LSF’s Good Samaritan Initiative is a celebration of that which unites us – the mission of sacrificially loving and serving our neighbors in the name of Jesus Christ. It is our desire to partner with you to honor a Good Samaritan in YOUR congregation who stands out for their service to others, and, by extension, help to fuel a spirit of SERVICE in the Church.
HOW CAN YOU PARTICIPATE?
Interested churches need to simply nominate an individual (or couple) who embodies the spirit of the Good Samaritan. LSF will coordinate with you to honor your nominee with a presentation and nicely framed Good Samaritan Award before your congregation during a Sunday Service, and will recognize them on our webpage and social media.
This is an exciting opportunity to unify around the mission of bringing God’s healing, hope and help to people in need in the name of Jesus Christ.
Faith Lutheran Church of Rotonda
Pastor Brian Armen Nominee: Linda Schultz
Linda has been focused on outreach for many years. She started our Love and Serve Ministry, which supplies meals and other services to folks in the church. Then, her heart for children led her to work with a local group, Kids’ Needs, to supply clothing and school supplies for Englewood’s children. But her major efforts center on our outreach to a local group of homeless folks. She oversees a group of ladies who prepare bag lunches every Tuesday, and also takes care of donated clothing, laundry supplies and toiletries, making sure it all goes to the needy. She is a true inspiration!
Trinity Lutheran Pembroke Pines
Pastor: Rev. Dr. Keith Spencer Nominee: Daniela Vega
During the pandemic, Daniela "DANY" Vega coordinated food distribution to thousands of local neighbors to ensure that those who were in need did not go hungry. If they did not drive, she and her husband delivered. During this food distribution, Dany discovered that many also needed clothing, so she put out a call to the congregation and a flourishing clothing closet was born.
When a neighborhood family arrived who had lost everything in a fire, she went to work to provide many necessities to help them get a fresh start. When she realized that a number of hungry families could not make the scheduled distribution times, she made herself available on an appointment basis throughout the week.
Last year, Dany took it upon herself to apply for a large grant from the Domestic Hunger Unit of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This application process involved a detailed application and two interviews and in every case, Dany excelled at making a case for the outreach ministries here at Trinity Lutheran and was successful in receiving the grant which will enlarge the church’s capacity to serve your neighbors both in the near term and well into the future.
Faith Lutheran Church
Lehigh Acres, FL
Pastor Jhon Freddy Correa Nominee: Barry Moll
Thanks for being a good Samaritan. Thanks for paying attention and giving your time and talents to those in desperate need. Thanks for meeting people on the road during the week, taking them to doctors' appointments, shopping and even having fun. Thanks for providing us with drinks, coffee, and food, and taking care of the places we meet. Thank you for paying attention to the many details! Thanks, Barry for being a good Samaritan.
Faith Lutheran Church
Lehigh Acres, FL
Pastor Jhon Freddy Correa Nominee: Chuck Emery
Chuck Emery is a dedicated and hard-working member of Social Ministry, who volunteers his time at Bread Ministry and our Faith Food Pantry. He is always available to support our community by loading and unloading supplies, creating bags of food for distribution, delivering items to local facilities that we partner with, and by helping in any other way that is asked of him. We truly appreciate that care and love that Chuck puts into every opportunity to support those in need in our area. To highlight one of the many times Chuck has provided for our community, we think back to the weeks following Hurricane Ian where many of the communities, not more than 30 mins from our church were struggling to find basic supplies for their families. Chuck Emery was one of the volunteers from Social Ministry who helped unload trucks of supplies, organize the items into categories, reload the supplies into our own vehicles, and then spent a day distributing those supplies out in our neighboring community of Cape Coral. Thank you, Chuck, for all that you do to help those in our community and we at Faith Lutheran truly feel you are a Good Samaritan.
Faith Lutheran Church
Lehigh Acres, FL
Pastor Jhon Freddy Correa Nominee: Frances Vandivier
Frances is a very caring and giving person. She is always there to give a helping hand. She amazes us at everything she does and how she can keep up with everything. Age for her is a number. It does not stop her to work towards God’s kingdom. She volunteers at the Bread Ministry. She helps at the church, and she has a memory like you would not believe. She knows everyone's birthday and anniversary and she makes a point of saying that to everyone. At the Bread Ministry, Frances not only helps our clients but takes the time to talk with them and even in most cases she knows the kind of bread the client likes. She even goes the extra mile to find the bread for them. It’s just little things that make Frances a Good Samaritan.
Reformation Lutheran Church
Lakeland, FL
Pastor: Rev. Lois Ann Sorensen Nominee: Karen Hamilton
Karen Hamilton actively participates on almost every committee at Reformation Lutheran Church, including outreach, evangelism, stewardship, and fellowship. Her ability to organize processes and analyze information helps maximize the effectiveness of these committees; for example, she established an assembly line for the monthly lunch-packing effort that serves 25 local homeless people and their dogs (which began as a "God's work, Our hands" project under her leadership in 2021), and she maintains a record-keeping system for the assignment and collection of Christmas presents for over 70 local Guardian Ad Litem clients. One of her responsibilities within the fellowship committee is to coordinate a monthly "lunch bunch" outing for women which patronizes various local restaurants. Karen also serves on the congregational council, holding the office of treasurer, and is one of the congregation's most generous givers. Beyond the congregation, Karen is also active in her retirement community, including the ordering and installation of bricks for the pathway in its memorial garden.
Rock Of Ages Lutheran Church
Wildwood, FL
Pastor: Pastor Don Erickson Nominee: John Stahl
John Stahl has been a vital contributor in many ways to Rock of Ages since the very beginning in 2006. John is a model for welcoming visitors and making them feel welcome. He is often one of the first to make contact with guests. As a retired electrical engineer from Motorola, John has taken the lead in setting up, maintaining and operating our audio-visual functions. As we have grown and moved into our new facility, John was the lead on designing and implementing a state-of-the-art AV system in the new sanctuary and fellowship hall. He also runs the audio and streaming functions from the tech booth each Sunday. Not only does he do this for worship he also provides this service for memorial services, volunteering his time on his days off. In addition to his ample AV contributions, John has been for years the go-to person for handyman needs around the church. If something needs to be done John is the man. He makes supply runs to the stores and his truck has been invaluable. It is not possible to easily list all of the ways John has been essential to the function of ROA. But, perhaps the most notable aspect of John Stahl is his kind, patient and understanding manner with everyone. Many years ago, John attended a Via de Christo weekend. In my estimation, he has lived out that commitment to serve the church in a major way.
Lutheran Services Florida