Countdown is On....

Tomorrow begins the first day of our last week of programming here in Rosebud! We have three churches coming in, and on Friday morning they will help us completely tear down our site and pack everything up into storage for next year's team. We have information packets to fill out about everything we did this summer, including schedules, contact information, etc. that needs to completed before we leave, thank you cards and gifts for all of our ministry partners and friends, and invitations made for our last community cookout. Whew! We are hoping to be on the road back to Denver by late Saturday or early Sunday.

As I looked over the summer, I counted a total of 27 different youth groups from 12 states who were able to serve and grow closer to each other and to God on a mission trip this summer! It's so exciting!

Here are some fun things that the YouthWorks! Rosebud team has been up to lately...

-We discovered a big screen TV in the library at TCHS. Since the nearest theatre is thirty miles away and only shows two movies, we have started having movie nights there.

- On Wednesday nights we take our youth to a local cafe/youth center for dessert, coffee, and a cultural Q&A. They have started showcasing local youth artists. We saw a rock band called "Grand Cadaver" and a rap group called "Nake Nula Waun" (and I have their CD now!) and they are both really talented. It's been neat for our youth to be able to support and encourage other youth in this way.

- We had seven small church groups in last week and they were incredible! They really loved each other and it was an awesome week of ministry, and growth! One of the adult leaders lead worship and played guitar for us, and another shared his experiences working as a scripture translation consultant for the Lutheran Church in Africa.

- We met a youth group from Kansas City First Church of the Nazarene from Kansas City, MO while they were staying at the White River Church of the Nazarene in White River. They came there for a work trip and we met up while we attended service there last Sunday.

- I had the opportunity to shadow a Physician's Assistant at the Mission Medical Clinic last Saturday. We have known Betty all summer and have done some work on her house. She is a very sweet old lady :) I worked the Saturday morning shift with her from 9-12, and the clinic was surprisingly busy for a Saturday shift! I got all scrubbed up and got to visit the patients with her. I got to see babies, bug bites, rashes, migraines, high blood pressure, and more! It was a lot of fun, and I think I will really like working in a small clinic/office setting rather than a large, bustling hospital.

- I tried Fry bread for the first time the other day! Fry bread is traditional Native American staple. It is essentially like an unsweetened elephant ear/ tortilla and it poofs up when you fry it. It's delicious! It is often used like a taco shell to make "Indian Tacos" (which are open faces and practically the size of a small pizza). We have also learned about some other traditional foods- soups, berries (chokecherries, raspberries, etc.), buffalo, grains, etc. Corn isn't a staple food simply because crops aren't grown here. I bought premade mixes frybread to bring home and make (we'll see how that goes....")

I'm super excited to head back home, but I think it will be a little bit of a culture shock to get me back in a city/populated area with more than two radio stations, away from the same people I've been with all summer, and back where I will see an abundance of trees! Of course, I'm used to working and being awake from 6:45 am- to about 12:30 the next morning, so I may just sleep for two weeks until I head back to Olivet and nursing school ;)