Day Three: Renewal

Renewal is the word for today. The travel team had some down time before their evening fair. Several took the opportunity to visit the Heritage Museum in Bismarck while others connected with the clinic in Cannonball. Still others spent 6 hours trying to repair playground equipment that a team of college students from Roanoke built here in May.

The Ft Yates construction team built a deck on Pastor Alex's home in addition to their ongoing projects. The Porcupine team had the privilege of being taught how to construct a tipi by neighbors in the community.

Please continue to pray for the youth on the reservation. That they would find meaningful uses of their time and hope for the future through Christ.

Day Two: Blessings

Blessing was the word of the day for Tuesday. We had great responses at all of our sites. More women came to Little Eagle to learn knitting and quilting. The McLaughlin team was able use the community center. The construction team at Fort Yates got the walls and part of the roof up on the church addition. The fair team gave away over 400 snow cones in Cannonball! They were also treated to a visit by the District Chairman, who shared his concern for the community and his appreciation for our work there. The Porcupine team had so many they ran out of food at dinner! What a blessing!

Day One: Flexibility

Flexibility is always the word of the day on day one of a mission trip! Our traveling fair and medical team had a warm welcome from the Wakpala community. The medical team made great connections with the field clinic personnel. The carnival set up went well and equipment worked even through a soggy downpour!

The Little Eagle team faced two hours of cleaning before they could begin their ministry. Even though they were exhausted from arriving at the hotel at 2am, they kept their spirits up.The children were so glad to see them and the women enjoyed learning to quilt.

The Mclaughlin team couldn't use the community center due to a funeral and were planning to use the park ...until the storm came! God provided a place in the Municipal building, which turned out to be very nice!

The Porcupine team found their site to be the "Beverly Hills" of the reservation. This community really takes pride in their children and community center activities. We were able to join them in serving meals and support their ongoing ministry.

The construction team at FT Yates church assessed the work that needed to be done....floor of children's trailer needs repair, church sign need a new post, new door needed on trailer, and the building of an addition to the church.

The construction team at Donna's home found black mold in the basement and made arrangements for dirt and gravel to be delivered to fix the drainage away from the house.

Everyone seemed to have a good first day...some are already to come back next year!

Supplies, supplies, supplies!

Sunday was full of supplies and surprises! Our teams arrived safely and several attended church at Tipi Wakan in Cannonball and Long Soldier church in FT. Yates. We were unable to use the gym in Cannonball for our afternoon meeting and had to move to the school. The school was locked so we had our meeting outside in the wonderful warm prairie breeze! Pastor Boots reminded us of the challenges we will face this week and the blessings we will find in our ministry here.

We had been worried about making contact with someone in Wakpala because our previous attempts have not been successful. Sunday after church a couple from Wakpala just happened to stop by the church in Cannonball and ask if we were going to be coming to Wakpala! They were able to give us information we needed....God opened the door at just the right time!

We finished loading, unloading, sorting and searching for missing supplies about 11pm! I think everyone is anxious to start!

Water, Trucks and Fuzzy Buttes

There have been some changes on the reservation since we were here last year. A decade long drought has ended and there is water in the previously dried up lake beds! The river, streams and lakes are full of water. It was 72 degrees and a warm wind blew across the prairie yesterday. Even the buttes are green and have a fuzzy look to them! A big change from the dry, brown appearance they had last year.

Pastor Boots' classic truck even got a makeover! His wife, Jackie painted it by hand yesterday and is ready to take the green machine on a trip into town.

Standing Rock 2009

Woman's Missionary Union of Virginia and the Roanoke Valley Baptist Association are partnering to lead 300+ volunteers to bring the hope and love of Christ to our Native American frinds on the Standing Rock Reservation in the Dakotas.

The 2.3 million acre reservation lies on the border of North and South Dakota. Residents deal with issues of poverty, alcoholism, domestic violence and unemployment. After 100 inches of snow last winter, the spring floods destroyed 40 homes in the small community of Wakpala.

This summer 10 teams from Virginia will minister in 7 communities on the reservation. Volunteers come to develop relationships and bring hope through skill sharing, crafts, recreation, construction, medical, and Bible study ministries. Check out the WMUV website for a virtual prayerwalk on Standing Rock. www.wmu-va.org

We're here!

After 3 days and 1700 miles, we arrived in Standing Rock! We spent today organizing supplies and making a visit to our newest ministry site in Porcupine. We found a 100 mile shortcut back to the hotel! We are praying for the safe arrival of our volunteers from Gretna, Warsaw, Newport News, Buena Vista, Richmond, Cumberland, and Virgilina.