since you have last deployed, you may be asked to complete a background check through the portal.
There will be cots to sleep on at Ascension, as well as showers and meals. You may also bring an air mattress if you prefer.More information will be shared on the formal notice that will be posted from the Mid-South District to the portal.
If you believe you may be going with the SID team, we would ask that you send an email to Bryce Cramer at jbcramer@mchsi.com. While the email is not an official registration for deployment, it will allow the team planning information.
The team will be taking the district's new Bobcat mini-skid steer as well as Immanuel's disaster trailer. If you have your own PPE, saw or other equipment, please consider bringing with you.
We all know this is an inconvenient time for a deployment as we move into the time of the remembrance of the birth of our Savior, we must also keep those in mind that have been affected by the tornado damage. Being Christ's hands and feet, bringing them His love during this time may make this a little more bearable for them.
