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.