Foot stompin' country and gospel music will be featured in concert this Sunday in rural Remsen to help raise money for The Church of the Damascus Road.

The congregation of The Church of the Damascus Road Evangelical Lutheran Church of America ministers to inmates of any denomination within the prisons in Fort Dodge and Rockwell City.

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Mark and Cheryl Juhl are hosting a party to raise money for the prison congregation from 1 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday, July 13, at their farm, 11584 Polk Ave., which is northwest of Remsen.

"For the last two or three years we have taken an interest in this church and attended their meetings," Cheryl said. "We've been donating to them on a personal level for that long."

Mark, a member of The Church of the Damascus Road Outside Council, said he first learned of the church about eight years ago at a workshop, where former prisoners spoke of the church's positive effects on their lives.

"I was inspired by the guys who were giving the program," Mark said. "I thought 'that is something I would really like to be a part of.'"

The Church of the Damascus Road, which started in 1997 in Rockwell City and in 1998 in Fort Dodge, has a council to take care of matters outside the prison including fundraising efforts along with a church council inside the prison.

The Rev. Carroll Lang, pastor of The Church of the Damascus Road, said the church operates without any state or federal money.

"We are totally supported by congregations and individuals mostly within a 100-mile radius," Lang said.

He said prisoners in the congregation receive the same type of ministry as in other churches including the opportunity to participate in worship services and Bible studies. The church also has its own library.

"The prisoners get out of this a lot of support as well as the fact that Pastor Lang ministers to them," Cheryl said. "He cares about them. He goes in and speaks with them. He tries to be their friend."

The church also offers its congregation a program called storytelling, where books are purchased through donated money and prisoners record themselves reading them.

"Then they send it (the tape) home to their children so their children can listen to the book time and time again and hear dad's voice," Cheryl said.

Lang said he hopes the Juhl's fundraiser will also increase income for the church's Re-entry After Care Program, which gathers a team of three to seven people in the community who help an ex-offender make a successful re-entry into society.

"We have well over 100 placed in communities with only about five or six returning to prisons," which is a low rate, he said.

"It's a congregation that says it likes to lose members," Mark added.

Cheryl said she and Mark wanted to help raise money for The Church of the Damascus Road because they have developed a connection with the congregation.

"We do go down frequently and attend the church services within the prison. You do get involved with them and interested in their well-being and so forth," Cheryl said. "We have found it so rewarding."

Because of donations from local area businesses for the concert at the Juhls, the fees to bring entertainers to perform Sunday and the majority of the food costs for the fundraiser have been paid. That means 100 percent of the gate admission fees will be given to The Church of Damascus Road, Cheryl said.

The Plymouth County Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a nonprofit insurance agency which designates funds for nonprofit projects, also awarded a $1,600 grant to the fundraiser, Cheryl said.

"The prisoners are so thankful that anyone takes an interest in it (the church)," she said.

Sunday's entertainers will feature singer/songwriter Terry Smith, of Nashville, Tenn., Elaine Peacock, of Elk Point, S.D., Wayne Lontin Sr., of Litchfiled, Minn., Ervin Pickhinke, of Sioux City, Music Illusions, Tom and Patty Mullally, of Le Mars, and Lee Muller, of Denison.

"Each performer we have coming does a lot of their own music," Cheryl said. "I like the tone of their music, the message of their music."

People should bring their own lawn chairs, but no reservations are needed to attend the fundraiser.

Gate admission is: $15 for all day or $10 after 6 p.m. for adults, $5 for all day or $3 after 6 p.m. for youth ages 6-12.

For questions or directions to the Juhls' farm, call Mark or Cheryl, at 712-540-6025 or 712-756-8851.