WEEK 8: Trip to Pine Ridge

We are back in Minnesota! We had such a great experience working on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. We met up in SD with a high school youth group from Aberdeen, SD. We worked with them throughout the week. There are lots of stories to tell, but we’ll try to sum it up as best as we can. :)

Saturday (11^th)

Most of our class left for Pine Ridge while we stayed back here at the base. We had such an incredible catching up and fellowshipping with two of our friends, Becca and Kendra, from Grand Rapids. They stayed overnight with us in our apartment for their last night of their road trip.

Sunday (12^th)

The remaining six students from our class left around 7am for the reservation.  Nate drove for the first 5 hours until we stopped at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. We ate our sack lunches there and looked around at the tourists shops.

We arrived at the reservation for dinner. Then we traveled to White Clay, Nebraska where we were going to be sleeping for the week.

Monday (13^th)

We spent the morning preparing for the Vacation Bible School for the local children in Allen, SD on the reservation. We were planning on having them come that afternoon, however, the children did not know there was a VBS. So we instead took a trip to Wounded Knee. In 1890 a massacre happened to the Lakota Sioux in this town. We visited the memorial burial spot. It really helped us to connect with the history of the local people. We were all very glad that we were able to go to Wounded Knee.

After dinner we all gathered for a debriefing time. We began to worship, thank, and praise God for what He had done throughout the day.  Some of the students from our class began to pray for the youth group students. Soon the youth began to pray for each other. The worship time continued for over an hour with everyone praying for each other. We could feel the presence of God in the room. It was such a great way to kick off our week!

Tuesday (14^th)

We worked in the morning at a location organization in White Clay, NE called Lakota Hope. White Clay is just outside of the reservation, where it is legal to purchase and sell alcohol. Over 10,000 cans of alcohol are sold there a day. The organization working in White Clay tries to connect with the men and women living on the street and to give them the hope of Jesus Christ. We spent our time pulling weeds, moving tables, and scraping paint off of the building.

After lunch we traveled to Allen for the Bible School for the local kids. Julianne worked with the 3-6 year olds while Nate worked with the 10 years and up group. It was a lot harder than we had thought it would be. Nate’s group was especially tough. A lot of the children come from tough home lives. The older children were very disrespectful and trying on Nate’s patience. We were a bit afraid of what the rest of the week was going to look like.

Wednesday (15^th)

We again spent our morning in White Clay working at Lakota Hope. We scrapped paint off of one of their buildings that was going to be repainted.

Once that was finished, the team was split into groups to go walk the streets and talk to the men and women there. An older lady started to yell and threaten Nate because he looked like a guy she knew named Clay. (And so we jokingly called Nate “White Clay” for the rest of the week.) Nate got a chance to talk and minister to some of the guys on the street. Julianne had stayed back and was praying for those out on the streets.

We went to Allen after lunch for the VBS. Some of the older kids were acting off before it began and were told they had to go home. It was sad to see them leave but a blessing as well.

It almost felt like a completely different group of kids. The whole afternoon was much more behaved and organized.

Thursday (16^th)

Yeah! Our 2 month anniversary!

We spent the morning in White Clay again. We scrapped more paint off another building before going down town.

Half of our group worked in the thrift store sorting clothes while the other half talked with the people out on the street. Nate met up with one of the men he met the day before. On Wednesday they had talked about angels and demons since the man said that he could see into the spiritual world. Nate told the man that if he saw a demon to “rebuke it in the name of Jesus.” That night the man had seen a demon standing by his feet. He had tried to hide from it but kept seeing it. He remembered what Nate had told him and so said to the demon, “I refute you in the name of Jesus.” The demon, of course, left him. It was so exciting to hear that story! There is power in the name of Jesus!

We went to Allen for our last day of VBS. We had a lot of fun playing with the kids. We ended the day off with a huge water balloon fight. The kids had such a blast.

It was a bit sad to see them for the last time. We can only hope and pray that they will remember what we taught and showed them throughout the week.

Friday (17^th)

FREE DAY! Before we left for the day, we cleaned up the house where we had been staying. The youth group left to go back to Aberdeen while our class took a trip to Mount Rushmore. We spent a couple hours there sightseeing and then got pizza for dinner. It was a fun relaxing day.

Saturday (18^th)

We once again pilled into the vans for the 11 hour car ride to the base here in MN. It felt so good to be back home again.

We cannot believe how quickly this summer has flown by! We only have three more weeks left of our class before we will begin preparing to help lead and staff the next upcoming school here.

            We could love and appreciate your prayers for us in this next season. We are excited for the DTS. We know this is where God wants us to be next. We are looking forward to it and, yet, a bit nervous about leading.

            Thank you for all the support you have shown us over these last two months! May God continue to bless you!

In Christ,

Julianne and Nate Gibbons