WHY WE DO IT...

Cast thy bread upon the waters,

Ye who have but scant supply;

Angel eyes will watch above it;

You shall find it by and by;

He who in his righteous balance

Doth each human action weigh,

Will your sacrifice remember,

Will your loving deeds repay.

Cast your bread upon the waters,

Far and wide your treasures strew;

Scatter it with willing fingers;

Shout for joy to see it go!

For if you do closely keep it,

It will only drag you down;

If you love it more than Jesus,

It will keep you from your crown.

Cast thy bread upon the waters,

Waft it on with praying breath,

In some distant, doubtful moment

It may save a soul from death;

When you sleep in solemn silence,

'Neath the morn and evening dew,

Stranger hands which you have strengthened,

May strew lilies over you.

                      R. Edgar (William J. Kirkpatrick)

I started the car, drew a deep breath, and let it out in a sigh. I did not place my hand on the gearshift to reverse out of the driveway, but simply asked Ray, "Why do we do this?" It was a thought I had grappled with most of that week. Ray was emphatic and defensive: "We do it for the Lord, and we do it because we want to do it!" OK, he was right-I backed out of the drive and we drove to Lower Brule and held church and Sunday School and returned home in the afternoon, as usual. We love working with the people of Lower Brule; we love the friendliness of them, the eager acceptance and love of the children. The beauty of the area speaks peace to us, and the moods and changes in the river blend with our moods and changes. We worship freely in the little church building there. Ray and I enjoy our quiet time that we get to spend down by the river or high on the overlook eating our sandwich lunch between morning worship and the afternoon Sunday School. Our little drive in the car over and back is a special time to relax and exchange ideas and plans-an oasis in our busy lives. There are times when we can see the small impact that we have in lives in Lower Brule, also; though Ray carries more of the ministry there with the adults. He especially enjoys a ministry with the men of Lower Brule in many different areas. We never know what influence we carry-once he listened to a man who was angry and bent on a mission of killing someone who had offended him, and he prayed with him and helped him to change his plan of action. I'm sure there are times that we are not aware of helping others in emotional times of their lives, but we have influenced them to the good.
The harder side of working at Lower Brule is the financial side, the physical wear and tear, the inability to meet deadlines of work that needs to be done, the ridicule and criticism of those who should be helping with encouragement when we do not reach their ideas of 'success' in the work, and the aloneness-especially when faced with a huge task or an emotionally demanding circumstance. One thing we have discovered in the 'harder side' of the work: God picks up in those instances. We have experienced miracles in those times when we could not do it ourselves and in financial crunches, and those have become precious memories that we will always cherish.

Thank you for your interest in and prayers for Lower Brule as we 'do it because we want to do it!' :)