Category: Events

Operation Barnabas would like to ask the congregation to assist with collecting some hygiene items for the backpack care bags that get handed out to homeless and needy Veterans at the March 11 StandDown in Tucson.  What is needed at this time includes small Kleenex packs, deodorant, hand sanitizer, wipes, mouthwash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, razors, and lotion.  Also needed are snacks like peanuts, crackers, and health bars.  For entertainment, we usually include puzzle books, playing cards, and mechanical pencils.  White crew socks are also included.  We pack 50 adult bags.   Faith Lutheran’s O.B. Chapter is supplying the 15 children’s bags that get handed out at this Stand Down.  We appreciate whatever can be donated and dropped off in the O.B. boxes in the Narthex.

Items should be brought to the church by February 23rd.

Remember that we collect used clothing and household supplies all year long for homeless and needy Veterans.  We are blessed to be able to help so many military members through your efforts.

Seven members of our Operation Barnabas Chapter laid wreaths on Veteran’s graves at Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery in Marana on Saturday morning, December 14.  The ceremony before the wreaths were laid, involved wreaths being displayed for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, 1st Responders, and POW’s.  Children led the Pledge–many were Boy & Girl Scouts.  The main speaker was the State President of the VFW.  A total of 2.8 million wreaths were laid throughout the country at 1,740 different cemeteries.  We made sure that Art Lewis and Ken Allred had wreaths laid at their graves. 

Pastor opened the meeting with a devotion and prayer. He explained that “Overwatch” is a military term used to describe a force protection tactic in which one individual or unit supports another by providing covering fire during a mission.  We as Christians employ a similar overwatch tactic called prayer. We call upon God for His blessing and protection in a dangerous world. Through prayer, the members of Operation Barnabas play a significant role in providing overwatch protection for the men and women in our nation’s armed forces.  It’s all about encouraging one another with the love of God in Jesus Christ, specifically all those who are military-connected.

Those who were present at the meeting included:   Pastor & Marty, Warren & Carolyn, Kathy, and Dawn.

An up-coming event on December 14 is the “Wreaths Across America” ceremony where live wreaths are placed on the graves of the military at Evergreen cemetery in Tucson, Fort Huachuca Military Cemetery in Sierra Vista, and the State Military Memorial Cemetery in Marana.    The ceremony begins at 10:00 A.M. and lasts for about an hour. Then wreaths are handed out to be laid on Veteran’s graves. Kathy, Marty and Dawn will be attending at Marana.

We recapped the Veteran’s Day Celebration at Claire’s Café.  There were 30 Veterans who received $10 food vouchers for breakfast or Lunch.  Pastor’s sermon on the patio was heard by Church members and patrons of the Café.  The sermon was directed to all Veterans who were encouraged to wear the armor of God.  The baked goods and pickles & jam brought in $533 for our treasury.  

A discussion was held about our newly adopted Chaplain—Joshua Schneider who is based in Afghanistan.  We want to support him and his fellow soldiers with four boxes of Advent & Christmas items. Some of the suggestions for what to pack include trail mix, candy canes with their religious meaning, Nativity ornaments for a tree or to set out in their living quarters, and some posters on Advent and why Christ came for them—to receive His forgiveness, life and salvation.  The boxes will be packed on Tues., Nov. 26 at the Church at 10:00 A.M. and then mailed quickly, hopefully arriving before Christmas.

Monday, we will be delivering a load of clothing, household items, books, bedding and towels to Old Pueblo Community Services where the items will be available for Veterans who have been homeless and are setting up living quarters.  This is the fourth load we have delivered in 2019.

Our next official meeting will be Thurs., January 30, 2020 at the Church at 10:00.  The next Stand Down is March 19 at the Grand Luxe Hotel on W. Grant Rd.  

Pastor closed the meeting by reading the names of fallen soldiers in the past two months.  Prayers were said for their families.

Pastor Morehouse opened the meeting with a devotion on “overwatch,” a military term used to describe a force protection tactic in which one individual or unit supports another by providing covering fire during a mission.  He gave us an example from his own experience where this tactic failed and the reason that it failed. We as Christians are called to do “overwatch” tactics through prayer as we call upon God for His blessing and protection in a dangerous world.  Likewise, through prayer, the people of Operation Barnabas play a significant role in providing overwatch protection for the men and women in our nation’s armed forces.

Earlier this month, OB helped a Veteran, Christopher, with a $40 application fee for an apartment.  We would like to continue reaching out to him if he needs our assistance. We also collected all the furniture and household items from Art’s apartment and donated it to Old Pueblo Community Services for their use in setting up housing for homeless and needy Veterans.  It involved two pickup’s and one trailer load of materials. Bruce H will order a plate for Art’s service to be placed on the memorial plaque in the Narthex.

The pickle & Jam sale at Church netted $627 for OB.  We hope to do more fundraising at the Veteran’s Day sale at Claire’s Café and the Welcome Wagon Group from the Foothills in early November.  We received word from Laura and the LWML that the grant that was written to assist former Vicar Wirtz will be funded for the $300 which we requested. It will help him carry out his chaplain duties when he returns to Arizona next summer.

Esperanza En Escalante, the low-cost housing group for Veterans located near DM Airbase, had a ground-breaking ceremony on October 10 for 50 new apartments which will be built in the coming year.  It will involve housing for families, something not available before this time.

We shared a picture supplied by Dale & Jayne S, which showed the happy expression of a little boy who received a teddy bear from our care packages for children of Veterans at the Stand Down in August.  

There is a web site that provides information on understanding and treating psychological problems.  It is a good resource for problems like suicide, PTSD, and brain injury. It can be accessed at psycharmor.org and is free to anyone who is interested.

Bruce H suggested that we support another LCMS Chaplain in the field like we did last year.  A call will be made to the LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces Office to acquire this information. 

The Veteran’s Day Celebration will be held Saturday, Nov. 9 at Claire’s Café in Catalina.  Pastor Morehouse will hold a Memorial Service at 11:00 for fallen soldiers and all Veterans.  OB will be offering $10 meal tickets to the first 40 Veterans to be used towards a breakfast or lunch at Claire’s.  Also, we will be holding a Pickle, Jam & bake sale from 7:00-12:00.

Our next meeting will be held Thursday, Nov. 14 at 10:00 at the Church.

Prayers were said for our deployed soldiers from CLC and Jacob M, who has recently returned home from duty in Jordan.  Other prayers were said for Chaplain Josh Schneider, who is the Pastor of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Wailuku, HI. He has been deployed and leaves behind his wife and 3 children.  The meeting closed with a roll call of fallen soldiers who were killed in July & August and a prayer was said for their families.