LOVE BEAR MINISTRY

The Love Bear group consists of both men and women who meet every Tuesday morning from 9:00am to Noon. They lovingly make bears that are given to the children who visit local hospitals' emergency rooms. Great Fellowship and a Great Mission!!!

Over 25,959 Love Bears have been given to children in trauma at Washington Regional Emergency Room and the Northwest Arkansas Medical Center Emergency Room since Aug. ‘94.

To visualize the magnitude of this gift of love, imagine all 20,000 bears lined up paw to paw reaching from the Good Shepherd Church to Springdale. Now imagine all of the materials that go into each little bear and the time spent. You can help by making a donation! Your donations will help buy supplies such as stuffing, cloth, ribbon, thread etc. that makes these gifts of love possible. Checks can be made out to the Love Bear Ministry. Your gift will be greatly appreciated by each little child that is having to experience the traumatic experience of being in the emergency room. It will be your special way of helping spread God's love to those in need of assurance.

Putting the "Love" in the Love Bears by members of GSLC

2008 Outreach

Our Lenten soup suppers collected $100 for World Hunger.

Our Special Thanksgiving offering went to Seven Hill Homeless Shelter and Peace At Home Women's Shelter, and our Special Christmas Offering supported several local charities.

Our Single Parent Scholarship Fund (which Good Shepherd has been a participant in since the beginning) conntributed $3,000 to assist deserving young single parents with their education! This year alone Good Shepherd awarded scholarships to 16 single parents.

We adopted 15 Adopted Families during the Holiday Season. Many gifts totaling hundreds of dollars were purchased by GSLC members and donated to over 65 family members, including a $25 gift card for Thanksgiving dinner and supplies for a complete Christmas dinner.

We assisted the Oaks Indian Mussion in Oaks, OK which provides services to children of homeless families in crisis. We contributed a total of $1,185 for the year.

We gave the Ozark Food Bank and Fayetteville Free Clinic each $1,000.

Our Love Bear Ministry provided almost 2,000 Love Bears to Childrin in trauma at Emergency Rooms in Washington Regional Medical Center, Fayetteville and Northwest Medical Center, Springdale. Over 24,000 Bears have been donated since 1994. (Scroll up this page to learn more about this ministry)

We asasisted Cooperative Emergency Outreach (CEO) with financial support for prescriptions, food, utility bills, rent, etc... to those who need a helping hand by contributing $9,000 for food, utilities, etc. and $600 for prescriptions. We feel very fortunate to be able to assist our brothers and sisters in the community.

In addition, we supported Benevolent activity of the Evengelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) with over $44,000.

SOME OF OUR OUTREACH PROGRAMS

C.E.O. (Cooperative Emergency Outreach) was formed by GSLC and several other area churches to minister to the needy in Washington County. Volunteers work daily at the CEO office on Rock Street. Members donate canned food or put money in the church's "breadbox" located in the narthex. To learn more Click Here.

Stephen Ministry helps people going through stressful situations in their lives. A new group of Stephen Ministers are trained each year in skills including confidentiality and good listening techniques for one-on-one ministry.

Angel Tree gives people opportunity to help provide Christmas presents to the needy.

Habitat for Humanity builds homes for the needy in Fayetteville. We support habitat with volunteers and offerings. To learn more about this sewrvice Click Here.

Tape Ministry delivers audio tapes of our worship services to shut-ins.

Parish Nurse provides blood pressure checks, medication consultations, information groups, home and hospital visits. To learn more Click Here.

Oaks Indian Mission provides housing and supervision for troubled youth. Located in Oaks, Oklahoma, it has been an outreach of the Lutheran Church for decades. To learn more about the Mission Click Here.

World Hunger and Disaster Relief finds generous support through the gifts of individuals like yourself, with the highest percentage of gifts actually getting to those in need.