Extra Mile Ministries at St. Matthew, Hawthorn Woods

Rev. Ralph Buchhorn, Director of Extra Mile Ministries, visited the chapel services at St. Matthew Lutheran School in Hawthorn Woods, Illinois Monday morning. The students were treated to an entertaining presentation by Rev. Ralph and Georgie, his 5-year-old service dog.

March 14, 2008 - NIU wants comfort dogs back ...

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When classes resumed after the slayings at Northern Illinois University , anxious students showed up at the campus counseling office seeking to talk to someone who was a good listener - someone calm, someone ... Read More...

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K-9 Chaplains and their Ministry at NIU Campus

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Sunday Morning the team from Extra Mile Ministries was invited to minister to students, families, staff and members of Immanuel Lutheran Church in DeKalb. Sunday afternoon Immanuel Lutheran Church Campus Ministry, which is a key part of the ministry of Immanuel Congregation, hosted an open house at the ministry center at Immanuel for NIU Alumni.

• For a Video from Fox News regarding the NIU visit, click here

During the afternoon hours before the memorial service at the Convocation Center, the Extra Mile Ministries team was at Immanuel ministering to students and alumni at the Lutheran Center. Among the Alumni were Rev. Marty Marks, Rev, Bob Geaschel, Trinity Lutheran, Burr Ridge, and his wife Michele.

Using the K-9 Chaplains, God opened doors for the Extra Mile Ministries team to minister to students and staff within the locked dormitories on campus. These were areas where other religious groups were not allowed access.

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In the midst of such tragedy and sorrow Extra Mile Ministries and its K-9 chaplains are bringing Christ centered, lasting comfort and hope to the students, families and staff at NIU.

Dogs relaxing after a long day at NIU

Pastor Buchhorn (pictured at left with dog Georgie) heads up Extra Mile Ministries, a LCMS Ministry. He is a LCMS pastor trained in this type of Christian Crisis Counseling.  He and his staff were involved with the Virginia Tech shootings a year ago and he has been actively working with the survivors of Katrina.  In fact he and some of his staff were in Biloxi, Mississippi when today's incident occurred.  

Pastor Buchhorn and three additional trained counselors (Dave and Linda Rein and Rava Coyle) and their three dogs (Marley, Honey, and Georgie) flew in this past weekend to do Christian Counseling.  They are joined at the NIU visit by Dr. Carli Zygowicz, a counselor who worked with Extra Mile Ministries during the Virginia Tech occurrence and a member of Immanuel Lutheran, Belvidere; and Sue Kessler and her specially trained therapy dog Bonnie. Sue and her husband Gary are LCC volunteers and are member of Lord of Life Lutheran Church in La Fox.

If you would like to help LCC offset the transportation costs and expenses for Extra Mile Ministries click here to donate to the NIU-Extra Mile Ministries Fund.

Extra Mile Ministries Arrive

LCC flew in Extra Mile Ministries staff, volunteers, and dogs to start work this weekend at NIU campus as students return. Extra Mile Ministries along with the Campus Ministry of Immanuel Lutheran in DeKalb with Rev. Marty Marks will be available to talk with students and share the hope and assurance one can have in Jesus Christ.

 

Please keep all of them in your prayers over the next days.

Please help offset the costs of Extra Mile Ministries (click here) and for the DVD materials of Rev Kenny Klaus (click here).

Extra Mile Ministries and their K-9 Chaplains:

Extra Mile Ministries and their K-9 Chaplains:
Bringing Comfort and Hope to Katrina victims and volunteers

LCC is partnering with Chaplain Ralph Buchhorn of Extra Mile Ministries and his dog, Georgie, to provide spiritual care and comfort to both victims of disaster and disaster relief workers affected by Hurricane Katrina. Buchhorn founded the Extra Mile Ministry and the Animal Assisted Crisis Response (AACR) team after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 with the long term pledge to continue helping with emotional and spiritual ongoing recovery and support. Since it's founding, Extra Mile Ministries has counseled crisis victims and volunteers, conducted training sessions with pastors and church leaders on crisis response, and given away over 900 "When Your Whole World Changes" books produced by the International Bible Society. Extra Mile Ministry has also reached out to the community with the help of Buchhorn's dog, Georgie.(pictured at left) This golden Labrador retriever has been specially trained and tested for general obedience and a high capacity to deal with unpredictable situations and people. Since the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Georgie has accompanied her owner to the Gulf Coast six times where they visited schools, shelters, medical clinics and FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers. In addition to Georgie, many other Golden Retrievers are now working with Extra Mile Ministries traveling all over the U.S. and providing comfort and care for people involved in crisis, trauma, and tragedy. A crisis experience like that of Hurricane Katrina is unreal for a lot of people. Petting the dogs gives these people a little bit of grounding and, even if just for a moment, they feel safe.

Extra Mile Ministries sell these little Beanie Doggies to help with funding for their canines. They ask for a $10 Donation. Please email Chaplain Ralph Buchhorn at clothcop@aol.com to order, or call 760-439-4381

If you would like to learn more about this ministry click here. If you would like to donate to this ministry click here. Your donation dollar per dollar will go to keep the team present in the Gulf States.
Click to read the recent article FEMA published. FEMA: Good Samaritans Lend Helping Hand?And Paw
Visit their web site at www.go2matthew541.org
To donate, click here and select Extra Mile Ministries