Post-SD Mission Thoughts

Sorry the posts slowed down after a few days at Pine Ridge.  We had a nice strong wifi signal for the first few days and then it died out and didn’t come back.

Our time at Pine Ridge was truly a blessing in many different ways.  We were blessed to serve in many different ways with the people of Pine Ridge and the Wings of Eagles school.  We were blessed to begin relationships with the families we served.  We were blessed to build relationships with the others with whom we were serving – both those within our group and those we just met.  We were blessed to complete or continue some pretty extensive projects.  We were blessed to serve with Next Step and the faithful work they are doing at Pine Ridge and many other places.  We were blessed to be surrounded by the awesome beauty of God’s creation that we see in the Black Hills and in Western South Dakota.  We were blessed to be touched by the Spirit and the power of God in many different ways.  We were blessed to have our lives changed through this experience.

This Sunday promises to be a wonderful Sunday as our youth share about their experience and lead in worship.  Join us to celebrate God’s work in and through this wonderful experience.

Pine Ridge – hey what’s that thing in the sky?

Cue Beatles music…here comes the sun…the day started out like the last few days, grey and rain but the sun eventually came out and gave us a beautiful afternoon. Most of the groups got some great work done on projects as the weather finally cooperated for the most part.

Even more so, it was great to see and hear the ways that students are connecting with the people here at Pine Ridge. Watching some on our work team playing with the kids and the joy and the smiles was absolutely wonderful. We have also begun to hear stories of God touching and changing lives of some of the many who are here with Next Step. God is on the move in some very tangible ways here. It’s been great.

Looking forward to day 3 tomorrow!

Pine Ridge Monday – operative words…rain, cold, work!

Work day one is in the books and wow it was wet and cold, but it was a great day of work for everyone. A few groups got more work done as they were either inside or their jobs could be done in the heavy cold rain. But the groups are blending together beautifully and there is going to be some wonderful work done as the week goes along. Also, Bethany says hi to everyone!

One of the beautiful things today was hearing the God Sightings or Yeah Gods from people at worship tonight – it was awesome to hear the many and see the many ways that God was experienced today.

We also visited the Red Cloud Heritage center before dinner tonight. It was really striking to hear the stories of the Lakota people and to see the beauty and truth in their art that was in the center.

Day two promises to be even more of what we have experienced thus far. We appreciate your prayers!

Pine Ridge – halfway there

Just a quick post to let you know that all arrived safely here in Des Moines. Day went well for everyone and we are all settling in for the night in one semblance or another. I think I just heard someone in the hall say that the pizza had arrived. We spent time as a group tonight focusing on what it means to be a servant as we reflected upon Jesus’ example of service for his disciples and by extension to us. We served one another in a very selfless way this evening with our prayer being that we will continue to do the same throughout this week for one another and for others.

Tomorrow the majority of the group heads to Pine Ridge first thing in the morning (another 9 hrs or so) while Amy and I head to Sioux Falls to get the kids settled there and we meet everyone on Monday morning at the worksites in Pine Ridge.