St. James Lutheran Church
Belle Fourche, South Dakota
January 2015 Newsletter
To the most amazing and awesome members and friends of St. James Lutheran
Church. Grace and peace be with you always.
As I am writing you today, I am thankful for the ability to breathe and not have
any fever and find my strength amidst a terrible virus of influenza A that has so dominated my last
week of the year 2014. Because of rest, medications, and football, I am almost out of the woods, as is
my family who also shared in this difficult plight. I also realize that so many of you in the congregation have had it as well, and you also might be able to give God praise for clear breathing without fever, aches, pains, and the feeling that you were just run over by a large truck.
This week we ramp back up with our iPraise program on January 7 as well as start our revamped confirmation program. We then look forward to our annual congregation meeting on January 25 following
our worship service. Lots of things are going on, and if you haven't been downstairs in the basement,
then you have missed the great amount of work that so many dedicated volunteers have given to our
basement remodel.
Our confirmation is starting Luther’s Small Catechism again, and I wanted to share with you the Ten
Commandments and Luther’s questions and answers and then my 2 cents. 1. You are to have no
other gods. What is this? You are to fear, love, and trust God above all things. PJ says, God is number 1. 2. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God. What is this? We
are to fear and love God, so that we do not curse, swear, practice magic, lie, or deceive using God’s
name but instead use that very name to call on, pray to, praise and give thanks to God. PJ says, what
you say matters especially when you are talking about God. 3. Remember the Sabbath day and
keep it holy. What is this? You are to fear and love God, so that you do not despise preaching or
God’s word, but instead keep that word holy and gladly hear and learn it. PJ says, go to church every
week and listen and learn. 4. Honor your father and mother. What is this? We are to fear and
love God, so that we neither despise nor anger our parents and others in authority but instead honor,
serve, obey, love and respect them. PJ says, do you really need me to explain this one? 5. You
shall not murder. What is this this? You are to fear and love God, so that we do not endanger or
harm the lives of our neighbors but instead help and support them in all of life’s needs. PJ says, do
not destroy the life of a human being but protect them. 6. You shall not commit adultery. What
is this? You are to fear and love God, you are to lead pure and decent lives in word and deed, and each
of us honors his or her spouse. PJ says, nurture the relationship of the one you love and honor the
space between you. 7. You shall not steal. What is this? You are to fear and love God, so that we
neither take our neighbor’s money or property nor acquire them by shoddy merchandise or crooked
deals, but instead help them to improve and protect their property and income. PJ says, do not take
your friend’s cookie, or iPhone, or anything that isn’t yours to begin with. 8. You shall not bear
false witness against your neighbor. What is this? You are to fear and love God, so that we do not
tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations. Instead we are to
come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light.
PJ says, no finger pointing, no gossip, no taking sides to better your position. Be careful in what
you say as your tongue might start a fire where bridges might be burned, but find ways to say
you’re sorry and to move on and help your neighbor; love your neighbor. 9. You shall not covet
your neighbor’s house. What is this? We are to fear and love God, so that we do not trick our
neighbors out of their inheritance or property or try to get it for ourselves claiming to have a legal right
to it and the like, but instead be of help and service to them in keeping what is theirs. PJ says, wanting
what others have is very difficult, and we are guilty of wanting more than we need.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. What is this? You are to fear and love God, so that we do not
entice, force, or steal away from our neighbor’s their spouses, household workers, or livestock, but instead urge them to stay to fulfill their responsibilities to our neighbors. PJ says, if your heart is on
God you will not want the things of this world, and the harm that is caused by those who don’t
heed the Ten Commandments shows in the harm we do to one another.
May God’s blessings be upon you this month and for the coming year of 2015!
Pastor Jeff M. Otterman
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December Funeral & Baptisms
Funeral:
Ron Stinson passed away on December
7, 2014. His funeral was December 15,
2014.
Baptisms:
Kora Knapp was baptized December
25, 2014.
Rhyan Knapp was baptized December
25, 2014.
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Annual Meeting
The annual meeting will be Sunday, January 25, 2015, immediately after the church
service. Please get your year-end reports to
the office by Sunday, January 18, 2015. If
you would rather email your report, you
can email it to [email protected].
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Materials for Audit Committee
Any groups who need to have their books
checked by the Audit Committee, please
bring them to the office as soon as possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
St. James Radio Broadcast
The Sunday worship service of St. James
Lutheran is broadcast every Sunday on our
local radio station. You may turn your radio to either KBFS-AM at 1450 or KYDTFM at 103.1, to hear our worship service at
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Christmas Cheer Baskets
Christmas Cheer Baskets were made and
distributed on December 19. A big thank
you goes to everyone who contributed
goodies, and a special thank you goes to
those ladies and gentlemen who put the
baskets together and delivered them.
Many people truly appreciated the goodies
and the thoughtfulness!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dutch Oven Chili Feed
Piedmont Valley Lutheran Church will be
holding a Dutch Oven Chili Feed on Saturday, January 17, from 5-7 PM at their
church on Spring Valley Road. The chili is
prepared and cooked outdoors in cast iron
Dutch ovens by the Old West Dutch Oven
Catering Co. Salads, desserts, and refreshments will also be available. A free-will offering will be taken. For more information,
call 787-5588.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Treasurer’s Report
Basement Project Update
We ended the month (of November) with a
$2,213.71 balance in the checking account.
Of this amount, I needed to transfer
$1,587.00
for
designated
giving
(Compassion Cupboard, SD Synod, Building Fund, Shadrach Peter) leaving a balance of $626.71. The bills available at the
beginning of December totaled $2,885.79.
In addition to those obligations, we are
presently behind on our Mission Partners
and Synod Support by $4,882.50. As important as it is to show support for the
many special needs that occur in our community, synod, and world, we need to keep
in mind the simple items and the importance of St. James Lutheran and its daily
operation. It may not be as glorious to pay
the gas bill, insurance, or employment
taxes as compared to funding efforts occurring outside of our walls, but St. James Lutheran is where it all starts, and we need to
remember the gifts that are needed just to
keep that part of God’s plan going
strong….
If you have not been in the basement recently, a lot has changed! The kitchen
cabinets have been installed and just need
the countertops to be completed. All of the
ceiling tiles have been placed except in the
kitchen where new lights still need to be
installed. The walls have been patched and
now have a new coat of paint. The main
thing that remains to be completed is the
women’s bathroom. Many people have donated a lot of their time towards this project. Because we don’t want to forget to
mention anyone’s name, a big thank you
goes to EVERYONE who has helped in
some way! Countless hours have been
spent, and we thank you for your time and
expertise.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January Dinner Belle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We will be resuming our Dinner Belle on
Sunday, January 25, from 5-7 PM at our
church. At this time, no definite plans have
been made as to the menu, so please watch
the bulletin to see what we will be cooking
for Dinner Belle this month.
Church Phone Number:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
605605-723723-3923
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Pastor Jeff Going to India
In case you haven’t heard, Pastor Jeff will
be going to India on January 27 and will
return on February 16, just in time for Ash
Wednesday on February 18. He will visit
Shadrach Peter and see firsthand the mission work being done in India. His plans
are to evaluate how St. James can continue
to partner with Shadrach in the future.
Please pray for Pastor Jeff as he travels
this month, and pray that his time in India
will be a blessing to Shadrach as well as to
St. James Lutheran Church.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next two pages of this newsletter are a Christmas letter from
Shadrach Peter of India.
NEEREKSHE TRUST
JOY TO THE WORLD THE LORD IS COME LET EARTH RECEIVE HER KING
Christmas time brings great JOY to the whole world and us. The King of Kings took human form and came down to earth and lived among us.
What a message! The wise men, the shepherds and the Angels. All of them come back to us with a fresh message that this miracle and blessing
of Jesus is for all. He came to touch our lives, to transform us and make us citizens of Heaven. Let us worship Him. A brief report of where we
live and what is happening here.
ST. PETERS HIGH SCHOOL, MURANPUR:
Outgoing students of 10th stand April2012 with staff
Sports event New
High school Block
St.Peters School is located in a small village MURANPUR near RAICHUR CITY in North Karnataka. The school has gained in strength, quality
and numbers with many from distant villages coming for admissions to school. The strength has risen to 194 children. The number of boys is
higher because parents believe in educating Boys and not Girls. We have now told the parents that if they bring girls for admission we will not
take fees as we do with Boys. Another highlight was that the first batch of 10th standard students graduated with a good percentage. This year
we have also got permission to conduct 10th standard Exams in our school. Our children participated in cultural programmes and won prizes.
Children took part in SPORTS competitions at the Taluk level. Many poor children come to our school and need help with books, uniform dress
and shoes etc. Many of you are helping us so we can pay for all those expenses. Teachers salaries continue to be our biggest expense every
month. Our NEW HIGH SCHOOL BLOCK is a great addition to our school space. One of the classrooms there has been turned into a SCIENCE
LABORATORY. One other addition is the IT CLASSROOM--a gift of IAF-UK. Children are greatly attracted to the Laptops and enjoy the computer classes.
HOPE HOSTEL: For Boys is a wonderful nest for the boys. Around 34 Boys are now staying there with a Hostel Warden. Two boys sleep on one
metal cot. All these Boys come from far away villages. They enjoy friendship and small tiffs too. Every evening they play Cricket after school.
They have morning and evening devotion time. The Toilet doors are getting repaired just now.
Hope Boys Hostel Children
Boys Having Lunch
Boys Hostel Building
GIRLS HOSTEL: Our girls are sleeping in classrooms so we have made a fervent appeal to God and to friends that we must help our girls live a
little bit in comfort. So the construction of the GIRLS HOSTEL has started. It will be a U-shaped building with a Dormitory for sleeping with attached Toilets and also a Lady Warden's room. The Columns have been raised and now the walls have to go up.
Ground Breaking Ceremony
Girls hostel construction Work in progress
Present stage
We hope by April 2015 the building will be ready and by the beginning of the academic year i.e. from June 2015 the girls will be able to live in the
Girls Hostel. Please pray that we will have enough finances to complete the building.
RURAL INDUSTRIAL TRAINING INSTITUTE: Is now running in its 3rd year. The new Students of ELECTRICIAN COURSE are enjoying their
classes and doing a lot of outside training. Mr. Samuel John, the Principal is working hard to keep the spirit alive among students for new discoveries.
Rural Industrial Training Center
Students in Electrical Lab
Students in computer center
MURANPUR MISSIONARY MOVEMENT :
Made a new chapter with the village JAGIR VENKATAPUR, about 12 kms from the NEEREKSHE CAMPUS coming under its purview. Our Missionary, Daniel Isaac visits this new village,on his 2-wheeler and has a small group of children and a few adults meeting in someone's house for
singing Jesus songs and to hear the Bible lesson and for prayer. He also visits HAL VANKATAPUR where 2 groups meet in 2 homes, and also
goes to SULTANPUR and RAGHUNATH HALLI villages. The village people are eager to hear about Jesus. In MURANPUR, church services are
held in the morning and evening in our ancestral home which is our village church building for now. The Christmas programmes are planned in
these villages as the young boys and girls are involved in singing and nativity scenes. We hope to buy some useful gifts for children as Christmas
gifts.
Thus far we have crossed 2 barriers in our community.
1. Children of all castes are welcome here. We are in the thick of CASTE entanglements---the high caste do not touch the low caste. But in our
school, children of different castes all sit next to each other.
2. Girls are equal to Boys here. In the homes, girls are treated as a liability and Parents get the girls married off at an early age. We are trying to
attract more girls by giving incentives for girls education. In our School Boys are taught to value Girls equally.
Vacation Bible School (VBS)
Food being packed for the Children during VBS
Children having Lunch
GRACE AND JACK HOSPITAL: The hospital functions with a nurse-Sarojini a trained nurse. She manages the boys and girls
treatment at school and Hostel and treats some out-side patients too. We desperately need a doctor or even a visiting doctor to
see patients. We are also planning to have a Nurses school so that young girls who cannot go for higher learning academically can
take up Nursing .This will make them independent economically and will also bring some form of awareness on health and hygiene
in villages which is a desperate need in our villages.
ORGANIZATION DETAILS:
Organization Name: Neerekshe
Address: 25 Lakshmipati Layout, Karianpalya, St. Thomas Town,
Bangalore, 560084Telephone: +91-9886491679, +91-9972458111.Email: [email protected]
Registered Charity Number: 19/2001/777/2001
SB-Account at Canara Bank Bensontowen Branch Bangalore-560047
Account Number: 0429-101-032570 (FCRA)
Account Number: 0429101032415(RUPEE ACCOUNT)
Project At: Muranpur,Kalmala Post,Taluka And District
Raichur,Karnataka State 548 136
Projects: St. Peters school and Hostel, Grace Jack hospital , Rural
Industrial Training Center and several social projects
HAPPY CHRISTMAS
SHADRACH AND GLADYS PETER
J ANUARY B IRTHDAYS
& A NNIVERSARIES
Names in Italics
are Anniversaries
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
1
Garet Alickson
Fri
Sat
2
3
Connie Meyer
Ciarra Schoon
John Skogberg
4
5
Dan Conner
6
Jerry Conner
7
Brandon
McNeese
Olivia Nehl
11
8
Thomas Keller
9
Sharon Capp
10
Taya Kirstine
Friankie Schmidt Robin Carlson
12
Ann Turbiville
13
Cindi Conner
14
Colby
Nowowiejski
Val Garr
15
16
17
23
24
Randy Herman
Laura Young
Dale & Dottie
Ball
18
Lyle Liming
19
20
Kyle Wahlfeldt
21
Audrey
Bickerdyke
22
Cody
Sommerside
Jane Dowdy
Steve & Rhonda
Jakober
25
26
Chase
Bickerdyke
Courtney Oelke
27
28
29
Kristie McKenna
30
31
Barb Williamson
J ANUARY 2015
St. James
Lutheran Church
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
1
Fri
2
Lutheran Men in
Mission 7 AM at
Belle Inn
4
Adult Sunday
School 9 AM;
Worship
10:15 AM
5
PJ Day Off;
Quilting 9-3
6
Quilting 9-3;
Trustees and
Building &
Grounds 7 PM
7
WELCA
Meeting
9:30 AM,
8
Pray Without
Ceasing
11 AM
9
Lutheran Men in
Mission 7 AM at
Belle Inn
Sat
3
Worship 5 PM
10
Worship 5 PM
iPraise 3:35 PM;
Confirmation
5 PM;
Bell Choir
6:15 PM;
LYO 6:30 PM;
Choir 7:15 PM
11
Adult Sunday
School 9 AM;
Worship
10:15 AM
12
PJ Day Off
13
Council
7 PM
14
Esther Circle Pray Without
Ceasing
9 AM;
iPraise 3:35 PM; 11 AM;
Confirmation
5 PM;
Bell Choir
6:15 PM;
LYO 6:30 PM;
Choir 7:15 PM
18
Adult Sunday
School 9 AM;
Worship
10:15 AM
25
Adult Sunday
School 9 AM;
Worship
10:15 AM;
Annual
Meeting
after church;
Dinner Belle
5-7 PM
19
20
PJ Day Off
21
26
27
Pastor Jeff
Goes to India
28
22
Ceasing
11 AM
29
iPraise 3:35 PM; Pray Without
Confirmation
5 PM;
Bell Choir
6:15 PM;
LYO 6:30 PM;
Choir 7:15 PM
16
Lutheran Men in
Mission 7 AM at
Belle Inn
17
Worship 5 PM
Deborah
Circle 7 PM
iPraise 3:35 PM; Pray Without
Confirmation
5 PM;
Bell Choir
6:15 PM;
LYO 6:30 PM;
Choir 7:15 PM
PJ Day Off
15
Ceasing
11 AM
23
Lutheran Men in
Mission 7 AM at
Belle Inn
30
Lutheran Men in
Mission 7 AM at
Belle Inn
24
Worship 5 PM
31
Worship 5 PM
St. James Lutheran Church
1100 Stanley Street
Belle Fourche, SD 57717
January 2015 Newsletter
Check out our church website at
www.sjlcbellefourche.org to find
out about upcoming church events.
Church Council Members
Pastor Jeff Otterman
President: Paul Turbiville
Vice President: Karin Haxton
Treasurer: Tim Speidel
Secretary: Carolyn Kindsfater
Trustees: Tyler Bickerdyke, Don Nelson, Clyde Rische,
Larry Shoemaker, David Sowell, and Bruce Ude
Deacons: Letitia Fashbaugh, Dean Haxton, Lynn Olson,
Genevieve Skogberg, Linda Stambaugh, and
Ann Turbiville