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White Earth |
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Missions Trip – White Earth Reservation, MN The following journal is from my (Gene Nacey’s) point of view. I suspect there would be very different stories if each person on the missions team would write their own journal. I believe this is how God works – He knows what each of us need to learn and he crafts our experiences to best bring those lessons about. For what it’s worth, here is my perspective on the trip. Also, the button above is your ticket to the combined "visual experience" of everyone that took digital pics while we were there.
Day 1, Friday Well, months of trepidation are past, and now I begin what will put me outside of my “comfort zone” in a bigger way than I have experienced in some time. I know that I will probably never do a missions trip in a “third world country”, as some people do, so as far as being involved in a missions outreach, this should be the most plausible one for me to get involved with. There are many reasons why this should be no problem, but yet, I have come face to face with my own selfishness and self pre-occupation in preparing for this trip. While I do believe that giving financially is part of my calling and the reason for God’s prosperity in my life, I can not deny the fact that it is easier, much much easier, than giving my time. God has blessed me with a fuller than full life, with many passions, and many responsibilities. The missions trip is an endeavor not for me, but for the work of God. Hence, my selfishness was exposed with no convenient way to side step it. I’ve always known that I have not had the “heart for the lost” that I should, but this has reminded me in a way that I’m not very proud of. However, this self deprecation should be balanced by the fact that I do not hesitate to speak to virtually anyone about Christ. I suspect that God will be helping me work through was seems to be an internal conflict or at least a confusion about service to God. After a fairly normal day of travel (including Randy and Joyce losing their luggage), we arrive at the reservation at the start of a big outdoor concert and outreach. Pastor Todd has already been here along with Ron, Cheryl, Del and Rebecca. Todd had a starter fall on his face while working underneath the van, putting in a new transmission in their van which has been sidelined for some time. God spared a much more serious injury, and it provided an opportunity for him to witness to the physician that stitched him up (almost 20 stitches). They also got a great head start on the remodeling projects, as well. As we pull in, I see that Ron is doing some extensive “photo journalism” for the trip as well. They are expecting 100 to 200 people, and the ladies have been cooking for 2 days to prepare. Unfortunately, all the bands who said they would come and play have either cancelled or were no shows, only about 75 people show up, and in general it was a disappointing turn out. But… God can do a lot with a little. Pastor Todd delivered the most anointed message, with scripture that seemed written specifically for Native Americans. I had never seen him give a sermon without notes, with the flow and power of this message. Three people were saved this night, teaching us once again that God will honor our efforts despite the fact that our plans don’t always work out the way we think they should. We spend the next hour cleaning up, and we get to our cabin – completely exhausted from a day of travel and the immediacy of the outreach. The cabin is vintage 70s, with probably no maintenance done since then. The water has a strong, distinct sulfur smell, and I quickly remind myself that we are not on vacation, and the accommodations are consistent with this fact.
Day 2, Saturday This will be our first work day at the new church (Rice Lake) being built in the middle of the reservation. It is located 45 minutes away from the current church, and they need this location to reach out to the Native Americans in this area. I am once again now feeling some of the reasons for my reticence for coming on the trip – the fact that I am the “anti-handyman” – having little to no mechanical or construction ability or experience. In addition to knowing that I lack a lot of the skills that are needed for this type of trip, I am also gravely uncomfortable with “logistics” that are not well defined; which is why I am usually the “logistics guy”. So I know that there is no plan for what I will do, and there are probably few choices anyway. So… we leave with my first day of getting to practice being “open and available”, and trusting God to use me productively for Him. They have already started having services in the new church, despite the fact that the building is probably only 50% completed. Consequently, after a week of continuing construction, there is colossal cleaning to be done to get ready for tomorrow’s service. It became clear that I was going to serve an important purpose by cleaning the church (using the teens to help) and letting the men that have more construction skills continue to hang cabinets, etc. We forget to pack lunch, so other than that, it’s a good first day. Tina, Vicki & Krista come in tonight, and once again the airlines have lost Tina’s luggage. The “gang” is now all here, and tomorrow we start the week with Todd guest preaching at both White Earth and Rice Lake (morning service and evening service).
Day 3, Sunday I’m looking forward to this day, as I will finally get to meet some of the residents that the churches are here to serve. Some of them look distinctly Native American, and many others look no different than us “Pennsylvanian’s”. They seem to be very quiet and reserved – not at all like we are at KVAG – but then most church’s are probably more reserved than we are at KVAG. Worship consists of 3 guitars, a tambourine and 4 singers playing mostly 70s worship choruses and some classic hymns. It has a very familiar Pentecostal feel, and I’m sure some of those with a Pentecostal background feel right at home. Pastor Todd delivers a fascinating message, one of his most creative ever in my memory. It is what I call the most “grace filled” message on sin that I have ever heard. Knowing the many types of bondage that runs rampant on the reservation, his focus of sin and our response to temptation is right on target, but what makes this not a “fire and brimstone” message is his weaving of God’s grace into the entire theme. Beautifully done, and clearly blessed. Now we have a few hours after lunch and before the evening service at Rice Lake and I need to do company email. Several companies bidding on a large software design project need some information that I was unable to pull together before I left, because my programmers had not finished providing what I needed. I needed to get this done before Monday morning. The drive into Detroit Lakes proves unfruitful, as there are no public internet access services anywhere, and my Verizon cellular card in my computer can not get hooked up to the right network to pull down email. After making some inquiries, I head out of town to travel another hour to Fargo, ND – in hopes there may be something here. As I am driving out of town, I see some hotels that advertise FREE high speed internet (for guests of course). I stop in and they also verify there are no “public access” points in town, and so I ask if I can pay them to get on their high speed network. They say no, but that I can use the computer that is in the lobby. YES! I’m able to do email, get the work out that I needed to, and avoid the drive to Fargo. God is good! I come back and we head up to Rice Lake for the evening service. There is a much bigger turnout there – confirming the need for an outreach location in this area of the reservation. Praise and worship is the same style, with different songs, by the same worship team. Pastor Todd delivers a completely different message this time – on the need for a Spirit of Unity, and a willingness to support Pastor Tim Brown – who now is the pastor over both of these congregations – putting on as many miles between the two churches as a trucker married to the interstate. It is clearly anointed by the Holy Spirit, with probably only half of the message taken from his notes, and the rest taken from God’s leading. We eat some of Lorraine’s awesome lasagna and fellowship with some of the local folks before calling it a night. It’s been a blessed day, one where Pastor Tim was effusive in his gratitude to Pastor Todd and the KVAG group making the trek from PA to come and minister to their struggling congregations. He and his leadership had been praying for God to provide, and God used another little struggling church from Leechburg, PA to be his agents. The day is full of grace and blessing, with many folks coming up front for prayer at both services.
Day 4, Monday I’m still not over this “what am I here to do” thing, and tomorrow will bring yet another “hidden” answer to this question. However, I must admit, I’m getting a little more comfortable with the lack of “knowing in advance” what is going to happen – the Lord is helping me have peace about this obsessive/compulsive aspect of my personality. There is a late decision on Sunday night that we will not eat breakfast before we leave since the men want to get started by 6:30am. This time however, we will have lunches packed. We get there, and there is tons to do. Todd finds a pretty simple job for me to do, but one that is still important – putting thresholds and carpet strips down between all the doorways. Drilling into concrete proves to be a pain, and the little dowel rods make me remember why I’m not very good with my hands, but I manage to get a lot done and they actually look pretty good. I’m sure I took 3 times as long as any of the other guys, but I did get it done and that enabled those with more skill and experience to be more productive. My fear of not feeling “useful” was put to rest, and I feel a great sense of relief. I also got a real treat of seeing everyone else’s talents at work. I’ve seen the ladies use their talents in the kitchen on many occasions, and Vicki and Krista’s talents with the kids and crafts are “legendary”, but not being very handy, I’ve not seen the other guys (and Pat J ) in action before… with the exception of Pastor Todd, who has always amazed me with his breadth of abilities. Frank and John continued the “Frank and John” show they started on Saturday, hanging the mirror, the lights and the installing the new vanity in the ladies restroom. These two guys worked so well together, overcoming one obstacle after another, and seemed to be having a good time doing it. John’s wife Pat was impressive to say the least. She needed no “hand holding” like I did. She knew what to do, went right to it, was extremely productive and seemed at home in the construction world as any of the guys do (except for me of course J ). Then there was Del and Randy – these two sounded the most like a married couple – it was quite entertaining ( now it was clear why it took them so long to shop at Home Depot – 5 hours of “intense fellowship”). Despite their “tit for tat” banter back and forth, they were an absolute dynamic duo – accomplishing 4 men’s amount of work by just the two of them. Randy himself though, being in the business as a professional, was also pretty remarkable to see how much he knew about materials and methods – it was like talking to one of my best programmers at work – you know they are genius about what they do, you just can’t understand what they’re talking about. We packed it up about 3:15 and headed back to White Earth to get ready for VBS. We had to shower, change, eat and hit the projects to pick up kids for the first night. We had a little “surprise” dinner since this was Todd and Tina’s 13th wedding anniversary. After a great dinner with local fare again (fry bread, wild rice, etc) and anniversary cake, Randy and I took vans and headed to the local projects. This was a real eye opener. If you look up the word “squalor” in the dictionary, it would describe these living conditions. While it was a step above the high rise projects of the inner city, it was a similar landscape of trash and broken down toys and cars among barefoot children playing in the streets. It didn’t take much convincing to get the kids to come to VBS though. They must have remembered the fun they had last year, because they came literally running to the van. We made sure we saw the parents (or adult) from each kid’s home and we made several trips with the van loaded up with kids. We weren’t in the van for more than a few minutes and the kids had gone through everything they could find – giving me the clear picture that these kids were going to be a handful. After we get about 50 kids between ages 4 and 12, VBS gets started… right after we confiscate a BB gun from one of the kids. We have about 14 adults here to help as well, and I can’t imagine doing it with any less. These kids are running wild, with the adults just trying to keep the really crazy ones in line. We start the praise and worship and Krista is doing her thing; the kids do indeed get engaged. When we break up into groups though, the difficulties start. Some age groups are huge, others quite small. The bigger the group, the more unruly the kids. Tina somehow always gets the biggest group, and tonight is no exception. She somehow also becomes the only group that does not have a man with them. As soon as I see them come back into the sanctuary for the music portion, I see that they are “out of control”. I go and get Frank, but even he doesn’t seem to instill he right level of fear and/or intimidation. Then it happens, Tina shows me the side to he I’ve never seen – the “I’m a mom with strong willed kids” side, and she gives a firm and loud (yet not negative) reprimand to the kids. It works… for about 2 minutes. I now realize this will take more extreme measures, so I have them go get 6’ 4” studio wrestler looking Randy to also help out. We find the group he was with had affectionately adopted him with the nickname of “Gorilla” – perfect. It seems to do the trick, and the group becomes much more manageable. Taking everyone back was an exercise in complete chaos and confusion. Some kids were going to walk home, which we wouldn’t allow. Some couldn’t remember what van they came in (each went in different directions), etc. As it turned out, one did get in the wrong van, and after Randy returned, I had to return that one to the project where I picked up from. His dad was very cool about it – he was only 15 minutes later than his little sister. The kids, while like wild horses that roam the plains, were really adorable, and craved attention big time. Having enough adults helped us handle the discipline problem, and having enough hearts for the kids helped us open them up to what God has to offer. This was a good night, and we look forward to more of the same.
Day 5, Tuesday Another day starts with me sitting by the lake, watching the sun rise while I read my quiet time books on Worship and “Messy Spirituality”. This has been a tremendously conducive place for reading, reflection, praising and praying. While I am accustomed to getting into God’s Word first thing in the morning, being able to do it in such a peaceful and beautiful place has added a sweet dimension to this trip for me. The air is cool, the sun has been bright every single day, and I am in continual awe of how God has taken my apprehension and uncomfortability and replaced it with peace, assurance and a sense of wonder. There are no easy answers in this place. There are alcohol and drug abuse problems that are many times worse than the general population. There are racial stigmas and prejudices that must be overcome. There are cultural and generational hurdles that seem insurmountable. Despite the odds though, there are people being ministered to at these two small churches. God is using a few people as bridges to a lot more people. The number of obstacles do not, and should not determine whether the people that are here are worth the time, effort and resources. God is in the business of doing a lot with a little, and we are in the middle of that “formula” for success. It’s all good. Today, I took Todd to get his stitches out and I had a chance to slip into that local hotel again to download about 120 emails. I answer the critical ones and leave the rest on my computer for reading and responding to later. Todd and I get to spend some quality time together in the car talking about ministry and such, so it’s a good start to another day. By the time we get back to the church and call the work crew at Rice Lake, they are finishing up early to come and do some repairs to the White Earth Assembly location. Great, that gives me time to catch up on this journal and study some of my Italian. Unfortunately, unlike my original plan, I did not bring my road bike, due to another “over-use/training” injury to my right leg,. Consequently, I can’t accompany Todd on a much deserved ride he decides to take from White Earth to Rice Lake. Those 35 miles on less traveled country roads will be a sweet ride indeed. I make my van run to the south projects to pick up the kids again, only this time there are not as many kids around. I fill the van with only one trip. VBS goes a lot better today. The kids are less wild, and I think they know we aren’t going to let them be wild. I’m very impressed with how well they are remembering the lessons that Vicki is teaching. Even more impressive though, is how simple and direct the lessons are to the basics of the faith and salvation. In three days, they will learn the A, B, C’s of Christianity. Admit that you have done wrong; are a sinner, Believe in the three verities of the faith – that Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus Died for our sins, and Jesus rose again from the dead, and C is for Confessing that Jesus is Lord. After Krista goes over her song 2 or 3 times, she “quizzes them” about these ABC’s and they are really seeming to retain it. It’s a major accomplishment to get these truths to “seat well” into their brains and hopefully their hearts. I decided to film some of the music classes this night, and what a treat – I managed to get John, Del and even Randy doing the hand motions to the kids songs – we now have the makings of a great video J. I’ll have to video or get some picture of the other classes as well on Wed night. This has really been an excellent ministry for these kids – they are having a blast, and the adults are enjoying it too. We have gotten way more accomplished at the Rice Lake location than we originally planned, so the thought of building and painting a sign for that location starts to take root. We all agree it should be able to be done by the end of the day on Thursday, so we decide to “go for it.”. The night is topped off with some more of Lorraine’s strawberry shortcake and ice cream…another “good day in the mission field”.
Day 6, Wednesday Today is our first big day of rain – it rained all night, and it’s coming down in buckets in the morning. It’s a good thing that Del, Randy and Frank repaired the vent on the roof of White Earth yesterday, so the water wouldn’t continue to leak on the furnace. Vicki and Todd come over to our cabin to begin some of the design work on my computer before we head over to the church. We get it close, and decide to get over there so we can get some breakfast before it’s too late. Todd and Tina spent their late evening going to the “all night Walmart” to buy a $30 printer and transparencies so that Vicki could get started right away painting the sign. We finish the design and while I fight through printer/computer issues to get it to print on the transparency, Todd and Del go get the wood for the sign. The other guys went to Home Depot (again) to get more supplies for some of the final items. Only one big project remains, the kitchen sink and counter top, but it hasn’t come in yet. Once the ladies are started on the sign, Todd and I change and head up to Rice Lake to help finish the smaller jobs. When we get there, we can see that some of the local critters must have gotten into the trash, and it’s yet one more job we need to take care of before we leave today. The front and side sidewalks are now done enough to remove the forms, and it has turned out great. Randy and Frank finish the linoleum at the entrance way, and Del and Todd finish up some of the trim. We head back to White Earth, and Del, Randy & Frank continue to find fix-em-up jobs until the last seconds before dinner. We “woof” down dinner, and it’s time to pick up the kids. At least I have time to eat – Randy stays busy with the other guys who are “handy at everything” to the point where he has been running out of time to eat before picking up the kids, and ends up eating after VBS is over. I don’t know how he keeps that big fire engine going without fuel, but somehow he does it. VBS is quite a bit rowdier tonight – with more kids, and the kids seem more wild than either of the last two nights. It is quite clear that these kids have never been exposed to the concept of “manners” or of a proper way to respect adults. They are intimidated by no one, and show adults no more consideration than their buddies – except for the fact that we are bigger than them. Nevertheless, our group does an awesome job of looking past the discipline problems and finding a way to show them love. Despite having to keep the kids in line many times, both the men and women keep positive attitudes, smile a lot, pick the kids up (some time to carry them back to their seats, sometimes just to hold them), give lots of hugs and continue to “love on them” night after night. It’s a beautiful thing to watch from my “sound booth vantage point”. The night’s over, and we are treated to the most entertaining storyline of the trip. It seems that Frank asked Cora to wash out some underwear for him, and Cora (needing to leave early in the morning to help make breakfast for the crew) didn’t have time to do them at the hotel, so she brought them to church to do them. When we got back from Rice Lake, she had them hung up outside of the kitchen, along with the kitchen towels, on a live extension cord serving as a clothes line. That was all Randy needed to see to razz Frank about his underwear. The jokes and hysteria had us in tears for at least a half hour. It was the perfect end to another busy day.
Day 7, Thursday The rain has decreased to wind and overcast skies. We should have a relatively easy day today, with only the kitchen sink and countertop to install, and some loose ends to tie up at Rice Lake. The other big project is getting the Rice Lake sign put up – which is half painted, but should be able to be completed in time to hang it by late afternoon. I have to get to Detroit Lakes to do email, as I promised I’d keep up each day, and the best I’ve been able to muster is every other day. While the ladies were making breakfast, I call United to see if I can get Randy and Joyce’s ticket changed, since they had their flights scheduled for Saturday instead of Friday. After about 30 minutes on the phone, I got them an earlier flight so everyone can be home by Friday afternoon. After breakfast I head down to Detroit Lakes to get my email done, and to try and print out the itinerary for the Shearer’s. Todd heads up to Rice Lake to help install the countertop with the rest of the guys, and the ladies are finishing the painting, and are preparing food for parents night at VBS. Once again, everyone is busy doing one job or another. By the time I get back to White Earth, they have the other side of the sign finished, and I tell the teenagers to get ready to head up to Rice Lake for the final “clean up” of the job. Pastor Tim and Tammy are there to bring the sign up in their pickup truck, and so we decide to take everyone with us (except for a few that went to get bibles in D.L.). Once we got there, the cleaning went quite quickly. Within about 2 hrs, we have the entire church cleaned again, including most of the grounds outside, and the new sign hung. Besides all the “normal projects” that are now nearing completion there, the guys decided to build shelves for the storage room where we had been storing our tools and supplies on the floor. It make that room a lot more functional, and I continue to be amazed at how industrious, creative and productive these guys are when it comes to construction. I take some video of the church to add to our growing collection of stills and videos, and we head back to White Earth to get cleaned up for Parent’s night at VBS. After we take a group photo in front of the church, actually after we take about 8 group photos with everyone’s camera, we head inside where Pastor Tim and Tammy have gifts for everyone as a token of their appreciation. It is a precious detour in an otherwise whirlwind week. Once again, Randy almost misses dinner, but manages to take a burger on the run, and we go to pick up the kids and some parents for the final night of VBS. The VBS program went very well – with lots of give aways, and the kids all performing their songs for the parents. While less than half of the kids actually had parents come, I am told that this represents a significant increase from last year… sad, but true. One of the girls asked me if I had a phone so she could call her mom. We went into the office, and she called her mom and her grandma – neither of which would come. Very sad. Anyway, the kids did great, and pastor Todd prayed for them at the end, and opened the dining area up for food. Those kids ate like they never saw hot food – although that response to food is fairly universal for kids anyway. It was a bitter sweet end for the week, with some very tough goodbye’s being given. We spent the next couple of hours “tearing down” VBS, packing up, and cleaning. All in all, it was a phenomenal week.
Day 8, Flight Home on Friday Outside of some serious storms we drove through, and a few minor flight delays, it was a pretty normal travel day – getting us back to our house by 5pm. I will just relax and unpack for the rest of the evening, and reflect on “lessons learned” over the weekend.
Day 9, Reflections on the Week The biggest thing I am taking away from this trip was how God uses ordinary people like our KVAG crew to answer prayer. Pastor Tim has boldly stood his ground in a fairly hostile environment (hostile to not only the Christian faith, but also for just daily living), and not only continues to minister at one location, but breaks new ground to reach out more and farther for others who need to hear the word of God. It is a blessing to be used by God to answer someone else’s prayers. Secondly, it was an excellent, “real life” reminder that there is still poverty and squalor in America. While we are not a “third world country”, we still have a very imperfect government, that does not treat all of it’s citizens equally, and where there are no simple answers to the plights of many people. I think for 13 year old, it was an eye opener as well. The kids were a precious reminder each night, that all the hard work we were doing to support this ministry is more than worth all the blood, sweat and tears we expended to get the job done. Finally, and perhaps what I will consider my “favorite” aspect of this trip was how much I enjoyed working with “the guys”. I was also incredibly impressed with both their skill as well as the attitudes of all the guys as I watched them “in action”. They not only have accomplished talents and abilities, but they work together incredibly well. There was also a health amount of “banter” between guys every so often – to both release frustrations as well as to add some levity to difficult situations. It was pretty comical at times. It was like married couples or “Archie and Edith Bunker” banter – we never had a shortage of laughs. Will I go on another missions trip? As they say in Fargo, “You betcha!”. I think however, that we have an incredible ministry poised to make a difference in Leechburg, so I’m hoping the next one will be right in our own home town. After that however, I’m looking forward to whatever the Lord has in mind.
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