Bate's Klog: the wakpala story

my church is so great at teaching the importance of community. that's my favorite thing about harvest, actually. they are a family to me in so many ways.
they've been sending a group to wakpala, an indian reservation in south dakota, for the last 4 years, and every year i feel no particular inclination to go. but this year i felt a little tiny inkling. i'm always for any and all ways to develop community more deeply, and this trip always brings the participants back more bonded than before, more a family than they started out as.

so i went, to be a part of my community.

while there, i learned some cool things.

this is pastor king, a sioux indian from a different reservation, but who moved to wakpala to build a church and minister. he was my favorite part of the trip -- listening to him, watching him with the people, getting to know his heart. he has the most sincere compassion for the dakota indians that he ministers to. he's very humble and loves to talk, even though he's pretty reserved. this picture is at the sitting bull monument, we're hanging out on the steps (with our shadows) and he's telling us about the history of the area, who sitting bull was, what the people were like then, what they're like now, plus much more.

it was fascinating to hear from a man who knows these people and cares so much about them. he understands their cultural downfalls and knows in what specific ways they need jesus. he's someone who has found the truth of the gospel, then has gone to his own people to live and share the truths he's found.
pastor king's been living in wakpala for over 20 years, but still says he's an outsider and that he always has to be careful to not step on any toes of the people who are actually from wakpala.
i just really liked that feller.

here's sara and i with him -- she's been to wakpala every year they've gone, so pastor king is her grandpa figure. it's pretty cute.

this is some of us out at the sitting bull monument -- it was so incredibly beautiful out there! we all marveled at the rolling green hills all around. there were about 30 people on the team, with a wide range of ages -- from 10 year olds to high schoolers to college age and on up.

we went for two main reasons -- #1 to do some construction in the church -- converting some rooms for better useability -- and #2, to have VBS with the reservation kids at wakpala, and at another place called little eagle. i was on the kitchen crew with two other ladies, so i didn't interact much with the VBS.

cathy, valerie and i made the meals for our team plus any locals and/or kids who might still be around for lunch and dinner.
(i tried to teach cathy the excited face)

after dinner every night we had a little service where we'd sing a few songs and one of the guys on the team would share for a while. erica, ann victoria & mark led the music, and sometimes benny. he suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome and has some disabilities, but he's the smilingest guy with the most sensitive heart. he'd stand up and sing with them on the songs he knew.

this is what the reservation looked like -- green hills and lakes for miles and miles around, then this little cluster of ill-kempt suburban-type houses. not really what i'd imagined, having come from sawmill towns in the mountains of mexico. i was expecting dirt roads and wood shacks (maybe a tepee or two? just kidding...)

and of course, the bonding was abundant. every day we got to know each other a little more...

sara, erica & i were like peas and carrots, plus randall (a random green bean). that kid has wayyyy too much energy, but when channeled in the right direction, he is so incredibly helpful! he made the trip exciting.