North Dakota Youth Mission Trip - Day 4

Once again we woke to a beautiful, sunny morning with the sounds of the plains winds blowing all around us. The winds are unceasing, without these winds the plains would not be the plains, they are integral to the fiber of being here. These winds keep us cool as we labor in the hot sun on our work sites, so we are thankful for the winds. As they blow over the grass fields they are reminiscent of the waves in our Great Lakes, no wonder they are called the Great Plains.
Today, being the well-oiled machine that we are now, all the teams set off for work soon after breakfast. The work assignments today were basically the same as the previous day. The Totems added painting to the house that they are preparing for Josh, Jana and their son Tony. Tony has decided to join in the fun of the work with his friend Lance, so some nice bonds are being formed with our kids and the Dakota kids, not only at the Sidewalk Sunday School but at the work sites too. The Totem kids even furthered that relationship by inviting Tony and Lance to join us for lunch today. So we are not only accomplishing projects, but doing the more important work of connecting with the people that we are serving.
The Eagles (my group) had a very productive day on our site. We finished the deck extension, dug 6 more holes for the wheelchair ramp and got almost half of the ramp put together. We are confident and excited that we will see this project to completion tomorrow. From speaking with the other group leaders, all the projects are on target for completion tomorrow, which will be our last day working. Woo Hoo!

“I wish we could do mission trips all summer – a long trip so we could help people most of the summer” (spoken by a member of the Totem group). I think it is safe to say that this is the overriding sentiment of the group this week.
It is clear that Mike and Libby, the directors of the Spirit Lake Ministry Center have had a great impact on the kids this week. They decided 5 years ago after dipping their toes into mission work, that they would jump in with both feet. They were pretty much like the rest of us adults, they each had jobs that kept them very busy, they were making very good money, active in their church, and in various ministries that served the reservations in the area. One of the ministries they were involved in was “Shoebox Christmas”. This is a ministry that fills shoeboxes with toys, hats, mittens and places the Christ story in the top of each box. These are then distributed to schools that are located on 5 different reservations. It is a ministry that is very close to their hearts. On one of these trips, Libby was visiting with a little boy who had just received his box and was going through it very excitedly. He said to her, “I’m so thankful to have this, now I won’t have to share with my brother”, she thought he was talking about a toy – but what he was talking about was the toothbrush he had received in the box. It was not just this incident but many like it that led her and Mike through much prayer, conversation and thought to put in their applications to become the directors of the Spirit Lake Ministry Center. They literally gave up all their worldly goods to become directors of the center. It is awe inspiring and rare to find people like this in the world anymore. But I do think the world is a better place because of the action that Libby and Mike chose to take and certainly for the people of the Spirit Lake Nation Reservation. And I know our week here would not have been as meaningful without their wise counsel either.

These blog entries from the mission trip have been provided by Deb Wood.

North Dakota Youth Mission Trip - Tuesday, June 28

It was a great to rise after a good nights sleep and and feel the morning sun shine on our faces this morning as we all shuffled around this morning in our various morning routines.

Speaking of routines, we are now working like a well-oiled machine in getting ready in the morning for our days on the various sites thanks to the organizing talents of Drew and Mike. They find ways to keep us busy and on our toes almost non-stop throughout the day.

Today’s work assignments were similar to yesterdays: The Braves continued work on the CLC deck railing, the Zuni’s continued their work on the center bathrooms and were able to get the ceilings hung in both the boys and girls bathrooms, the Totems had 2 assignments today, they spent the morning cleaning the house of Josh and Jana who are looking forward to moving into a home as it’s been awhile since they were in a place of their own. In the afternoon they worked with the kids in the Sidewalk Sunday School program and from what I hear it was an afternoon of fun and frolic again. The Buffalos continued their work on a handicapped ramp which they are building for Reneta, Gandy’s mother who shared some stories with us last night for cultural night (More about that later). We learned that it was a great honor for her to share some stories with us as she is a very private and shy person.

My team, the Eagles were sent offsite to extend a deck and build a wheel chair ramp for an elderly couple, Giles and Delores. Giles is very ill and gets around with the aid of a cane and wheelchair. Delores is his primary caretaker, but she recently broke her foot so she also is in a wheelchair. Their house is settled on a hill on a beautiful piece of land surrounded by flat plains with few trees that allow you to see for what seems like miles. There are many swallows that frequent the sky above our work area and we have discovered that they have built some nests in a nearby sand hill – I didn’t even know they did that! Come to find out, (thanks to the wonders of the internet) they are called Bank Swallows.

We accomplished a great deal on our work site, sinking four posts to anchor the deck extension as well as building a framework for the extension. We have a very hard working and dedicated group of kids. (But I find all of the kids are from my experience with them.) My heart is warmed each moment that I spend with them. They are always engaged and looking for something to do. I truly appreciate the generosity of their hearts and spirits.

At the end of the day as the sun was getting ready to set, we were treated to a cultural evening of Dakota dancing, drumming and singing. We were most honored to witness the talents of Gandy Shaw who is a nationally recognized dancer and proud representative of his tribe. Our host for the evening was Chad Driver who is a singer and a drummer who composes his own Dakota songs, he was very funny and shared with us a few facts about the things we were seeing in the dancing, the costumes and how the songs are structured. It was an honor to witness the pride and beauty of the people who came to share their culture with us.

I found it to be a truly moving experience – literally - as for the closing we all participated in a simple Circle dance. It is really hard to believe that these people were once forced to forget all these beautiful customs. I find it amazing that they can find it in their hearts to trust people enough again to share their beautiful culture with us. God does indeed move in the most amazing and mysterious ways.

Thanks to Deb Wood for writing our North Dakota blog posts!

North Dakota Youth Mission Trip - Monday, June 27

Today we were awakened in the wee hours of the morning by the sound of thunder and rain which continued through breakfast time. Though the earth around us was dampened, our spirits were not. We were ready to tackle the day and get some work done! And that we did, after a slow start – as we had to get vans to go to the work sites, plan Sidewalk Sunday School (VBS) and get supplies loaded to where they needed to go. But we were FLEXIBLE, which are rules 1, 2 and 3 for a successful mission trip experience. Once all that was done we were ready to go!

For the week, we have been divided into five groups with names that reflect the culture that we are immersing ourselves in this week – Eagles, Buffalos, Zunis, Totems and Braves. Today the Totems, Zunis and Braves worked at the center putting up walls in the bathrooms, building a railing for the Christian Life Center (CLC) and putting up walls in the main room of the CLC. It was fun at the end of the day to hear the kids talk about their feelings of accomplishment on a job well done and their excitement at using power tools for the first time.

While these groups were busy doing manual labor at the CLC, our group, the Eagles spent the afternoon playing with, reading to, performing for and face painting 30+ children ranging in ages from 3 – 14 at the Sidewalk Sunday School, which for Mike and Libby (the center directors) is the most important ministry that they do. The place where we worked with the children was a small park in the Tokyo community surrounded by very modest homes, in various states of disrepair. It contained a nice new playground that had been put in earlier last fall and a concrete basketball court that was sporting two newer basketball hoops and small pieces of broken glass everywhere.

Around the basketball court was high grass where we cleaned up empty alcohol bottles, pop cans and other trash. The children were very curious, spirited and hungry. We passed out snacks and drinks non-stop throughout the three hours that we spent there. According to Mike and his wife Libby, these kids get maybe one meal a day. Tokyo is a high poverty area as most of the industry that employs people is more than 15 miles away and most of the people in the area don’t have cars to get to where the jobs are. At times during the day, it was hard to tell who was having more fun, the Dakota kids or our kids. Those young, beautiful, trusting faces moved us all into action spiritually and physically. It was a most fulfilling afternoon.

The forecast for tomorrow is sunny and warm, but no matter what the weather is, the forecast for our hearts will be sunny and warm, thanks to the love we feel for each other as we go about our daily tasks and the love we feel for the people we are having the opportunity to work with and for this week.

North Dakota Youth Mission Trip - Sunday, June 26, 2011

Twenty-two hours and done counting, we are here at last – The Spirit Lake Ministry Center. We are most thankful that it was a rather uneventful trip, thanks to our driver Willie T, who navigated us safely through a somewhat treacherous causeway drive across Devil’s Lake. The area received 4 inches of rain the night before so the road, which is surrounded on either side by the lake was muddy and slippery. When you hear the bus driver doing Lamaze breathing as he drives, you tend to get a little nervous.

We tried to distract ourselves with the beauty of the land. It is very green and lush, with very few trees, wide open prairies and lots of small lakes and ponds. It reminds me of a wildlife refuge. On our drive through the reservation to the ministry center we saw White Pelicans (I didn’t even know pelicans lived inland.), Bison, assorted waterfowl, Deer and a Beaver house.

Upon our arrival in the town of Devils Lake, we were greeted by our host and center director, Mike, who shared with us information about the reservation land and the people who live in this land, the Dakota.

The reservation is situated on over a half million acres of land on which live 6500 native people, including 2300 children. The casino, Sioux Manufacturing, the tribal headquarters and assorted small businesses are the primary employers, but there are not enough jobs for all the people (There are only 1100 jobs available.), Alcoholism is rampant and 70% of the children exhibit symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome. So we are hopeful that our presence here, however modest, will be impactful. Mike left us with some very wise words tonight about our mission here, it doesn’t matter how many ramps we finish, or roofs we repair, what matters is how we express God’s love through our work with the children and the people here, and connect with them on a more spiritual level.

After meeting in our small groups tonight, it is very apparent that all of us here are very excited to fulfill this mission in the week ahead, through the grace of God we trust it will be.