HOME FIRE CLAIMS LIFE OF HUSBAND/FATHER, 13 YEAR-OLD CRITICAL

It is believed a faulty block heater cord, plugged into an attached garage outlet and leading to a transport truck parked outside, caused a tragic total loss house fire and tragic death of a MAX Canada insured member in La Broquuerie, a community near Steinbach, Manitoba.  The fire was already well advanced when Jacob and Ludmilla Merkel became aware of it around 5:00 AM on Saturday, November 20^th.  The parents, two girls, aged nine and five, and a one-year-old boy escaped the fire safely.  Father Jacob, aged 36,  returned to rescue their 13 year-old son sleeping in the basement.  Both suffered severe burns and smoke inhalation in their escape. Jacob succumbed to his injuries in hospital on Sunday.  The son remains in critical condition.  The Merkel family immigrated from Germany in 2004. Jacob worked for a trucking company in nearby Steinbach. A funeral service for Jacob was held on Friday, November 26.  His 13 year old son remains in stable but critical condition in hospital. 

• Pray for Ludmilla Merkel as she struggles with her multiple losses.
• Pray for those surrounding Ludmilla with love and care .
• Pray for the 13 year-old son as he struggles for life.

An account to assist the family has been created at the Steinbach Credit Union.  


Jacob Merkel, 36, with his transport truck, also burnt in the fire. (Family photo) 
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/11/22/mb-fatal-fire-merkel-manitoba.html#ixzz16GOVN5Hl  (Photos courtesy of CBC)

CELEBRATING GOD'S HEALING THROUGH COUNSELING

MAX Mutual Aid Ministries (MAM) occasionally partners with individuals, congregations and even counseling agencies to assist with the costs of necessary counseling.  Recently Mutual Aid Ministries received a letter from Theressa, a Christian counselor from New York State.  With the permission of the family involved, she shared the following profoundly inspirational story of intervention, healing and restoration of wholeness, supported in part by a financial grant from the MAX Share Fund.

"Over the last 6 years, I have had the privilege of cooperatively working with Mutual Aid Ministries  in my private Christian Counseling practice.

Several years ago, MAM came to the aid of a family who were in desperate and critical need. The money was not needed to roof a barn or pay an electric bill. The aid was used to mend a family that was deeply broken. In the first moments of meeting this family, I saw a broken man who had lost everything he had ever dreamed of, a man of commitment and hope who was ready to walk away from his wife and children, if this last stitch effort didn't work.

As each hour passed with this family, I began to see a family that felt, to me, beyond repair. I found a mother and wife who had lost all hope for life and family. Her darkness and despair revealed active suicidality which appeared only to reveal severe and repeated childhood sexual abuse.

Then entering the scene I was introduced to their lovely yet broken, furiously angry children. They hated their parents. They hated therapy. They hated me for being so arrogant to think that I could help this profound pain. So many had tried. The family felt, and I was beginning to fear, they were beyond repair.

After 4 years of hard work, divine assistance, agonizing therapy, and the support of Mutual Aid Ministries, we have made it through. Prior to your aid, this family was ready to disintegrate. Its devastation would have left deeply depressed angry children, an emotionally crippled mother and an absent father. We have all heard the stories before - too many times. 

Praise God. This story has a different ending. This marriage just joyfully and jubilantly celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. The children are pursuing productive and meaningful lives. The family is beginning to establish new productive and healthy ways of relating with one another. Where once there was only silence, anger and pain, now resides laughter, hope and potential. Truly, it was because of your financial assistance and their commitment to this hard work that this family was able to face their darkness, fear and pain and now enjoy the light."

We give thanks for Theressa and her counseling ministry.  We extend that thanks and appreciation to the many dedicated counselors across the MAX constituency who give so unstintingly of their time and often, like Theressa, also sacrifice financially to promote healing and restore wholeness in situations of brokenness.  Pray for all the counselors among the MAX family of members and give thanks for their ministry.

ACCIDENT RESULTS IN AMPUTATION

The excitement of moving from one home to another was tragically interrupted for a MAX insured couple, Harold and Darlene Culp, on September 30.  While traveling to their former home in Atwood, Ontario for a last pickup of items in their move to their newly purchased New Hamburg home, the Culps, in their seventies, were involved in a serious automobile accident.  Another vehicle struck them on the passenger side of their vehicle.  While Harold escaped with minor scrapes and bruises, Darlene experienced severe injuries including a broken arm, pelvis and a serious break and damage to the femur and tibia of the right leg and foot.  Due to resulting complications, Darlene had her right foot amputated on November 2^nd.  After more than a month in a Hamilton hospital, she has been moved to a rehabilitative wing of Freeport Hospital in Kitchener for therapy and will eventually be fitted with a prosthesis for her foot. 

• Pray for Harold and Darlene and their five adult children as they adjust to their new realities.
• Pray specifically for Darlene as her body heals and she adjusts to rehabilitation and a prosthetic foot.
• Pray for Harold as he settles into and adjusts to their New Hamburg home without Darlene's assistance.

TWENTY-TWO YEAR OLD KILLED

Twenty-two year-old Jacob (Jake) Banman from Wheatley, Ontario, is deeply mourned by his family after a fatal single vehicle accident near his home on November 14.  Traveling home after dropping off his girlfriend, Banman crashed into a telephone pole in the early evening on a remote rural area with no witnesses.  Jake is the youngest of three siblings of  Cornelius and Katharina Banman.  He worked with his father in the family business, Designer Countertops.  "They are one of the kindest and most loving families I have met," says broker Johnny Wiebe who provides MAX insurance for much of the family and the business.  Jake's 23 year-old sister, Helen Collard laments, "There was one thing that was important to him: family. It's been a very, very hard time for all of us." The Banman firmly are part of the Old Colony Mennonite Church in Wheatley where Jake's funeral took place on Thursday, November 18.  Pray for Jake's parents, siblings, extended family and friends as they grieve Jake's tragic death.  Pray for all who surround the family with comfort and support during their grief.

UNINSURED COUPLE LOSES EVERYTHING

A couple of years ago, Stan & Carol Baldwin dropped their home insurance because the cost became prohibitive for them.  On Sunday, November 21, their world as they have known it collapsed, when the home where they have lived for 38 years was totally destroyed by a devastating fire.  They barely escaped the early morning blaze and nothing was salvageable.  "So now they are left with nothing!  They don't have their ID, house, car or any items," writes their daughter Aleah from Hamilton, Ontario.  Through a network of acquaintances and friends, Mennonite Disaster Service, the MAX Canada Share fund and the nearby Stayner (Ontario) Brethren in Christ congregation are exploring ways in which to support this couple and help restore some wholeness to their lives.  Pray for Stan and Carol as they begin to "reassemble" a totally disrupted life. 

DEVASTATING FIRE

Ron Lentz, the broker assisting MAX with employee benefits requests prayer for his brother and wife.  In mid-November the couple's house, in the Kansas City Missouri area, burned down. They lost everything they owned including a dog and a cat, very special and precious pets.  The loss has devastated them.  Pray for Ron as he supports his brother and wife during this very difficult time.

A VERY PERSONAL PRAYER REQUEST

Carolyn Smith from Ohio shares the following prayer request.  We invite readers to intercede on her behalf.

"I request prayer for myself, please.  I have such a heaviness and tiredness in my chest -- the doctor says it is asthma and mucus, etc.  -- I pray that I feel better very soon as I have had this for quite a while -- and I pray that it is not my heart.  I pray this in Jesus name."

LIVER TRANSPLANT

Tracy Jackman, an accountant at MAX Canada, requests prayer support for her stepfather Mike Pickup.  On the liver transplant list for over a year, he got the call on Monday Nov 8^th and received his new liver.  Mike remains in ICU at University Hospital in London, Ontario. While the new liver is doing its job, his kidneys have failed and he is on Dialysis fighting an infection that has appeared and remains.  "Please pray that my mom Vicky can stay strong as the daily commute from London to Baden is tiring.  Pray also that winter holds off so driving conditions stay clear," requests Tammy.

HURRICANE IGOR BATTERS EASTERN NEWFOUNDLAND

On September 21, hurricane Igor severely battered the eastern coast of Newfoundland, Canada creating much devastation and isolating many rural communities.  We give thanks for the crew from Mennonite Disaster Service New Brunswick, coordinated by Glenn and Esther Buck from Listowel, Ontario, who responded with flood cleanup and repair.  The current phase of cleanup was completed on November 19 but it is anticipated another crew will arrive to continue the assistance.  We celebrate and give thanks for persons who are willing to give their time to assist in such circumstances.  Continue to pray for the hundreds of families who continue to struggle with damaged homes and major losses.

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.  1 Timothy 1:1 (The Message)