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.
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Thank you for writing this!
ReplyDeleteDitto!
ReplyDeleteBless you. This brings back powerful memories of our first day at the Crow Creek Lakota reservation in S Dakota two years ago. I'm really glad for the youth that they are getting this experience: the condition of our native American brethren is so tragic, and so much of that is due to the un-Christian treatment our near ancestors gave them as we took their lands and livelihoods away. You all are doing great service!
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