Sunday and Monday, due to heavy rain, we
stayed inside and worked in the Dream Center. We sorted donations, painted
walls, put office furniture together, and stained the floor. It was a great
time of coming together as a team and just working for the Lord.
Tuesday we went to the town of Wounded
Knee, where we prayer walked, fed children lunch, played with, and loved them
all afternoon. Thursday we did the same in the town of Evergreen. These
children have incredibly difficult lives. On average, they begin drinking at
the age of five, and join gangs by age nine. One six year-old girl told us that
her fifteen year-old brother had been killed in a gang fight just a few days
previous. I got a chance to talk with some of the mothers, and one of them told
me that many of the kids around us did not have fathers, and several lived with
aunts or grandparents.
On Wednesday we
went to White Clay, Nebraska. It is located right across the border and just
off the reservation. It is basically a large collection of bars and liquor
stores. Its purpose is to provide the Natives from the “dry” reservation with
alcohol. Many people choose to stay in this town, and sleep in ditches and on
sidewalks. Business owners in White Clay make an average of $7 billion a year.
We served lunch at a small ministry on the main street and talked with some of
the “residents.” Their stories were unbelievable and heartbreaking. We were
going to actually go out onto the streets after lunch, but a fight broke out in
front of the building, and we ended up sneaking out the back door. It was not
an experience I’d like to repeat.
Overall, the week was
eye-opening and awesome. Our team became very close, and caught a small glimpse
of the Body of Christ laughing, crying, working, sweating, and wondering as
one. The Lord showed us how to worship Him in everything-from feeding a hungry
child to scrubbing concrete. We truly serve an amazing God.
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