My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I (Josiah) am writing to make you aware of a need and to request your help and prayers as our church seeks to serve our neighbors in the midst of this COVID-19 crisis. If you were able to stream our service yesterday (and if you haven't, we would encourage you to do so!), then you would have been encouraged with me by our brother, Chase, in a couple of ways.

First, he admonished us in light of 1 Thessalonians 4:9 to meet the needs of the saints. I trust that we will all be looking around to our brothers and sisters and serving them as we can. However, if you find yourself in need during this crisis and are not a part of a community group that would be able to naturally meet that need, please let us know. We would love to connect you with members of the body who would love to serve you.

Secondly, Chase encouraged us with the reminder that now is a time more than ever for our church to display the generosity of Christ. Throughout church history, Christians have been able to shine the light of Christ in the midst of darkness through serving their neighbors. In the same way, we at DSC eagerly desire to display the love and hope of Christ to many who are afraid and hurting.

As many of you know, and perhaps some of you do not, DSC has had the privilege of forming a meaningful relationship with our neighboring elementary school, Los Ranchos. Our own members, Tyche Landis and Talia Sierra, have volunteered in a great capacity to help connect our church with this school. This past Saturday morning, Tyche, Talia, and I were able to meet with the principal of Los Ranchos, Craig Robinson. Together we devised a plan for meeting the needs of Los Ranchos families who are being affected adversely by the school's closing over the next three weeks.

Many of you have expressed concern over how local families will be affected by the schools closing and are eager to help, and for this, we are so very grateful. Please read the following email that Tyche has sent out to our Los Ranchos volunteers and let us know if you would like to help! You may email Tyche at, pierce.tyche@gmail.com or fill out the form below.

Contact Tyche

Tyche’s Letter

As I'm sure you are all aware, schools are closed for the next three weeks. This is a strain for many families who rely on the schools for food, childcare while they work, and other needs.

As part of our partnership with Los Ranchos and desiring to love our neighbors and build relationships with them, we will be pairing those in need during this time with volunteers who are willing to help. This might mean helping parents find childcare, connecting a family to resources for food, dropping off toilet paper, etc.

Los Ranchos staff are only beginning to let the families know that we are available to help, and we have already received several responses. As we receive requests, we will pass an individual name and phone number on to each volunteer interested, and let the volunteer contact the family. We are working on assembling a list of local community resources for volunteers to share.

If you are in a high-risk group for COVID-19, we want you to stay safe and avoid face-to-face contact, but you can still help by connecting a family to resources via phone.

Please pray for these students and their families as they face this challenge. Pray for safety for kids whose safe place is the school. Pray that we will love those around us and point them to Jesus as we respond to this scary situation not with fear, but trusting our good and sovereign God and loving our neighbors with wisdom!

If you are interested in helping, please let me know as soon as possible! And as always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Tyche Landis