Chris preached at Harrah Community Church for four weeks in January on Psalm 23 while Pastor Jim took a break. It was really great as he spent a lot of time explaining what shepherding sheep was really like.
I realized that so much of what I believed about sheep came from romanticized paintings of lily white lambs frolicking in pastoral meadows. Sheep are not particularly bright animals, not particularly white and not particularly sweet. They have very few options as far as self defense goes. Sheep need a shepherd.
One of the members of the congregation even invited us to a sheep farm to see first hand what we learned. When it was all over, I thought it might be good to write my own Twenty-third Psalm.
Psalm 23
Jesus loves me.
That’s enough.
He gives me what I need.
He gives me peace.
He leads me through the life he made for me, for His glory
Even when it seems hopeless,
I won’t give up,
because you are with me.
I trust you especially in hard times.
You love me in front of those that hate me
You show everyone that I belong to you.
Your generosity knows no limit.
I can be certain that everything will work together for my good
and I will be your child forever.
President’s Day was a no school day so we rented out Skateland for 2 hours and had a skate party. It was a lot of fun and I did not break any of my bones or anyone else’s.
We had pizzas and pop and everyone just relaxed and had a good time. It ended up being a pretty peaceful evening.
I am always so proud to see how well the group behaves especially when we take everyone off the Reservation. We have seen, first hand, some of the intolerance that the Yakama sometimes encounter and I am always leery of someone giving a dirty look to our kids. The staff at Skateland were great to work with, though, and played Contemporary Christian Music the entire time. The kids, for their part, followed the rules and didn’t complain about the music.
Few things are as cool as seeing the kids smiling, relaxing, and having fun.
Thanks to all of our supporters who directly make it possible for outings like this happen.
“Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” - Mark 5:36
For the last few weeks, we’ve been having between 20 and 25 youth coming to our Tuesday Night Bible Study. We are continuing our study of the Gospel of Mark that we began in the summer. It has been great for me just to take my time and study through what Mark has to say. It’s fascinating to me how many people react to Jesus with fear or terror and also how many times He tells people not to be afraid.
If you’ve come on a summer team, you probably have eaten with us at the longhouse on Tuesday night. It is how we always start. In the Yakama culture giving someone food is just another way of saying “I love you.” We sing four worship songs and then break up into the children’s study, the adult study and the youth study.
The youth study usually starts with a recap of last week’s story. Then we pass out 3-hole punched sheets with this week’s scripture printed on one side and the same passage on the other side with fill in the blanks. All of the kids have their own binder for the lessons and pictures. We ask the kids for volunteers to read and always have more volunteers than we have paragraphs to read. When we get to the fill in the blank - every correct answer gets a Jolly Rancher piece of candy. We learned quickly to institute a hands up policy so we can determine who gets the candy.
After the blanks are all filled, we will usually go through the story one more time and break out some talking points that the story illustrates. We are going through Mark to learn who Jesus is. We tend to focus on the following characteristics of Jesus:
• He is 100% God and 100% man.
• He has authority
• He saves people. Feeds them, heals them, frees them from demonic spirits.
• He loves us and is preparing (through the gospel) to die for us.
• He is with us.
After we finish the story portion, we break into 3 small groups (two groups of girls and one group of guys) and ask deeper questions about the story and we ask for prayer requests and close in prayer in the small groups.
The kids always surprise. When you think they have the answer they make a bad joke and when you think they are going to misbehave, they have a great question. Please join us in praying that God’s word will take root in their heart and they will know who Jesus is - not just from His word, but also through a personal relationship Him as Lord and Saviour.
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
Preparations for Tuesday night’s Christmas Feast at the longhouse were in full swing when we asked the youth if they would help by decorating the longhouse and passing out gifts at the feast. We set aside our usual discipleship group time, Thursday evening, to meet at the longhouse and work on decorations. However, our plans were postponed by the news of multiple funerals being held at the longhouse that weekend.
So, when Monday rolled around, we tried again. We played Christmas music on the radio and set out pizza and cookies. And everyone dived in: making a paper chain garland long enough to go around the entire ceremonial room (approximately 400 feet!), cutting snowflakes out of coffee filters, and making paper poinsettias. By the time we were through there was a half inch of snow outside. It was the first snow of the season. We hung the garland and some lights in the ceremonial room while Dennis Howard (the caretaker of the longhouse) watched. He even got a couple of ladders out for us.
The youth did a great job and many of them helped out again the next day at the feast - handing out gifts, cleaning up, putting away tables and chairs. I think the kids were really excited to have a role in the ministry and I think the community was excited to see their teenagers helping out and serving others. It was a great night and there were a lot of smiling faces when everyone left.
“Emmanuel - God with us” is the lesson we have been trying to teach in our youth Bible study on Tuesday nights. Please join us in praying that these teenagers will know that God is with them in the struggles that they face.
Last night, October 20, 2009, you were baptized. The baptism was conducted by Uncle Chris at the Toppenish Creek Longhouse in White Swan, Washington on The Yakama Indian Reservation. You were five months old so I doubt you will remember much about the night, so I thought I might tell you a little about it.
The service began at 6:30 with a wonderful meal that Aunt Mary, Miss Heather and Miss Emily worked for over two days to prepare. There was chicken, ham, potatoes, green beans, corn and the best pies anyone has ever tasted. There were around 70 people there. Your Pappaw and Mimi came all the way from Tennessee to be there for it too. There were lots of children and teenagers. Miss Veronica and Mr. Mike drove brought most of them in the Sacred Road Van and were busy all night helping the children to behave.
Many of the children came up to see you and say hello while you sat next to your Mimi. One of the teenagers in our youth group, Kassandra, stayed around you the whole night. She was so happy. Another teenager, Felicia, went home and came back so that she could get a necklace to give you.
After the meal, everyone moved into the ceremonial room and Miss Gretchen, Miss Emily and Uncle Chris led everyone in worship. We sang three songs: “ I Will Sing and Love and Worship,” “How Deep the Father’s Love” and “For the Beauty of the Earth.” Your mommy and I picked those songs to remind us and everyone present how much God loves us.
How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
Every time I look at you now, I will think of that verse. How much God must love us to give His only son. As my only son, I don’t think you will ever know how much I love you.
After the singing, Uncle Chris told everyone in the longhouse what baptism was. He talked about it being a seal, like on an envelope that only Jesus can open. Your sister really liked that - she asked mommy lots of questions about it. When he finished, he called all of us up to the front.
I held you and Asha stood in front of your mommy. Uncle Chris told everyone about how your name “Isaac” means “he laughs” and Asha’s name means “hope”. Then he asked us three questions about how you needed Jesus as a saviour, how we would teach you about Jesus as you grow up and how we would pray with you and for you. Then he asked everyone present if they would help us raise you according to the way Jesus wants. Many people said they would, which made me very happy.
He took you in his arms and sprinkled water over your head and baptized you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. You were the first baby he has ever baptized and he was really happy. He handed you back to me - you were so good, you never cried or got upset. We finished by singing “Amazing Grace.”
After the baptism ceremony we gave gifts to everyone who came as a way of saying thank you to them for welcoming our family into their community. Mister Jack helped me out a lot with doing the giveaway so that we could try to do it the right way in the longhouse. He said he had never seen a baptism before and that wild horses wouldn’t have kept him from coming. Toby, Billy, Felicia and Ann Marie all helped to pass out the gifts.
We have lived on the reservation now for eight months now and everyone at Hope Fellowship has been very kind and generous to us. They are our friends and family.
We had our third big youth event about 10 days ago when we took about 32 youth from the community to a corn maze for some fun and fellowship and bonfire. This was a followup to another big outing in September with 25 youth to a family fun center in Yakima. I’ve been really excited about the way our youth group is growing. Currently there are seven groups of 3-5 youths being pursued and discipled by members of our team and the kids are responding really well. Our discipleship groups meet at least once a week while we try to have at least one big outing per month.
We continue to meet on Tuesday nights at the Longhouse as part of Hope Fellowship. We have moved indoors with the change in seasons and are now meeting at the opposite end of the ceremonial room from the adult Bible study. I was really nervous about the arrangements on the first Tuesday when we tried it. (I tend to be pretty nervous on Tuesday nights as a general rule, anyway) How would the adults respond if the kids got too loud or unruly? Would the kids feel secure enough to participate with some of their caregivers just some 60 feet away? So that night we had one of our largest youth groups ever - about 25.
When it was all over and we had time to debrief, a couple of things came into focus: The adults really were excited and happy to see the teenagers in their community hearing and studying scripture and I think the teenagers felt a sense of maturity in doing the same thing as the adults in the same room. It really felt like church. Since that week, we’ve continued to meet in the ceremonial room talking about justification, the Holy Spirit and Jesus as we walk through Mark.
The discipleship groups have been great as well. Most of the groups meet on Thursday nights and its funny to see another team member driving through White Swan with a carload of teenagers on your way to pick up your group. Discipleship times have included burgers, pizza, movie nights, homework and prayer times. Relationships are being built and continue to grow deeper not only between us as staff and the kids, but even between the kids themselves.
I continue to be amazed that God would let me be a part of His work here on the reservation. The struggles that make up the day-to-day lives of these teenagers stagger the mind and break our hearts. And as much as we pray that they would, they don’t show any real signs of going away anytime soon. Still, these kids invite us into their lives in real and authentic ways so beautiful that it compels all of us to keep trying. To God be the Glory.
Please pray for these kids, they need your prayers so deeply, so urgently.
Veronica (Sacred Road) and Tara Baby Shane, Aqua and Emily (Sacred Road) Toby and Eric Johnny, Eric, Kyle and Toby Ann Tara, Brandon, Angela, Kat and Veronica (Sacred Road) TOby and Brandon Chris and Mary Sarah, Darion, Seraand Ella. LISA, Gretchen (SACRED ROAD), Tionna and Jade Sera, Darion, Ella, Sarah and Kassandra Lisa TAra, Heather (SACRED ROAD) and Eileen THOmas and kyle Billy, Bryan and Toby MIke and thomas
With the beginning of the summer, we moved the youth group meetings to coincide with the Bible Study at the Long House on Tuesday night. During the last few weeks we have been studying the book of Mark with 12-15 youth every week. It has been really exciting and challenging as we have sought to share the gospel without any of our own cultural trappings. The kids constantly surprise us with their good questions and we hope that they will find their hope in God’s grace.
We also had our first youth “event” as we took twelve youth on a bowling trip in the city of Yakima. I can’t describe how wonderful it was to see the kids God has given us just relaxing, eating nachos and having fun. It felt like we were actually beginning to define ourselves as a group. The girls on our staff have worked really hard with the some of the young girls to begin building real relationships and it really showed that night. It was amazing to see God’s glory in a bowling alley when, in truth, none of us were very good bowlers.
Camp High Rock was a great success!!! Thanks to many of you for donating extra funds to cover camp expenses. We ended up getting more help than we needed so that we have some funds to put toward next year’s camp.
Camp was great for me as I had never really done the church camp experience. It was amazing to see so many of the kids we work with on the Reservation get away from the chaos in their lives and be able to have fun, feel safe and hear about Jesus throughout the day. In the chapel talks, cabin devotions, singalong songs, and interactions with their counselors - these children were experiencing the love of Christ in virtually everything they did. It was wonderful to see how so many of them responded so well to just having some stability in their daily routine especially three good meals and enough sleep at night.
Part of my responsibility at camp was to watch and see how we might run a youth camp next year for the older kids. I had the privilege of leading teen devotions every night around the campfire for some teens who had come to help serve meals and help out in general. It was a wonderful time and I wonder if all small groups wouldn’t be better with toasted marshmallows.
One of the real treats of the summer was working with the summer interns and the visiting teams from churches. Participating with a summer team was the experience that God used to call Neena and I to the Reservation, so it was interesting to see the teams from the staff side of the fence.
It is amazing to see how many people come from Mississippi, California, Washington, Kanas City, etc. and love on our friends in White Swan. We had five team weeks this summer with an average of 45 people per team. Each week, we did two new roofs and painted two houses - sometimes the same house would get a new paint job and roof. We also did some light carpentry and chopped firewood - I got to help build a wheelchair ramp. Then in the afternoon, we did Kids Club at two housing projects - Totus Park and Adams View Park.
Chris has said that we are fighting a war with the enemy but our weapons are paint brushes and jump ropes. If you can imagine an army of love armed with roof shingles and bubble wands, that is exactly what ot looked like.
We had seven interns and Uncle Dave working with all summer as well. Uncle Dave is a builder that has driven up from Florida for the last couple of summers to coordinate all of the work projects. It was a true blessing getting to know Uncle Dave and watch him mentor the male interns. His presence on the work sites was a blessing to everyone there.
The interns: Mark Shaw, Luke Irwin, Joshua Tsavtewa, Scot Burnett, Sadie Corbet, Janel Corbet and Rebekah Griffin were all amazing as well. They worked so hard in the hot summer but managed to be a lot of fun to be with as well. Mark, in particular, was a great help to me in the youth meetings with the guys. But each one brought a particular gift to the team and I am thankful to God for each of them. It was hard saying goodbye when they all returned home.
There was one special day with the teams from Highlands Presbyterian Church in Mississippi and Bellewood Presbyterian Church in Washington when we were asked by Jack Spencer if we could help repair his fishing scaffold on the Columbia River. There had been a big wind earlier in the week and it had knocked it down. About fifteen of us loaded up and drove down to the river and met Jack. It was a short drive on a dirt road along side some train tracks to Jack’s spot. None of us really knew how to build a scaffold in the river, but by the grace of God and some trial and error, we got a structure up.
Jack kept after me to take lots of pictures and telling me that we were making history. You probably have heard some of Jack and how he wants to give 80 acres of his land to Sacred Road to build a church on. Jack’s role in the community is someone who gathers traditional food (like the salmon) and brings them to ceremonies and gatherings. So you can see, for Jack, fishing isn’t just a fun activity on the weekend. He spends almost the entire summer on the river. When the new scaffold was up, he was visibly moved. He wants Chris to get a plaque to put on it with Sacred Road’s logo and a bible verse so that whenever someone uses it they will know it was built by Christians.
Jack told many of the teams of his new found belief that it was possible to be an Indian and a Christian. He talked about his first meeting with Chris and Mary and how everyone had told him that the white people always wanted to take something. His friends and family had all warned him about coming to the Tuesday night Bible study at the longhouse. Originally, Jack had just come to eat and left before the study began. He did this for many weeks. One day his five-year-old grandson, Dante, stopped him before leaving and asked him about “spiritual food.” He siad this question stopped him in his tracks and he began staying for the bible study, but not participating. Then he began to participate more and more. Jack now believes that Jesus Christ is the Creator.
Before they left, Jack presented each of the interns with a gift at the longhouse and talked about how important their ministry was to the children in the community. He is a very powerful symbol of how God is working on the Reservation through Sacred Road.
