STORMS AND SORROW

Today was a rainy, heavy, gloomy morning; but the scenery on the way to and from Lower Brule is often enhanced by the stormy colors. The blues of the river and the sky become a warmer hue, and the greens of the grass and trees are mellowed in the light. Esther was beginning to wonder if she would ever get home when I kept asking her to stop by the roadside so I could take pictures. I just have a weakness for beautiful scenery, as it often stills my spirit. This week was the wake and funeral of the mother who passed away last week; and we attended both. Ray spoke at the wake on Tuesday night, and several expressed their thanks to him. The funeral was very well attended, and the gym was filled with friends and relatives. Please pray for the children of this lady, as their motherless lives stretch ahead of them.

Water is everywhere this morning, even near the interstate, and there is evidence that it has been over the interstate in spots. We found water in the basement of the church and a leak that we did not know existed in the roof. Funny, the leak was above the pulpit desk, just missing Ray's head. Ha! (Sorry, I have a weird sense of humor)
Surprisingly, we had the highest number of kids that we have had since we started the Sunday School today. It is growing quickly, and others are promising to come. Water on the floor does not daunt them-they play in it, jump in it, run through it, and dance in it. I couldn't share their joy. The dehumidifier is humming away, and we hope that it is better next week.

This week will be a very busy one for us, as Esther is having her senior recital on Friday night. Since she is homeschooled, this is instead of a graduation ceremony. She has been done with her schoolwork for several months, and she and several others have been working hard on this event. Twelve players will be in concert, and there will be a harp and a pianist to help. We have set aside this week to prepare and execute this concert. We hope to get to Lower Brule the next week on the weekend and get more work done there. Esther and I are also planning a VBS in July.

Thank you for your interest in the work in Lower Brule.

We will try to catch you up on the last two weeks. I wanted to report last week, but my camera decided to be temperamental; and I had no pictures to show you. We left on Saturday for Fort Thompson where our camper is stored at some friends' house. We had brought camping supplies and had plans to mow up the church yard and trim it nicely, as it had gotten away from us. Upon arriving, we discovered that the people had had a little work bee and mowed, raked, and trimmed before we got there. They were all so glowingly happy when they came in for the morning service, as they felt a sense of ownership. When we found the work done, we went out to the dam and grilled our supper. We found it a bit challenging as the wind had come up and kept trying to blow out our cooking fire. When we returned to the camper parked in the Lower Brule campground, a storm was setting in. We settled in for a quiet evening, and it was a quiet and comfortable time. The blue of the sky faded almost perfectly into the bluegray of the choppy water in the river as the storm moved in. We woke up refreshed on Sunday morning, and we enjoyed a very nice morning service. We took a good afternoon nap in the trailer and had the privilege of stopping in for the evening service at Fort Thompson. We returned home feeling like we had a refreshing working mini-vacation.

This Sunday was a beautiful drive out to Lower Brule. The river was blue and sparkling in the sunlight, and the rolling hills contrasted greens and browns all the way along the river. We were very happy when our friend Harry told us that he had been to Sioux Falls to visit his doctor who gave him a good report. Harry has been through a grueling surgery and a slow recovery. He gave a clear testimony to us when we visited him in the hospital soon after his surgery.

While we were getting ready to start the service, we had a couple of visitors who visit us frequently, and I thought it would be fun to show you how patiently they wait to greet the people. :)


Esther and I took the van out to pick up the kids, and we always enjoy our time with them. They are lively, imaginative children. :)It was a somber morning, as a young lady had been accidently killed early this morning. She was the niece of one of our men, and she was also a close friend of the mother of some of our children. They were all very shaken and talking much about her death. She left four little children. Please pray for our people and the people of Lower Brule this week. The men promised to keep Ray informed of the wake and funeral services because they want him to attend.

SUNSHINE, SMILES, AND SLEEP

Today is a beautiful sunshiny day in spite of the fact that a vicious storm raged through Lower Brule last night. Thankfully, it looks like no harm was done, and ol' sol is smiling as if trying to atone for the vacation he took the last few days.
We feel like smiling when we think of this morning's endeavor, because it was encouraging. We missed some of our children because they were 'sleeping in.' We were met with parents who were loath to wake their children, even at 10:00 AM. These children just finished school this week, and they have gone into summer vacation mode.

One of our faithful men has been bringing his wife to church the last couple of weeks. She is a very nice lady, and she loves the Lord. This gives us another reason to smile.

She likes to retell the story {with a few modifications :) }
After they are finished with their lesson, they like to play a little.
We smile about our friends who allow us to leave our camper and van at their house during the week. Today we had a nice chat with them when we brought the van back. He has been very sick and has undergone surgery, but he is doing a little better; though he is still on strong pain medication. He came outside and talked with his wife and us while we ate a little watermelon. We have had occasion to work with these people when we were at Ravinia in Wagner, and they are very special to us. Ray helped with the funerals of three family members when he was the pastor at Ravinia.

Mercy got a prize for coming four weeks

We can smile because God smiles on what we do, and the sunshine of that smile is warmer than the sun today.

WEEKEND, WEEKEND, WEEKEND

We had a busy weekend, though it was enjoyable to us. On Saturday, we went up to the mission at Little Eagle to attend part of the Spring Creek Camp Rally. We always come away from the Camp Rally feeling happy that we were there. Many years ago, our children had gone up to that mission to help in keeping it open when there was no pastor there. Philip went once a month for many months and relieved Bill Edwards and his wife. Philip commented how open and friendly the people are up there. There is a nice young family there now, and they have done such a nice job of fixing up the church.
Sunday was cloudy and gloomy, and I wondered how many children would get themselves up to come. We had a few who ventured out. Esther was taking part in her last concert with the Huron Symphony, and so the Sunday School was my adventure. A couple of the children were in keeping with the weather (cloudy and gloomy), and they made my morning challenging. One of the girls insisted that she would like to pound on the piano upstairs instead of coming downstairs. I persuaded her to come downstairs, but she stood in the corner and pouted and cried. We ignored her and went on with the story, and I was amused to notice that she had moved to sit crosslegged under a table nearby so she could hear the story. When we moved to another table to color and work our puzzles and do a Mother's Day craft, she moved to a seat where she could keep up in sight and sat quietly. In a little while, she asked if she could do the projects too, which we were happy to encourage. These children are sweet, though they sometimes feel grumpy (aren't we the same?). She was due for a prize for coming for four Sundays, and she went home happy.y.

Ray and I drove over to Huron where we heard Esther and Abraham Kalovsky play in concert. It was very well executed. We enjoyed an evening of fellowship with the Kalovskys afterward, and felt that we had a wonderful and full weekend.

THE VAN ADVANTAGE

Today was an interesting and fun morning at Lower Brule. Ray drove the old blue van out for Sunday School, and I took it and picked up the kids. It gives us a little more room to work with, and we felt less crowded in it. We are happy for those kids who are enthusiastic and get up to come to church on Sunday mornings. We are also happy for the men who come to worship upstairs. These men are interested. We appreciate that they bring their burdens to church for all of us to pray for them. I believe that we all need support from each other.


The children were a little more energetic this morning, though they were not bad. Esther has a few little ones who need special care during the Sunday School hour. It has become apparent that we will need to split the children into the little ones and the ones who are a little older. We appreciate each one who comes, but we have a range from little ones in diapers to ten and eleven years of age. We have some very brilliant children, and some of them are slow learners. This presents a challenge to the teacher. Splitting the group will be a challenge to staffing, but God knows all about this. Our policy is to let God speak to the heart of one of His children. If He so wills, we are praying for help. However, if we do not have help, we will continue to do our best. Please pray with us for this need. One little girl was 'ambitious' and getting into trouble this morning. When Sunday School was almost over, she came to Esther and gave her a hug and waited for her return hug. These children respond well to love, as do all children.

WONDERFUL PROBLEMS

We were feeling happy and stimulated (maybe a little overstimulated) as we left Lower Brule today. We are greatly encouraged. Our encouragement is mingled with a realization that we have to make some adjustments to keep up with the progress. Some other children that were playing outside were wanting to come this Sunday, but they were still shy. I asked them if we could count on them next week, and they said that they will come next Sunday. We did not have all of our regular children today, and that would swell our numbers a little. We have some other children that we are wanting to encourage to come. I feel that some are waiting for a little 'push,' and they will attend Sunday School. Our little minivan was a little crowded this morning while we were picking up the children and when we took them home, and we realized that we will need to bring the old blue warrior van out next week so we can pick them all up. It operates on prayer most of the time, it seems like, but it is necessary to have room for everyone.

Esther had her hands full this morning in the basement, as it is a challenge to have from 2-year-olds to 9-year-olds and keep all of their attention focused for 45 minutes to one hour. I have come down to help the last two weeks after she has told the story and the littlest children are finished with their coloring so that I can help entertain them while she finishes with the older ones. The children were very good this morning, but the little ones became restless. She commented on the way home today that she is really needing to split the group, and someone else is needed downstairs all during the time the children are there. Sometimes we are painfully aware of our limitations. However, these are wonderful problems. We well remember when it was hard to get two or three children to come to church in the morning. Now they are usually up and dressed for church and waiting for us to come pick them up. Ray had some of his regular group and a young man who was there for the first time since we were there. He is in his early teens, and he was attentive and respectful. He seemed like a promising young man. Please pray that he will come back and that he will give his life completely to the Lord.

We have been planning some renovation to the basement, and we hope to start on some of it in the next two weeks. We hope to paint the walls and tables bright colors, and we plan to make one of the tables into a chalkboard table for the little guys to entertain themselves and draw on after they are finished with their work and need something to do. It can also be used for a teaching aid for them. We feel that bright colors will brighten the dingy and dark basement.

We are thankful for the opportunity to work in Lower Brule, and we enjoy the work very much. I am working on obtaining employment in the schools in that area, and have been promised a job teaching English in the Lower Brule College next fall. Hopefully, we will be able to move that direction in the next year. Please pray that we will have wisdom, and that God's perfect will is worked out in relation to the Lower Brule church. Also, please pray that we can have help if God wills it, and that He will put it on that one's heart. We do not feel that we can "call" anyone to God's special work. Also, please pray about a van for the church. Thank you for your interest.

Today dawned bright and beautiful, and we felt the peace of the spring weather as we arrived at the Lower Brule reservation. Housing was quiet, and just a few dogs were wandering about when we went to pick up the children. The children were dressed cute and ready for church when we stopped at their houses to pick them up. They were also feeling the spring weather, and there was plenty of noise on the way to the church. Esther had a little bigger challenge than usual while she taught them in the basement, as they were restless. One little girl hasn't been coming as long, and she 'escaped' upstairs where Ray was preaching and was a little disturbing for a short time. I got up and she and I went back down to the basement and played a little game with a few other children who were finished with their project. We appreciate the men who are coming to church so faithfully. They are leaders in their homes and they often carry a heavy responsibility. One of the gentlemen stayed for a long time after church to talk with Ray. He has been carrying an especially heavy load, as he has suffered the loss of his wife in the last year, and he has had some issues in his home since. Please pray for John and his family.

Esther gave the lesson of Jesus' ascension today in Sunday School. She especially enjoys telling the Bible stories to these children, as the stories are usually new to them. They are so attentive and interested. If one of the younger ones starts to disturb, the older children often quiet them as they are interested and don't want to miss part of the story. We appreciate Esther's burden for the children.

Ray spoke to the men upstairs about the "neccesities of life." He began by telling what different specialists say is necessary to life, and he read from God's Word about what is necessary for our spiritual life. The men seemed very attentive.

Just a little side note: We were happy to again take our Sunday dinner and eat it in a beautiful spot by the lake. That is a nice highlight of our Sundays in Lower Brule.