Our regular monthly outreach luncheon to the visually impaired will take place on Saturday, March 17th from 11 to 1 PM. If you need a rise, please contact the church office. The event is open to anyone in the Houston visually impaired community. Our study topic will be John 12.

Our regular monthly luncheon and bible study for the visually impaired will take place on January 21st from 11 AM to 1 PM.

We are pleased to announce that we will have a special guest speaker, Bishop Vsevolod Lytkin. Bishop Lytkin of the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church will be speaking here at Memorial Lutheran Church on January 26, 2012 at 7 p.m. He will give a presentation of the work of the SELC (Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church). We will have a light dinner prior to the presentation and a chance to speak with the bishop afterwards.

Shirley Downing, the executive director of West Houston Assistance Ministries, thanked Memorial and all WHAM’s coalition congregations for their support in a recent email. She said, “WHAM has received the “love offerings” from all of the coalition of churches, totaling $8,860.31. Thank you all so very much for making this possible. We can now pursue other grants in 2012 to solicit funding for the capital campaign stating we have received 100% from the churches donations to the campaign.”

Our monthly outreach luncheon and bible study will take place this Saturday, December 17th, from 11 AM to 1 PM.  We will have a little bit of a Christmas theme to celebrate Jesus, the reason for the season.  The lunch will be provided by the elders of Memorial Lutheran Church – a treat not to be missed!

A heartfelt thank you from West Houston Assistance Ministries and all the children who will be receiving the gifts Memorial members have donated this December.  Deb St-Onge delivered a whole box of toys on December 14.  It’s not too late to bring in a donation this weekend!  Drop it off in the commons area near the WHAM Food Donation box.

Every 3rd Saturday Memorial offers a luncheon and bible study, from 11 AM to 1 PM, for the visually impaired of Houston, Texas.  Here are some photos from past luncheons.

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Memorial Lutheran Church is a member of West Houston Assistance Ministries.  They have some significant needs as they seek to help people through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.  Donations can be left at the “Food Pantry Donation” drop off in the Commons area.

As many of you are fully aware, WHAM has faced many challenges recently. We currently have 13 families that have signed up for our Holiday “Adopt A Family” program that still need to be adopted. This means that they have a list of needs and wants for their family and you fill those needs for the Holidays. Unfortunately, many of the people that have assisted with this program in the past, cannot, for one reason or another, assist this year and therefore we find ourselves reaching out to others. The financial commitment for this varies from family to family, but you can request a single mother, a family of two, or the such. If you are able to assist with this program, please contact Sonya Scott, our Director of Client Services, or Cindy Orman at 713.977.5522.

• This year we had a 62% increase in families needing assistance for their Thanksgiving Dinner. We were forced to set a cut off date due to the fact that we only had certain funds allocated for this program. Other agencies within Houston are also facing financial issues and have referred their clients to WHAM. We are trying to assist as many families as possible. Please join us in these efforts.

Secondly, WHAM provided toys for approximately 750 children last year. Currently WHAM has 500 children signed up to receive toys for the Holiday Season. This year while we do not want to turn any child away, we are quickly approaching our limitations with funds. Please support those in your community by having a toy drive or delivering your brand new toys to WHAM through December 19. Toys will be distributed to families during December 20, 21 and 22. (List of types of toys to donate below)

Lastly, you can donate $10 Walmart gift cards. These will be used as donations to families, toys for children, gift cards for older teens and other initiatives in client services.

For any questions or to support one of these initiatives, please contact Sonya Scott (sscott@whamministries.org) or Cindy Orman (c.orman@whamministries.org) at 713.977.5522.

Most Needed Toys Include:
Board Games
Books
Coloring Books & Crayons
Legos
Educational Toys
Basketballs
Footballs
Baseballs
Stuffed Animals
Dolls (all ethnic groups)
Toys for babies

Our October 9th food drive collected over 370 lbs of food and raised over $750 from the congregation and households in the Briargrove and Chimney Rock neighborhoods. On behalf of the West Houston Assistance Ministries (WHAM) Food Pantry, thank you for much! You may continue to make donations any time by leaving them in the box in the Commons area. Donations are collected once a month and brought to WHAM by Memorial volunteers.

If you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
(Isaiah 58:10 ESV)

Memorial’s youth and young adults will conduct their annual food drive for West Houston Assistance Ministries the week of October 1st through 9th. All members of Memorial are invited to bring their donations of non-perishable food items to worship on Sunday, October 9th. They may be brought to the covered drop-off on the west side of the Sanctuary between 9 AM and 11 AM.