VIDEO: Green Bay and Ox Lake

YOUTHWORKS: GREEN BAY
GRADES 6-8
JUNE 30-JULY 5
Youth from grades 6-8 served through homeless ministries, elderly centers, children’s programs, and thrift stores in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

VIDEO: Pine Ridge Reservation

YOUTHWORKS BEYOND: PINE RIDGE RESERVATION
JUNE 22-28
Youth from 9th grade and adults traveled to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. There, they fixed up homes, played with children, and slowed down from everyday life to interact with a community rich in culture and story.

Greetings from Pine Ridge - Day One

Hello, Minnesota! I am writing to let you know that we made it, safe and sound, and are enjoying a little bit of free time (and showers) after a full day at our ministry sites. I'm sorry I haven't been able to be in touch before now; my cell phone does not work here (neither the reception for calls/texts nor the data....argh). Anyway, I managed to borrow a laptop from one of the Youthworks staff to send a quick update.

Everyone spent the day getting to know the community here, either by working with children in Kid's Club and a tutoring program, or through painting homes in a nearby neighborhood. The kids are adorable and very hungry for attention. One huge challenge is seeing firsthand how different life is here from at home. Kids learn to be independent and tough at a very young age. Spending time in the neighborhoods highlights the contrast between the experience of living in Pine Ridge vs Dakota County and what most of us have known. We'll be doing a lot of processing these next few days! Being here provides a great opportunity to grow in our understanding of the world and in our faith - really wrestling with what this experience means for us, and how we understand God's work in the world.

Tonight we hope the weather holds, allowing us to have our evening worship in the Badlands. What a beautiful area this is! A blessing to be immersed here for a week with your kids - they are awesome :)

I'm not certain when/if I'll get a hold of a laptop again for sending you additional updates, but you can be confident that no news is good news - and we have access to communications for emergencies! Use the phone number for Colleen that I sent home to you if you need to get in contact with us.

Blessings to you all! We'll have lots of great stories for you when we get home.

-Katie

Chicago YouthWorks Trip

Waiting on the tracks for the "L" train.

The girls hanging out.

The Chicago skyline taken from the Catholic school
where the group showers.

A group of 25 youth and 6 adults traveled to Chicago to serve with YouthWorks from July 22-27, 2012 led by Erin Swenson-Hatzung.

Here is Erin's report of their first full day in Chicago via phone:

On Monday, the group was split into six smaller groups. Four of them worked with inner city kids (ages 6-14) within the neighborhood the group is staying in. The work was fun, hard and tiring. It was very hot, and the groups were working outside all day-long in 100 degree heat. The youth have noticed that working with inner city kids is a lot different than working with kids back home and are being stretched in a lot of new ways.

Another small group spent time painting the nursery at Seed of Abraham Church in Chicago, where everyone from SOTV is staying,

The final small group spent time at "St. Stan's" Catholic School doing several different tasks: removing a block of concrete, mopping the floors, and serving at their soup kitchen.

That evening, the entire group took the "L" downtown, and got to see some of the sights in downtown Chicago including the infamous "Bean" in Millennium Park and enjoyed hearing some live music. Despite the hot night, everyone had a great time.

Leaving Lake Traverse

Final group at lake traverse

Friday Morning, Time for Home: what an absolutely inspiring week of bonding, prayers, deeply open conversations, energetic serving, and the presence of Christ among us! Whew, thanks to God. Today's few pics include the town pool, where we cooled off and some had two afternoons of being swarmed by summer program kids; a picture of our "evening club" gathering; and a simple pic of our Sisseton home: St Peter's Catholic Parish Ed. Building. Today traveling home, Sunday giving a report in worship at 10:30am and this Wednesday a reunion potluck at 6:30 (SOTV supplies BBQ sandwiches and dessert). Praise God for our next adventure!
-Randy B.  

Daily 9-Square competition (Love It!)

 

Quad Cities: A Great Day!

Hello Friends and Family!

We've had a wonderful few days in the Quad Cities! Last night we went to "Statik," a youth worship service in Rock Island, IL. After jumping on inflatables, climbing the rock wall, and playing basketball, students enjoyed a great worship.

A garden spruced by youth!

Today, Iron Man (Dana's group) returned to the CCC Food pantry where they sorted clothes and spent a large amount of time working in the rose garden weeding and mulching. On the right is an after picture (click to enlarge). It looks amazing and was already starting to inspire other neighbors to spruce up their lots as well.


Hulk (Brandon's group) went to a new site today. It was a care facility for 50 children and adults with developmental disabilities. The group cleaned windows, washed the facility's buses, and weeded.

It was a very productive day for both groups. Students have also enjoyed the new friendships made with youth from other congregations.

Just a head's up: our departure time is likely 9am tomorrow and if traffic conditions allow, we might actually be back at SOTV between 3:45-4:45pm. Students will call home when we are 1/2 hour away.

Much peace and joy to you all~
Brandon and Dana

Painting the Town in Lake Traverse

Wednesday in Sisseton means changing some work projects. The painting of the town 's food shelf is almost complete!

The picture at right is of YouthWorks staff member Jesse leading the evening club time of reports, praises (yeah, God!), worship songs and an inspirational talk: all a great way to end the day. Last night the boys' sleeping room heard Jesse tell his faith journey story for our "last word"- awesome. Now it's a whole new day in serving Jesus: Sweet! 

-Randy B

Tuesday in Lake Traverse

Above is a picture of our Tuesday morning devotions introduction before our quiet time with the Lord. YouthWorks leader, Jesse, telling a personal story to help us connect to Jesus' presence and gifts to us. We've already been painting homes, painting the city foodshelf-clothing donation center, supporting summer community VBS, and summer school district elementary programming.

Susanne Miller's group is at Green Leaf Assisted living Center in Sisseton this morning spending time with delightful seniors! Below are two pictures.

It's a beautiful day in Sisseton! 

-Randy B

Quad Cities Day 2: Hulk vs. Iron Man

Hello Everyone!

Our two groups have had a GREAT day!

Brandon's Group (also called Hulk) played games and then went to a swimming pool with 36 kids for the Salvation Army day camp. It was a blast and we will be with them again tomorrow.

Dana's Group (also called Iron Man) went to CCC Food Pantry. It is a food pantry and sooo much more.  We spent the the day with Sister Marilyn cleaning up the neighborhood which involved trimming and weeding the yards of abandoned houses and working in a community garden. We will back there on Thursday.

Below are 2 photos from Iron Man.

Many blessings to you all!~

Dana and Brandon

Quad Cities: Day One in Davenport

Hello Parents!

We are getting ready to go to the water park but I thought I would drop a quick line:

We have been split into two ministry groups.

Dana's group is going to an adult day center in the mornings and leading Bible activities with kids at Joyful Noise Trailer Park in the afternoons. This group includes Logan, Mariah, Emily, Grace, and Elizabeth.

Brandon's group is volunteering with Salvation Army and today we cleaned, pulled weeds, and played with kids at their family rescue shelter in downtown Davenport. Tomorrow we will be helping with the Salvation Army Kids' Club by doing crafts and games in the morning and then taking the kids to a water park. This group includes Jamie, Trent, Andrew, Cierrah, Christina, Kira, and Abi.

Both groups are combined with students from other churches. On the right is a photo from the Salvation Army site this afternoon. Time permitting, tomorrow will be a photo from the other ministry group.

We are having a GREAT time and are looking forward to an evening of story sharing, fun, and hopefully a lot of sleep.

Much peace and joy,
Brandon Newton

P.S. We wanted to let you know we are staying at Grace Lutheran Church instead of St Paul. The emergency contact info is the same. Everyone is having a great time! -Dana

Getting to Work in Lake Traverse!

Pastor Randy has already sent a few updates from the road. Enjoy!

Lake Traverse YouthWorks group: leaving on a beautiful morning!

Arrived in Sisseton, SD, staying at the Catholic Parish- great, easy trip, sunny warm day, and ready to meet and greet new friends in Christ!  

Monday morning: starting the day after breakfast with a quiet devotion time outside using the YouthWorks devo booklet. "You Are Here" is the theme for the week... Here to love God and love others - today we pause with a focus to worship our beautiful God who loves us and all people!

And now a first work project for some of the Lake Traverse Mission Trip: volunteering in support of a summer program for children in Sisseton. This is an art class experience.

Below is a video of the group singing "Grace Like Rain"

Brief Notes: Joplin, Lake Traverse, Quad Cities

Sunday was a busy morning at SOTV for Summer Mission Trips. One group gave its report in worship and another two groups hit the road!

Joplin Trip Report

The two groups who traveled together to Joplin, Missouri for Disaster Relief did their trip report during worship at The Table in the Great Hall. It was made even more special by having Amanda Krauter lead the Table Band that day, and having other trip participants read prayers, help with Communion and serve as greeters and ushers.

Thank you to so many of you who came yesterday, it was a great showing, with only a handful of people who couldn't make it. It was wonderful to be able to share stories and photos from the memorable week with so many members of the congregation. If you missed the presentation, I will post a video soon of Pat Buss, Sadie Sheldon and Courtney Schultz speaking.

Quad Cities

Brandon Newton and Dana Ellingworth left around 9 with a group of eleven youth to travel to the Quad Cities to serve with YouthWorks. Here is a brief description of their mission:

The Quad Cities region, including Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline and Rock Island is located on the Iowa/Illinois border. Today, the Quad Cities has a population of 400,000. In recent years, the region has suffered the effects of downsizing at local factories leading to high unemployment and poverty. Students may spend all week at one service site or switch between sites during the week. They may serve at children’s programs, elderly centers, soup kitchens, or thrift stores. Evening activities may include a prayer walk through the city or a trip to the water park. During this week youth will be challenged to walk alongside God’s people as they build caring relationships. 

Lake Traverse

Pastor Randy Brandt left around 10 with a group of four other adult leaders and 24 youth to travel to the Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota to also serve with YouthWorks. Here is a brief description of their mission:

The Lake Traverse Reservation covers an area of over 400 square miles within six counties in South Dakota. The Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux tribe has a population of 10,408. The original reservation was greatly reduced to its present size through subsequent homestead acts to provide land for non-native settlers. Youth will serve on the reservation, particularly in the community of Sisseton. This Native American community struggles with poverty and unemployment. The current unemployment rate is 59 percent on the reservation. The need for jobs will only continue to grow as nearly 30 percent of the population is under age 18. Youth will serve by helping with Kid’s Club or doing home improvement in the name of Jesus Christ while learning from tribal members.