Thursday, September 20
10:30 p.m. – We leave at 5 a.m. tomorrow morning. Will stop to spend the night in Nebraska, then arrive at Pine Ridge around 1:30 Saturday afternoon. Looking forward to a great trip and praying that God will use us and change us.
Friday, September 21
10:15 p.m. – We’re in Kearney, Nebraska. We drove today from North Little Rock into, up through, and out of Oklahoma, through Kansas, and then here. A beautiful if long day of driving. Lots of laughs, lots of conversation, and lots of scenic views. Tomorrow we arrive in Pine Ridge around 2:00.
A great group. Eleven folks: 7 women, 4 men. I believe there are 3 churches represented. It’s been great to get to know, visit with, and laugh with friends. At one point today I was driving a U-Haul through Kansas while singing along with George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today” on the radio while my friend Gooch grabbed a few winks in the passenger seat. At struck me as one of those glorious little oddities of life, a totally random, unexpected, but blissfully joyful moment.
I am glad I came. There really is something neat about going off with fellow believers in Jesus for a worthy cause. Praying for great things.
Monday, September 24
11:30 p.m. – The trip is going very well. We traveled to Pine Ridge Friday and Saturday. The drive is very long, but you see some beautiful country. You also get a sense of the vastness of America, especially while driving up a road like Hwy 61 through Nebraska. Truly beautiful. By Saturday night, everything was unpacked at the church and we checked into the hotel here in Kyle, SD. It’s about 50 miles from Pine Ridge and we pass Wounded Knee on every trip to and from the church.
Yesterday, Sunday, we attended church at the Lakota Baptist Church where we had a great time of worship with the church family.
Another group is here from, I believe, Tennessee. They are a group of ladies doing ministry here. Today, a Christian veterinary group arrived as well (or they may have arrived yesterday). None of the groups seemed to know that the others would be there, which has created some…well…let’s just call it “opportunities for Christians to come together and learn to cooperate.”
Yesterday after church we drove through the Badlands of South Dakota which really must be seen to be understood.
While there, we pulled over after seeing some mountain sheep in a ridge just ahead of us. Then, to our utter amazement, they turned and walked calmly right past our group. It really was quite astounding.
Today marked our first day of Vacation Bible School. Our primary mission here is to the kids. We put on Vacation Bible School Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, concluding with a carnival on Thursday. We do other things as well. For instance, some of the ladies are leading a lady’s Bible study tomorrow. The ladies will receive nice gift bags with Christian literature as well as hygiene items.
Also, I’m speaking at the men’s jail tomorrow while one of the ladies will be speaking at the women’s facility. Then we’ll be having VBS at night.
This means that during the day we have been able to see some of the sites around here, and there are, indeed, many to see. For instance, I was finally able to see this:
Before traveling to Rushmore, we were fortunate to attend an event that happens only once a year: the buffalo roundup at Custer State Park.
The sight-seeing has been fun and, truth be told, it has helped me get a bit of a better grasp on the world in which the Lakotas live. But, at the end of the day, our mission here is the kids. So we are feeding them each night of VBS (this is one of the, I think, four rooms that kids were eating in)…
…and we are teaching them. I am honored to be doing the teaching time during VBS (this is our smallest group of kids, the first I had tonight of three groups in all). We also have crafts and music.
In all, I believe this mission is not only worthwhile, I believe it is very important. I am glad I came. As with all such missions, those that go are the ones that are changes.
Pray for the Lakota people.
More later…
Tuesday, September 25
Was able to stop by Wounded Knee on the way to the church. I had been wanting to do so and looked forward to the chance. It was very moving to be at the site, though I did not stay very long. It is safe to say that Wounded Knee is the living symbol of the American Indian tragedy, and it is an odd sensation to be there.
At 1:00 we went to the jail where the ladies conducted a Bible study with the female inmates and Allen and I conducted a Bible study with the men. It was a powerful time that I will never forget. I spoke for maybe 12-15 minutes to about 20 inmates. Many of them were very open to the gospel. Then we just sat and talked and shared our stories. I felt a real connection with these men. They were all Native Americans and the majority of them were in for alcohol-related offenses. Alcohol truly is the scourge of reservation life. We had a great opportunity to talk about the freedom Christ brings. As one of the brothers there shared about his inability to break free from alcohol, I turned to Romans 7 and we spoke about the war between the spirit and the flesh. In all, we had about an hour to spend with these guys. I will never forget it and I pray the Lord works mightily in each of their lives.
Then tonight we had a great VBS after feeding the kids. I felt a little more connection with the kids tonight than I felt last night and I believe many of them are being blessed by the ministry that we are offering to them.
Thursday, September 27
Well, here is a journal entry I didn’t expect to make. Late Tuesday night (really, early Wednesday morning) I awoke very ill. I will spare you the details. It was either food poisoning or some kind of bug. Yesterday was a very unpleasant day. I spent the day in bed trying, unsuccesfully, to keep fluids and a few crackers in me.
Last night I determined that I would find a doctor today if I didn’t wake up feeling better. I’m thankful to say that I slept the night through and have not been sick a single time so far today. I just feel tired. While I did not get to go with the group to Crazy Horse, I do hope to be at the carnival tonight if the day goes well.
Oh well.
8:15 – I was able to get to the carnival tonight, the last event of the trip. It was a real joy to see the kids being fed, playing games, receiving prizes and, in general, being encouraged. I have been really impressed with the group that came up here from Arkansas. I’m especially proud of our leader, Lisa Kelley, who first had the vision to do this. And it is obvious that all who come here share her passion. I feel honored to have been able to witness it all and to share in it to some extent even though I missed some of it due to being sick.
I suspect I’ll have more to say when I’m able to unpack all of this, emotionally and spiritually, but, for now, I think I’ll end with a few pictures of the kids I was able to take tonight.
Pray for the Lakota people.
