North
Dakota/Native American
July 8th-18th, 2005
Updated
Monday, August 8
Pastor
Boots, the missionary we served
with in North Dakota, sends this
thank-you note for our teams' ministry:
Good Sunday morning Mike. A word
to say how much your Team meant to
Tipi Wakan & me personally.
The people were just wonderful examples
of the life of the Lord Jesus. In
spirit
& character they truly "lighted
my life". Each one is a name/face
with the best of memories. The work
they could turn out in the physical
areas was amazing. They just didn't
stop.
And
the benefits are being enjoyed by
all. All meaning the people who come
every week to church, the children
who comment on it & the other
Teams who have come to serve since.
They especially notice the order
of things & the ease of use of
the facility now.
I told them often, that is Kathy &
Marcy, but the idea of a 'scouting'
trip was indeed a coup. What a huge
difference that made in Team advance
knowledge & preparation & usefulness.
The impact will last for a long time
I know.
We trust that another time can be
made for us here.
I can only
guess at the type of church family
you must have... Thank you Mike for
your effort for this mission this
year.
May you
be Blessed in Christ,
Boots
Updated
Saturday July 20
The North
Dakota team came home full of enthusiasm
for the ministry and with exciting
stories of the children and families
that they touched. They bonded
with Boots, the host missionary,
who expressed several times his appreciation
for the team and for the church's
support. He was especially
glad for the servant spirit and the
team's desire to stay as much as
possible on the reservation and spend
time with the kids and the young
people. The many work projects
around the church may be the most
significant long-term impact of the
team's ministry.
It was a worthwhile trip that
we hope to repeat in the future. Please
pray for the ongoing outreach among
the Sioux Indians – it is a
difficult ministry dealing with many
families in crisis, and the workers
need our encouragement.
Updated
Thursday July 14
Dear
Prayer Warriors and Friends of
the North Dakota Team,
Greetings
from the daily-changing circumstances
of the Standing Rock Sioux Vacation
Bible School. We have added
to our numbers , reaching 36
children today. Kathy
Lawler and Dennis Luther have
had opportunities to spend with
some children one-on-one and
listen to their description of
life here on the reservation.
Some of the kids have had very
bad family lives and are desperate
to have someone listen to them.
A little
boy came today who is deaf/mute.
Ellen Pikop is the only one on
the team who knows American Sign
Language, so she was able to understand
that he attends school during the
school year in Denver, CO. He
comes
"home" during the summers - to
an imprisoned father and a perpetually
drunk mother who is currently missing
from the town. He lives with
an aunt or grandma - and told Ellen
that he feels sad all the time.
Keep praying for our team to have
opportunities to love and share
Jesus.
It's draining and yet invigorating
at the same time.
Our
mornings are devoted to preparations
for VBS and some small projects
around the church. The
kids arrive at 12:30pm, have
a snack (for most it is the first
food of the day), then we have
music, the lesson, table time,
discussion then lunch. The
children have learned to be mannerly
for more prize tickets -
we're using the ticket system
as a reward for cooperation.
After lunch, we have crafts then
game time. At the end of
the VBS day at 3pm, the kids
line up to "shop"
in our store for prizes. No
candy here - they're wired enough
already - we have all sorts of
games, toys, clothes and toiletries.
After VBS, the work begins on
our major projects.
So
far we've essentially rebuilt
Boots Marsh's kitchen. It's
a 15 x 25 room which had 2 feet
of counter space.
Now it has over 25 feet - we
have been able to purchase kitchen
cabinets and storage containers
for the church.
Often times, the church sponsors
dinners or funeral space for
people on the reservation. Also,
we've purchased and assembled
a large storage shed, and today,
Josh Seibert and Dennis Luther
are reorganizing the tools and
equipment out there. Kay
Dobbins is overseeing the effort.
Our
youth, Brianna Davis, Katie Lawler,
Emily Lawler and Ellen Pikop
have had fewer girls to work
with but have done a wonderful
job preparing lessons daily for
the children. Thanks for
praying for each of us for the
remainder of our work with the
children.
They are hungry for the truth
and become more engaged each
day with the Bible lessons.
Randy
Pikop has had little rest as
he's been directing projects
all over the church.
But the biggest effort has come
from Boots Marsh - resident pastor
and missionary. Without
his wife here (currently in Houston
for medical treatments) he's
been a trooper giving us ideas
about how to best help him with
getting better organized for
the work here.
Thanks
for all your prayers and support,
Marcy for the team
Updated
Monday July 11
Kathy Lawler reports:
Team North
Dakota called this morning with an
update. Things are going very well.
They will start VBS today. They handed
out flyers for VBS yesterday with
Pastor Boots, the missionary who
invited us to send a team. Marcy
Pikop begins her parenting classes
today and will continue on Wednesday
and Friday.
Our team helped run the Sunday School
classes for the youth yesterday.
Josh Seibert taught the class and
the young people seemed to respond
well to him, so much so that they
invited our young adults to play
basketball with them last night.
The missionary on-site said that
he is very pleased with the response
the team has experienced. Native
Americans in his church are usually
very wary of guests, because they
see teams come in who don’t
want to "hang out" with
them, but instead usually return
to their hotel quickly after meetings.
Our team is very “present”
and it is being noticed by the Native
Americans.
The team is finding the very young
children craving affection and attention,
but the older ones (5th and 6th graders)
are already hardened by the life
on the reservation. These children
are already being targeted for gangs,
and feel pressure to get involved
with drugs and alcohol. The on-site
missionary said the people there
were fascinated with a group of people
who can laugh and have fun without
alcohol and drugs. That doesn't happen
in their culture.
Praise God for this good news. And
thanks for praying that our team’s
ministry starts well this week.
Updated
Saturday July 9
Marcy
Pikop writes from Bismark:
"Hello
from North Dakota:
We arrived safely
and are thoroughly enjoying our
team.
After a humor-filled, yet energizing
dinner, we gathered our ideas
for beginning our ministry tomorrow
at Tipi Wakan (House of Peace)
40 miles south of Bismarck, North
Dakota with Pastor/Missionary
Boots Marsh on the Standing Rock
Sioux reservation town of Cannonball. We'll
shop for our food for the week
tomorrow (already a huge blessing,
as the market where we called
for supplies has volunteered
to pull our entire order and
have it ready for us to pick
up tomorrow morning, saving us
at least 6 man hours!). We'll
organize our VBS supplies, canvas
the neighborhood passing out
fliers and meet the Dakota people. Then
we'll treat Boots to dinner in
Bismarck tomorrow night.
The
greatest blessing is that our
team leader Kathy Lawler and
her 2 daughters have been able
to join us, after planning all
Thursday to pass up the trip
due to the critical health of
Tom Lawler's father. Miraculously
(thank you Lord!) he survived
a difficult surgery, and for
the time being seems to be recuperating. As
of 7pm last night, we were arranging
all Kathy's duties to be split
between the remaining 8 of us. God
is certainly gracious and good!
Pray
for us as we meet the children
tomorrow!
We are ready!
In
the love of Christ,
Marcy Pikop"
Updated
Friday July 8
The North
Dakota team was sent off from the
church parking lot this morning,
with a good-sized group of family
and friends coming to pray with them
prior to departure. They fly
to Denver today and on to Bismark,
where they will purchase their supplies
for the week before moving onto the
reservation over the weekend.
God already answered significant
prayers for this team. Team
Leader Kathy Lawler's father-in-law
had life-threatening emergency surgery
yesterday, and doctors were not optimistic
that he would survive.
There was doubt all day whether Kathy
and her daughters Emily and Katie
would be able to go on the trip,
and in fact at one point they officially
cancelled as the family gathered
to say a possible farewell to Tom's
dad. The team met last night
to pray and to plan, the Missions
Task Force prayed separately, and
around 10:00pm Kathy called with
news that the surgery went much better
than expected, and that they would
be able to serve. PTL! Keep
praying for Tom as he stays home
and handles all the responsibilities
for his parents' health crisis while
his family is away, and pray for
the team to serve well as they go
as light in a very dark place.
Team
North Dakota
Kathy
Lawler – Team Leader
Marcy
Pikop – Assistant Team Leader
Brianna
Davis
Kay
Dobbins
Emily
Lawler
Katie
Lawler
Dennis
Luther
Abby
Pikop
Ellen
Pikop
Randy
Pikop
Josh Seibert
Ministries:
Vacation Bible School, youth outreach
and compassion ministries alongside
a missionary couple on a Sioux Indian
reservation
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