The Olson Zoo Weblog

Here are some prayer requests from John & Wendy Gerhardt, friends and inner-city missionaries that we support from New Orleans. This was in our church’s weekly prayer guide:

Praise the Lord that John & Wendy, their children, and 66 people from their church in New Orleans were able to reach the Village Bible Free Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and they are safe. They praise the Lord that they have been able to temporarily stay in the homes of the people at Village Bible Church.

Please pray:
• For God’s protection upon the church members who would not leave New Orleans. Their safety is a big concern for John and the church.
• That they will be able to find town homes to rent, as they plan to stay in Hot Springs for at least a month.
• For John and his staff as they work to continue the church, school, ministry, and payroll from their location in Hot Springs.
• For the staff who do not have insurance. They have lost everything. Praise the Lord that John & Wendy are insured.
• For a coordinator to organize future work teams to help them rebuild over the next six months.
• If you would like to help John & Wendy financially, you can write a check to First Evangelical Free Church and mark your offering: Urban Impact Hurricane Relief (until September 11). We plan to send them one large check from our church on September 12.
For further information, they now have a hurricane page on their website at www.urbanimpact.org.

Here’s a picture of the Gerhardts from 2002:

This map, from Wikipedia, shows how vulnerable the city of New Orleans was to flooding:

There is a good article describing the effects of Katrina on New Orleans on Wikipedia

There is a also a general article about Katrina that has lots of good summary information.

It sounds like things are getting bad in New Orleans. After what seemed to be somewhat of a near-miss on Monday, today it seems that the doomsday predictions are starting to come true.

Herald.com | 08/30/2005 | Sweeping devastation along the Gulf; panic in New Orleans

Let’s continue to pray for all those affected by this disaster. Pray for the rescuers and those in authority, for strenght and that they will know what to do to help those in need.

We continue to pray for our friends John & Wendy Gerhardt in New Orleans. I got this email from the EFCA that gives more information about how their ministry (Urban Impact Ministries) was affected by Katrina and what their current needs are.

August 29, 2005

RELIEF FOR HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS

Late on the evening of August 28, the staff of Urban Impact Ministries located in New Orleans, along with many others from their immediate community traveled to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas to escape the impending hurricane. Approximately 71 refugees are being housed by the Evangelical Free Church community in Hot Springs Village. For these individuals, the future is unknown at this point as we await the outcome of the storm.

EFCA Compassion Ministries is coordinating a response from EFCA churches to the needs developing out of this disaster. The focus is to use this crisis as an opportunity to minister both to our brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as to those affected by this disaster through EFCA ministries in the effected area.

Please go to www.efca.org for information on changes as they occur in addition to information on our relief response. We ask you to pray at this time for the Lord to use this as His tool to break into the hearts of those who have not yet turned to Him. Pray for the safety of those engaged in first-wave response efforts, and for wisdom and guidance as we do all we can to minister to those in need.

Donations to assist with the many needs stemming from this crisis may be sent to:
EFCA
Hurricane Katrina
901 E. 78th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55420-1300
Please indicate Hurricane Katrina Assistance 21709-3967 in the memo line.

Individuals can also make a secure online donation using a credit card by clicking here:
https://fusion.efca.org/giving/?designation=Hurricane%20Katrina%20Assistance%2021709-3967

You may also call our donor services team at (800) 745-2202.

Thank you for your generosity and compassion as we seek to help in Christ’s name those in need!

Serving Him,
William J. Hamel
President
Evangelical Free Church of America

I just remembered that I never posted the remembrance of my Grandpa Lloyd Falck that was read by my uncle Tom Falck at the funeral in February 2005. Here it is:

Family Remembrances of Lloyd Falck
February 16, 2005

Good morning. I’m Lloyd’s son Tom.

On behalf of my mother Edythe and our family, I thank you for coming today to honor Dad.

I would like to share a few of our memories of Dad.

Lloyd was a quiet man who was quick to offer a helping hand. He was very much in love with Mom, and together they were a team and great parents.

Lloyd was not one to be in the lime-light. In a crowd, he was happy to let Edythe carry on the conversation for both of them. He devoted countless hours over many years helping run the sound booth in this church – an activity that was perfect for him. It was technical, required precision and attention to detail, something that was important, and yet was behind the scenes.

We remember him as a planner, methodical, and precise. As a young boy I would sometimes accompany him to the airport where he would pick up his paycheck from Norwest Airlines. Not one to simply rip open an envelope, he would carefully tap the end of the envelope on the desk to move the contents to one end, then with a paper-cutter (not just a pair of scissors) slice off the other end of the envelope. As I sorted through his papers now 50 years later, I couldn’t help but smile as I came across mail he had recently opened – by slicing off the end of the envelope.

Lloyd’s sense of fairness was illustrated during a family trip in the desert. During a picnic lunch break on a hot day, all of us kids thought we were would die of dehydration as we watched Lloyd very carefully divide, measure, and re-measure the last cold container of pop for all six kids – he wouldn’t allow any of his children to be shorted.

Like many of his generation, Lloyd was proud to have served his country during World War II. Like many of his generation, he carried his pride quietly – he rarely spoke of his time in the service, but in recent years enjoyed wearing his cap emblazoned with “World War II Veteran”. On the rare occasion he could be coaxed into talking about his time in the mid-Pacific, he would tell fascinating stories of how the SeaBees harvested coral, crushed it and sprinkled it with seawater so it would grow together to form runways on the islands of Tinian and Eniwetok – stepping stones for bombers on their way to Japan.

(more…)

With the news that Hurricane Katrina is bearing down on New Orleans, our prayers go out to all those affected. We especially want to pray for John & Wendy Gerhardt, friends and urban missionaries in Naw’lins.

As some of you may know, our sheltie Elliot recently passed away.

We are thinking of getting a new dog, specifically a Golden Retriever. We’ve found an organization that adopts out rescued Goldens, and hopefully it will work out with them.

This picture is of “Princess.” Rachel has already fallen in love with her (although we don’t know if she’ll still be available when we get the ok to adopt).

Our sheltie Elliot passed away on August 15th. He had a cancerous tumor in his leg and we had to put him to sleep.

We really miss Elliot and it’s been hard not having him around anymore. He was a loving, loyal, and kind-hearted dog.

Laura has been asking where Elliot is, and we tell her that he is in heaven with Jesus. She seems to think that’s ok.

Here’s a picture to remember Elliot by: