Latest news with #CommunityChristianChurch
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Fatalities confirmed in Laurel County, Kentucky from reported tornado
LONDON, Ky. (WATE) — Multiple fatalities have been confirmed in Laurel County, Kentucky following a reported tornado early Saturday morning. London Mayor Randall Weddle told 6 News that there are confirmed fatalities in the area. The Laurel-Whitley County Emergency Management Office has also reported multiple fatalities, according to the Laurel County Fiscal Court. Video shared to the Laurel County Fiscal Court showed widespread damage across the Sunshine Hills area. Other impacted areas include London-Corbin Airport, Levi Jackson Wilderness Road Park and the Oaks of London subdivision. South Laurel High School at 201 S. Laurel Road in London has been opened as a shelter for those affected. Wyan-Pine Grove Elementary School, located at 2330 Keavy Road in London, said that the building has been opened to those impacted by severe weather. The Community Christian Church at 723 W. 5th Street has also opened as a shelter. This is a developing story. or for updates. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Chicago Tribune
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Aurora area churches hold service in solidarity with immigrants
On Saturday, a group of around 60 community members came together for a bilingual church service and show of support for the immigrant community at Village Bible Church and El Camino in Aurora. The event was a combined effort from several area churches: Village Bible Church's Aurora campus (which includes Village Bible and El Camino), Village Bible in Plano, Nueva Vida United Methodist Church in Aurora, Community Christian Church in Aurora and St. Petrie Lutheran Church in Leland. The idea for a combined service came from Pastors Nico Ticona of El Camino in Aurora and Village Bible in Plano and Rodrigo Cano of Community Christian Church. 'We don't know all the reasons people need to migrate,' Ticona said through a translator in his sermon at Saturday's service. He noted the feelings of uncertainty within the local community, and encouraged attendees to pray as well as materially serve those in the area. After President Trump took office in January, the administration promised a crackdown on immigration, saying Chicago would be ground zero for enforcement. The administration also announced that sensitive locations like schools and churches would not be off limits, sparking fear in local communities. Since then, a church in Chicago moved its services online out of fear of immigration arrests. A flurry of congregations in the Chicago area said they would continue to offer resources to immigrant communities in spite of the administration's policies. Just outside Chicago, in Evanston, a local church said it would continue to provide sanctuary to immigrants. Elgin and Waukegan groups have held protests in recent weeks showing support for the immigrant community. In Aurora, area school districts have announced protocols in case U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tries to make arrests at their schools. Ticona is originally from Peru, and has been a pastor in the area for the past seven years. He said he enjoys community outreach and wanted to do something for the Hispanic community in Aurora. So he worked with Cano and other church leaders to organize the bilingual service. On Saturday, Ticona and the other church leaders focused not on the politics of immigration, but on service to the Aurora community during a difficult time. 'If the Lord has blessed us in this country with those things that go beyond our initial needs, the calling is to bless others,' Ticona said at Saturday's service. Afterward, Administer Justice – an Elgin-based, Christian legal aid organization with clinics across the country – set up a table downstairs with a volunteer providing legal resources. This is a regular offering at Village Bible and El Camino in Aurora. They've been hosting similar legal aid clinics for about a year now, on the first Saturday of the month from 9 a.m. to noon at their church at 1402 W. Galena Blvd. in Aurora. Administer Justice provides legal assistance to community members on a number of issues: tenant-landlord disputes, domestic violence, guardianship cases, fraud and more, according to Kevin Drendel, an attorney who oversees the Administer Justice clinic run out of Village Bible in Aurora and sits on the organization's Board of Directors. The clinics operate out of local churches and are staffed by community volunteers. Village Bible's outpost of Administer Justice has three lawyers who volunteer at the clinic, and some or all of them come to the clinic each month to provide legal help, Drendel said. While immigration is just one legal issue that arises in the community, many of the people who come to them with legal questions are Spanish-speaking and from immigrant backgrounds, Drendel said. El Camino provides translation services at the clinics for those who need it. And while the lawyers who staff the Village Bible group do not specialize in immigration, they can refer individuals to attorneys who can help. 'We have resources that we've gathered that we hand out to people, and we also can direct them to other places (if) they have something more going on than just their legal issue, which almost always they do,' Drendel told The Beacon-News on Tuesday. Drendel said he has not yet seen a major uptick in immigration questions – and that many of the issues immigrant community members come to them with are not about immigration at all. Nevertheless, he said he is expecting immigration-related concerns to increase in the near future. Going forward, Ticona said he and other church leaders want to keep planning bilingual services for the Aurora community, and hope to keep adding more and more churches into the fold. Ticona hopes these kinds of services can act as a 'safe oasis for everyone,' he told The Beacon-News before the service on Saturday. 'That's the main goal right now.' And Drendel said Administer Justice is also trying to expand its offerings in the area. Drendel specializes in estate planning, and he hopes to host workshops in the future with immigration lawyers to help families plan their estates and guardianship of their children in case of immigration-related issues or arrests. People need legal advice for all sorts of reasons, Drendel said, but the cost of legal representation affects the ability of individuals in poverty to access a lawyer. That's where Administer Justice comes in. 'If you don't have money, you don't have access to the legal system, basically,' Drendel said. And he believes churches are an ideal location for providing legal advice to anyone who needs it, immigrants and non-immigrants alike. 'A church is uniquely positioned in a community to be able to help people that have needs – vulnerable people,' Drendel said. 'And it's central to the church's mission to love your neighbor. … Some churches have food pantries, some churches have homeless shelters, some churches provide other services. And having a legal clinic located in a church is just another way that the church can help vulnerable people in the community.'
