A Sunday With The Sioux

Sunday was such a beautiful day in Lower Brule. The river was myriad shades of crisp blue, ribboned with light brown threads of sand. Much of the highway that winds between Lower Brule and Fort Thompson follows the ridgeline, and we were treated to a slightly arial view as we commuted from morning service to the picnic area at the dam to cook our dinner and pick up the van for gathering children for the afternoon children's service and back to Fort Thompson to return the van and drop in on their evening service. We couldn't resist stopping to snap a picture or two. It was a perfect day to cook our Sunday dinner, and it was a nice respite from the day. I am sure that God gives us beautiful days and beautiful scenery especially for our enjoyment, and I don't want to miss what He sends to us We were encouraged when a gentleman stopped in to talk to us during the time we were there at the church. He expressed an interest in the church, and I believe that he will sometimes attend there. He told of his alcoholism, and how his wife led him to God. Since he gave his life to God, he has been changed. His heart is heavy for two of his daughters who are following the alcohol road, and he asked prayer for them. We will be making contact with him again very soon.Children's church was lively , but fun. We fall in love with the Sioux children so easily. They steal our hearts. Four little children came in for service as it was finishing and the children were boarding the bus, and they seemed so disappointed to have missed it. I was staying behind; and so we talked about the story of Noah (our lesson for yesterday), and they put our Betty Luken's pictures up on the board. We colored and talked for awhile. The two littlest girls slipped into calling me "grandma, " and it stuck. I am very pleased and recognize the honor of being addressed in this way. The one girl wanted to take a picture of me, and one of the little ones wanted to be on "grandma's" lap. Suits me fine!!

Natasha showed some unbecoming behavior at first in the services, but we tried to give her a little extra attention; and she has responded. She carefully colored her picture, and then she brought it to me and said that she would like to donate it to the church. It is beautiful. We took a picture of her holding the gift, and it will be hung up in the church. Please pray for Natasha.

A Ramp,Watermelon, Chocolate, and Blueberry Plants

A RAMP
In our visitations, we located a lady who told us she would love to come to church, but she is in a wheelchair and the church is not handicap accessible. She has been a faithful member of the church in past years. Ray took it to heart, and he worked for several hours on Saturday to build one. The lady was just getting out of the hospital this Sunday, so she hasn't had a chance to try the ramp.




WATERMELON
While we were out and about Saturday, we stopped at some friends on the reservation to check on a family member who had been sick. These friends were celebrating her birthday and Father's Day, and they invited us to take part in the celebration. We stayed and ate and visited. All of their children and grandchildren were there for the 'party.' We appreciate the openness and acceptance of the Indian people.

CHOCOLATE
There has been a family who comes in on Sunday afternoons and works with the children, and this Sunday they were not available to come. Esther and Ray and I took a big gulp and decided it is time to 'dive in.' Some of the Hunter family from Fort Thompson were willing to help us, and they brought a bus and a van and went picking up children. Ray went with them so we could locate from which homes the children are coming. One of my methods to try to keep control of the children is to give them a little object to put in their pockets and keep through children's service. If they still have the object at the end of the service, they get to keep the object and have a treat besides (we could confiscate the object during service if they misbehave). I didn't have anything with me to use for their pockets, except I found some chocolate candies downstairs, so I used those. Unfortunately, the church became quite hot as the kids sat in there, and we delivered some chocolate-coated kids to their homes. :( They all got the prize (a little bag of chips) at the end of the service. :) We already love these children.

BLUEBERRY PLANTS
He spoke also this parable: "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his
vineyard, and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he
unto the keeper of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I have come seeking
fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down. Why cumbereth it the ground?'
And he answering said unto him, `Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall
dig around it and dung it. And if it bear fruit, well; and if not, then after
that thou shalt cut it down.'" Luke 13:6-9
This is the scripture verse that came to my mind when we agreed to work at Lower Brule this year. We feel challenged to 'dig about and fertilize' the mission out there. This scripture came to my mind while I was standing in our backyard eyeing two blueberry plants that I planted two years ago. These blueberry plants have survived with three or four yellow leaves for these years. I didn't want to destroy them while there is life in them, but they certainly were going nowhere. I bought another blueberry plant this year and planted it in another part of the yard where it is near our pine tree, and the soil is acid. This new blueberry plant loved it and is growing beautifully. Encouraged, I dug up one of the stagnant blueberry plants which had two yellow leaves and transplanted it near the flourishing plant. It is beginning to show promise and is bearing several leaves now, though they are still yellow. I think the progress will be slow. With that encouragement, I transplanted the last little blueberry 'stick' with one tiny yellow leaf. We will see how it goes. So goes the work in Lower Brule. Slow, but promising. The people are so kind, and there seems to be many who are interested in church. We need wisdom in knowing how to make the time and the atmosphere such that they will be willing to come and respond to the salvation message. Please pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our work there.

JUMPING FROM A CLIFF

Happy to say, I have never experienced jumping off a cliff, and it is something that I hope I never do experience. However, we have made a leap that we are excited about. We have accepted the responsibility of the Wesleyan Sioux Chapel in Lower Brule, South Dakota. Lower Brule is situated on a huge bend in the upper part of the Missouri River, about a half hour drive north of Chamberlain which is on the I-90 Interstate. We have assisted in various areas of the work in the past five or so years, as interested people tried to revive the work that had been closed for several years. We began our work in Lower Brule by going every third Sunday of the month and holding services in a home until the church was purchased by the Faith Missionary Association. We then drove with people who were interested in planting a work there to play the piano, teach the children, hold a Vacation Bible School, and sing. Ray assisted by preaching when he was needed. Esther assisted with the children and by playing her violin. We worked with a young couple until two weeks ago when they felt that God was leading them to resign. We felt that our time with them was a treasure that we will remember. The Faith Missionary Association has now asked us to take the burden of the work.



The church is situated in the middle of housing built for the Native American people of Lower Brule. It is easily accessible to the people, and it has been an asset to them in the past. Our task will be to contact the people and to create and nurture relationships with them. We have a deep love for the Native people, and we served seven years on a reservation in the southern part of South Dakota. Many of the people on the reservation in Lower Brule have families to whom we ministered in earlier years. We are confident of the power of God to help us and to change the lives of the people we serve, and we are looking forward to our adventure in the year ahead as we "jump off the cliff."

We will try to update this blog each week with happenings from our weekend in Lower Brule.