This page was last updated: January 6, 2011
Missions Trip Report
MISSION TRIP TO .. Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation
DATE ...................... May 17 - 25, 2010
PURPOSE .............. To distribute food, clothing, blankets, toys, Holy Bibles, and Christian literature to those in need.
18 MAY 2010: Arrived in Eagle Butte and met with Bryce the council member. Spent the afternoon unloading the camper and truck. All the clothes, coats, blankets, food, and toys were put in the Dupree Community Center for later distribution. I think everything must have multiplied on the trip up, because I didn’t think I had that much in the camper (way overloaded). Praise God for keeping the tires and axles on during the trip up. After unloading, a 20’ x 20’ room was pretty much filled with two layers of bags and boxes.
Spent the evening getting the camper setup at the community center to stay in. No hotel bill this trip. A beautiful sunset ended this first day.
19 MAY 2010: I met with Lynette today about progress on organizing a leadership meeting with as many church leaders as possible. She has already made connections with five different churches. The goal is to cross religious denominational boundaries for the purpose of reaching all the communities for Christ. Because no one church can be everywhere, and since some churches could overlap outreach efforts, we would like to try and arrange a united effort. Lynette said there was a prayer meeting on the evening of the 20th at the Native culture center for anyone to attend.
Many of the churches are small in number, which results in an even smaller number willing to do outreach. By working together, outreaches could be done using people from several churches all with a common bond – to share the message of Jesus Christ and help meet the physical needs of the people.
Another phase of this process is to organize Bible studies in the communities utilizing the leaders and where they live. This makes their presence regular and their interest more directly involved. In Acts 2:42-47, the fellowship of believers is described. Working together with the common bond of faith in Christ (not religion), needs were met, fellowship, teaching, and worship all occurred. The result? The Lord added to their numbers daily.
So far, it seems efforts on the reservation in the different communities have been hit and miss. Outreach, discipleship, and mentoring are limited. One church I know of quit doing Wed night Bible study. There is a need for more Christian leaders to help others find a relationship with Jesus Christ and then to grow in that relationship (the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few). Hopefully with a lot of prayer and a way for leaders to meet regularly, they can become effective in each community and encourage each other at the same time. Any lasting impact or change has to come from those who live here.
I planned to work on some repairs at a church, but the Pastor was involved in a funeral. So I headed to Bear Creek with food, books and Bibles to see who I could find. The Lord led me to two nice gentlemen sitting in the back yard visiting. They were interested in why I was there. After some conversation, they said they would like very much to have a Bible and The Conquering Indian book. I also left them with some food. While there, a neighbor came by who was also interested in a book and Bible.
I then went to the manor in Dupree where the elderly and single parents live. I distributed more food, books and Bibles and invited them to the community center to select some coats, blankets, clothes and toys. Altogether, eight adults and three children came by. They were all very thankful. As word spread to others in need, 16 more adults and 8 more children came to the center to get needed items. The room still looks as though it has been barely touched. These resources will help many people.
20 May 2010: I started the day spending some quality time with Bryce, iron sharpening iron. He has a tough path trying to follow God and help his people. He sees many choosing the wide path and following the ways of the world. He is determined to make a difference and do what God placed him here for.
The rest of the day was spent repairing the roofs of two families in Dupree. One was for Calvin. His was the one where you could see through from the inside to the outside. After patching the obvious hole, two other rotted areas were found and repaired. The other roof had exposed plywood that allowed water to come in through the bathroom ceiling. It took 300 sf of roll roofing to cover all the exposed areas. Finally, I put tar on the edges and corners to help keep the wind from ripping it off. The wind was amazingly fierce, but thankfully the Lord kept me from being blown off the roof. I couldn’t keep a hat on my head though, so when I finished I looked like a chia pet. From on the roof, the wind blowing the tall grass made it look like an ocean of green waves rolling – pretty cool.
I made arrangements to start the church repairs tomorrow.
This evening, I went to the prayer meeting at the cultural center. I met Dan and his wife Tess. They live near the Green Grass community about 20 miles northeast of Eagle Butte. Dan had been in ministry as a Pastor for 13 years and got burned out. He said it was time to restart, and he was doing that through this weekly bible study/prayer meeting. He wants the emphasis for now to be on prayer and healing. There is a lot of spiritual darkness here that needs to be attacked through dedicated prayer. The meeting went very well, beginning with a potluck meal. There were 12 attendees at this first meeting. It is always interesting to see how God leads me to people and events like this during the exact week I am here.
Dan wants to repair an old church and start reaching out to the community. I left him with some Bibles, The Conquering Indian books, Amazing Grace books, and some meals from Kids Against Hunger. He and Tess live in an old log home they are fixing up. At this point they have no electric or water. They haul their water from the river (wouldn’t think you would hear of that right here in the USA ).
21 May 2010: Today I went to install trim at a small church in Eagle Butte. Over the last five years, they have worked to add on an addition. They have been waiting to move in until the trim and final painting could be done. They acquired the materials, but didn’t have help to install it. They were happy to be able to get the project finished. Tomorrow I will install a new double door into the sanctuary and add a couple switches and lights. Progress for the church has been challenging, because the winter snows blew into the attic over the entry and ruined the insulation and drywall. They will wait to repair that section until they can put on the soffitt outside to protect from another damaging snow storm.
After I got back to the camper, Bryce was at the community center setting up tables so the coats, clothing and blankets could be sorted. He plans to take some of the Bibles, books, and food to the Bridger Community, the farthest community.
No sunset tonight, just lightening, thunder, small hail and some serious blowing rain. Sounds great in the camper. The occasional rocking of the camper in the wind is interesting too.
22 May 2010: Well, it rained all night. I heard we got 3 ½”. When I looked outside the camper, I thought I was in Noah’s Ark. About 6’ in front of the truck and camper was nothing but water covering the road and the entrance to where I was. Fortunately, there was solid ground underneath because I was able to drive out (and back tonight).
I spent the day wrestling a new double door into an opening that had to be enlarged (structural work). As in most old buildings, everything was crooked and not level. After getting the door in, the jambs had to be extended to allow for trim. Since the walls were different thicknesses at top and bottom, everything had to be tapered when I cut it. In the end, it looked much better than the old worn out doors and worked great.
Next was on to the electrical. There was no exterior light so I added one along with a switch inside. I also added a switch by the front door for the interior light. As it was, they had to walk the first 12’ in the dark and through a second set of doors to get to the old switch. Now they can turn the light on as soon as they come in (simple things we take for granted).
The Pastor felt extremely blessed and that the help was a Godsend in order to get everything done so the church could continue to reach more people. The church is 99% Native Americans from the reservation and has a direct impact on the people here. I had an idea coming up that I might do some work at the church, if I could connect with the Pastor, but didn’t know the extent of their need nor how long they had been trying to finish. God knew their need and He knew what He wanted me doing when I came up. I guess that was why He didn’t want me focused on cabin building this trip. I’m glad though that I was able to help two families keep the rain off their heads. I left the Pastor some food and books for the needy and those they are reaching out to.
No sunset to view tonight either. Watching a variety of clouds and lightening coming again. You can see so far up here that you get a good view of all that is happening. On the drive in, I could see the straight road way up ahead, so I decided to check the mileage to the farthest hill I could see. It turned out to be six miles away.
23 May 2010: Found out the tornado last night in Faith, SD, missed me by about 20 miles. Go God! I attended church where I did the repairs and then headed to the Green Grass community. There were two small churches there and a couple dozen homes. Since I had some extra time, I went to where Dan and Tess lived to see if I could find the old church they mentioned. I found an old church with a large bell in the steeple that looked well over 100 years old. It was definitely in need of some work. I was unable to meet up with Dan, but he told me on Thurs he planned to look it over and let me know what he wanted done. I took some pictures of the outside to have as a reference. No one was around to let me inside. On the way there, a large badger decided to run down the side of the road by me.
Later in the day, one of the church members was having a celebration dinner for their grandson who graduated the Headstart program and invited the church members over. It was a good time of fellowship and eating Indian tacos.
24 May 2010: Started the drive out beginning with a 45 min detour because of road work, and then spent the next 12 hours fighting 45 mph cross winds and head on winds to drive back pulling the trailer. Tonight on the news I saw I made it across I-90 just in time. Tractor trailers were being overturned by the high winds. Go God again!
FINAL THOUGHTS
It has been another great trip to reach people and serve God. Watching God lead and then work around me is always exciting. It is always hard to leave knowing there is so much to be done. I leave encouraged though, knowing there are Godly people still working and reaching out to others as they are able. I would ask for your continued prayers for the people on the reservation, for the outreach efforts into the communities, for the bible studies and work toward church unity. Dan and Tess have some God sized obstacles to accomplish what needs to be done for this re-entry into ministry and to start what will become a new church. Satan will be working overtime to hinder these efforts. Please keep them in your prayers as well. Thank you all again for your support.
Many continued blessings,
WRITTEN TRIP REPORT
PICTORIAL TRIP REPORT
