Prep Week Purgatory

Here at our YouthWorks! site, we joked about the prep weeks being like purgatory because there is always just more and more to do, and it seems like we would never have our groups actually show up! We stayed busy setting up our kitchen, and decorating our club room!

The club room is where we meet every night for worship, a message, etc. and it was my job to make it look awesome (so,naturally, I did!) I added a little bit of city life to the reservation- we painted sheets to look like brick walls and graffitied on them, added city scapes, awesome lights from the Family Dollar, etc. I would call it ghetto chic (haha!)

We also spent some time getting to know more people in the community. There is a special education teacher at TCHS who is a believer and she invited us over for dinner on Thursday. Not only did we get a homecooked meal, but we were able to learn more about her challenges as a teacher on the reservation. Wendy taught in New York for 17 years and felt called to teach in SD. She has been here 3 years, and said she spent her first year totally relearning everything she previously knew about education. She also is active in leading prayer meetings and volunteering at the Juvenile Detention Center. She is an incredible lady of faith and prayer, and we had the chance to worship with her in her home. She plays a native wood flute and has a hand drum- it was very beautiful and calming!

We also took food to a woman who was homeless and beaten, and were able to talk with some homeless people (most were also alcoholics) about who Jesus was to them, and to just listen to them. In some ways, it was weird because many had been drinking, but they are so used to it, that the men will listen and all have very different opinions and experiences with Christianity. Very interesting, and we had a chance to all hold hands and lead a prayer. Yay!

We also experienced a Lakota funeral. A prominent man in the community, who is also the brother of a local pastor, passed away. His funeral was huge- nearly 500 people showed up for from all over, and they even had a meal afterward! There were guests from government offices, friends, etc. Who shared and honored Robert, and there was even a guest celloist from the South Dakota Symphony. One of the biggest differences was that there were over 25 quilts hung up behind the coffin. In Lakota culture, quilts are a huge deal! It is an incredible honor to be an excellent quilt maker, and it is a very noble craft to know and to teach. It is also the highest honor to be given a quilt. The quilts are called star quilts because they all have eight pointed starts made of many little colorful pieces, and apparently, are very time consuming to make!

While doing some shopping in Valentine, NE, we stopped at the most interesting thrift store ever! It was the basement of a really old woman (she was kind of old and cranky and feisty). You just walked around to her back door and rang the bell and she came to get you and you rifled through a bunch of stuff in her basement, and then she hand wrote you a receipt! While in Valentine, I also bought my first pair of beaded Native American dangly earrings. I don't know if I will actually ever wear them, but I feel like they needed to be bought!



Our first group of youth arrived on Sunday, and our first day and a half has been absolutely crazy but wonderfully amazing, too! We have a crew from New Mexico, Omaha, and a small church in Minnesota. Out of the 50 participants, there are only eight boys! Isn't that wild? But they are all great, and they are so excited to serve! I think they have been very shocked and a little bit uncomfortable with what they have encountered so far. Last night we went on a prayer walk in the community to have a chance for some QA and to also just lift up some of the issues of the reservation in prayer, and I think it was a great chance for the students to process what they've seen and to focus on the ways that God can work and the ways that he already has! So far our clubs and club talks (which is what I'm in charge of) have gone really well! It's exciting to be able to share from the Bible and even parts of my own life and testimony with the students. I was in charge of dinner for everyone, and it was the first time anyone had ever made this recipe- chicken and cheese casserole for 64 people. It would have gone much better if our water had actually boiled on time. Needless to say, dinner was half an hour late :)

Yesterday I spent time at the Boys and Girls Club with some kids, and its very different to see how kids grow up on the rez. One little guy (maybe 5 or 6) walked in two miles by himself so he could come the BGC, and others just show up because they need food. Another girl ( maybe 9) got upset when I touched her shoulder to get her attention and yelled " Don't touch me!", she later proceeded to cuss out some of the other kids and youth. She will definitely be a tough cookie to crack! Another set of sisters that we picked up told us how rampant bullying is in the middle school. The younger of the sisters was going to enter sixth grade, and she is afraid that she will get beaten up because of her older sister. But others are definitely full of joy and laughter- they just want hugs and piggy back rides, they want you to read books to them and show you how to play games online or how they learned how to do a somersault. These kids, about 50 total, had the opportunity to read together,play games (we call it Groove Park), and hear about the creation story (our theme for the week is "Craz-amazing Creator")

Tonight, we are going hiking and having worship out by the river and waterfall. It should be awesome!The weather today is awesome- but yesterday, and for the rest of the week, it is supposed to be stormy and with a high chance of hail, storms, and maybe even tornadoes.

Packages can be sent to:

YouthWorks!
Attn: Rachel Waltz
Todd County High School
E. Denver St.
Mission, SD 57555

Letters can be sent to our PO Box, I just don't know the number yet!