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Remembering Good King Wenceslas


GKWDear Friends,

One of my favorite Christmas poems is the 162-year-old carol: Good King Wenceslas. The poem (see below) tells about King Wenceslas & his page giving alms to a poor peasant; his page needing help against the cold; and then finding heat miraculously in the King’s footprints in the snow. I can relate to the steadfast page.

Our journey together at LUM through the past year has been eventful and at times challenging.


During 2015 at LUM…

  • 197 at-risk youth learned & grew in the After School Program, 5th Quarter Summer Learning Program & LUM Camp
  • 650 homeless individuals were served by the Emergency Shelter
  • Tax Assistance Program served 790, returning more than $1.3 million in refunds
  • Good Samaritan Program serves up to 12 families each day; more than 2,000 families this year
  • Last month 767 individuals received emergency food assistance from the St. John’s/LUM Food Pantry
  • Community Thanksgiving Celebration served 900 individuals, ID Clinic served more than 150 clients, Immigration Clinic served 19 individuals, and of course Jubilee Christmas over 1,700 children!

By the end of 2015, Lafayette Urban Ministry will have touched and improved the lives of more than 6,000 low-income households living in Tippecanoe County.


Just as King Wenceslas’s page found his journey to be daunting, at LUM it’s a little overwhelming too. But when we remember we’re following in the faithful footsteps of others like YOU, it seems somehow more manageable. In the spirit of Good King Wenceslas, I hope you will make a generous Christmas season gift to the children & families served by Lafayette Urban Ministry.

Your gift of $50, $100, $250, $500, or $1,000 will be used right here in our own community to support LUM’s important programs of service and self-help.

On behalf of each child & family served by LUM, please accept my heartfelt thanks. On behalf of each person at LUM who serves another, please accept my gratitude for making our sometimes challenging work all that much easier. Merry Christmas!



PS: Please give online at www.lumserve.org/donate or mail in your donation to
Lafayette Urban Ministry, 420 N 4th Street, Lafayette, IN 47901


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Good King Wenceslas

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath’ring winter fuel

“Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know’st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes’ fountain.”

“Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear him thither.”
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind’s wild lament
And the bitter weather

“Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly.”

In his master’s steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing
~ John Mason Neale, 1853

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