New Things

"The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into the harvest."

Luke 10:2

This week saw the beginning of restructuring. It is always uncomfortable to make changes, and I confess to being one who "resists change with all that lieth within me." (my own quote). We decided that it would benefit the children's work to move the time of the service from 3:00 PM to 10:00 AM on Sunday, and incorporate an adult Bible study with the 10:00 service. One of the men has repeatedly requested a Bible study that would help him know more about the Bible. He was there Sunday morning, and he was attentive and seemed to enjoy the little Bible study. Ray gave a brief overview of the Gospels in preparation of a New Testament study. We are studying the Lord's Prayer with the children, after which they go downstairs to do a little handwork and talk. One of our first goals is to establish a relationship with each child. We do not have as many children in the morning service, but we feel that it is important to have a small worker/child ratio so that we can reach them on a more personal level. We are aware that each child has his/her own personal issues, and they need support from those of us who love them. I appreciate Esther's help in this. The Lord has given her a gift of relating to children.

We drive over to Lower Brule on Saturdays and visit homes and distribute flyers. This is a high point in our week. The people of Lower Brule are so respectful of the church. We have found many people who have expressed an interest in coming to church, and we hope to help them feel comfortable in coming.

Lower Brule and Fort Thompson are situated in such a beautiful part of South Dakota, and the drive home is often very nice. Last night we witnessed a beautiful sunset as we were driving home. We will share a picture of it with you.

Requests, Relief, Restructuring

Requests

God has promised that where we are gathered together to worship Him, He will be there. We know this, but it is always good to feel Him there, and this morning worship service was one of those services. God has been good to us, and we have been encouraged when we have new people come, or when some who have come in the past but have not been there for awhile come again. A man who we had not met came a couple Sundays ago, and his friend called me aside this morning after church to request prayer for this man's daughter. She overdosed on a controlled substance early this week and has been in a coma since. He asked us to pray for her, and we will. We would request that you would pray for her and her family, also. We are hoping to go to the hospital and visit her soon.

Relief
Does relief begin with an 'r' or a 'k'? Today it began with a 'k'. The Kalovsky family came and helped us in both services as well as dinner. They gave us a huge lift. As you can see, Lizzie Beth can do well at the piano :) [cute]. They were observing the service this Sunday, as they will be filling in for us next Sunday while we go to a family reunion this week. They have a friendly manner that brings a good response. Both men who came today promised him that they will be back to hear him next Sunday. They brought lunch, and we enjoyed it together. They stayed for the children's service, and all of them helped tremendously. We'd love to talk them into coming real often.

Restructuring

Some willing groups have been holding Sunday afternoon services each Sunday for several months at Lower Brule. God has noted and they will be blessed. The last of these groups has felt that God has released them from Lower Brule, and this leaves us with the full responsibility. We have felt that the best way for us to work with the children is to have Sunday School on Sunday mornings at 10:00 before 11:00 worship service. Some of the adults have expressed a desire to have Bible studies, too, and we hope to have an adult Sunday School as well. This presents some logistics which we will have to try to work out. One: we will need an adult Sunday School teacher who will be willing to take the responsibility for the class. Two: we will need a van if we pick up the children, and we will not reach as many children if we do not bus some of them in. We feel good about this move, and we will trust God to work the logistics out, but we will appreciate if you will pray as we make the change.

This last picture is in the little bus that we borrow from Fort Thompson church. Ray is in the drivers' seat, and the kids are riding everywhere. He loves his job, as you can see.

Sowing the Seed

We started the weekend by driving over to Lower Brule early Saturday morning and visiting the neighbors around the church. Since we are only two :), Ray and I decided to distribute visitation cards, starting from the houses that surround the church and working outward. We found most of the people to be very warm and friendly, and we were invited into several homes. We didn't visit as many homes as we had set for our goal, as we each were drawn into a lengthy conversation with the occupants of two homes. One home that started out as a cold welcome turned out to be a most interesting conversation with a very intelligent man. He shared some very insightful and revealing information about the Native American culture. We are always interested in their culture, and we appreciate when one of them shares with us. He came out of the house and wanted to meet and introduce himself to Ray after we talked for awhile. A mark of many Native American men is their ability to sit and think on many things, and they often have insight that we 'busy bees' miss. I would like to share an insight of his that he shared with me that shows a good dose of Indian humor. We had a hearty laugh when he shared it with me. He explained that he wondered why the Indians keep their old cars around their houses and in the driveways when they no longer run. He said that he figured out that it is a circle reason-dog, horse, car, and back to dog. The first Indians had dogs, and when their dogs got old, they kept them around and took care of them. Then they got horses, and when their horses got old, they kept them and took care of them. Then they got cars, and when their cars get old, they keep them like they kept their dog and their horse. Now they keep the car out in the driveway, and the circle is finished when the dog gets in the car. I always wondered about those old cars we could never part with--he said, "It's the old horse theory!" I love it. :)

The church is located in the heart of housing, and we have neighbors all around us. They know whenever we're there, and they watch us. I was happy this morning before church when a lady I don't know slowed down in her car as she went by and called "good morning!" while I was picking up the 4th of July trash in the yard. When we can locate and afford to buy some outdoor speakers, we would like to play nice church music from a CD on Sunday mornings about a half hour before church and play children's music before children's service.Children's service was a little tough this week. We had two little girls who needed individual attention, and they were tearing around the church, out the door, and into the street. We did not have staff to keep them busy, and so we had to take them home early. Ray explained to the mother that they are just hyper today, and we will be happy to have them come back. We have needs here at Lower Brule, and God knows them. He knows who will love the children, and who can provide the help we need. I try to never operate with force or bullying the children into good behavior, but the children must be under control. This takes time and a relationship with the children. Because of our small staff, it looks like we will have to restructure the services. We will try to keep you informed of this. The picture below shows the children "retelling" the story of the tower of Babel. A few interesting things were added-for instance, the woman on the top of the tower. I'm sure I didn't tell them that. :) Maybe they were mixing up the Statue of Liberty with the lesson because Lady Liberty is referred to so much during the 4th??