printSuccess Stories
Lutherans continue providing support in their communities. Your North Oregon Coast Chapter has some wonderful success stories for 2004. We’d like to share a couple of them with you.
St. Peter Lutheran and a caring community came together on April 25th to raise money for the Torres Mata family.
In May 2003, Javi Torres Mata was a freshman at the Tillamook Adventist School. He began to experience pain and lose of balance and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He was in and out of hospitals for almost a year, enduring several surgeries and painful therapies. The family incurred unbelievable medical expenses. The Community came together and with almost no expense put on a Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction. The residents of Tillamook responded and seven hundred dinners were served, with many folks paying more than the price of the dinner.
Javi is at home now, with his mom and dad and 1-year-old brother. In addition to paying hospital bills, they were able to have a wheel-chair lift installed in there second story residence so that he can enjoy the outdoors.
His Mother writes: What a difference your help has made in our lives. We are eternally thankful and blessed. On behalf of the Torres Mata family, may our Lord bless and keep each of you as we rise above our circumstances and draw ever so close to The Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You.
Our Savior’s Lutheran in Seaside honors the heroes of WW2 with a new church sign.
Eva Capps suggested to the Church Council that church was in need of a more visible sign that would have more impact on people traveling up and down the streets. As their church sits very close to the ocean and the Lewis and Clark turn around, a sea theme was selected and high school student Ryan Peinhardt created a logo using water, a boat, a lighthouse and a cross. The proceeds from the annual spring rummage sale, a donation by Eva of some of her husband’s memorial gifts provided the matching funds. SignOne also provided a sizable discount on the cost of sign. Church member, Ben Olson, installed the sign and provided landscaping.
The sign was dedicated on July 4th, 2004 with a plaque that reads, ‘Dedicated to The Greatest Generation World War II Veterans’. ‘No greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends’, John 15:13. They have since added signs listing church services and times.