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

2013 Summer Immersion Schedule

“He must increase but I must decrease.”

-John 3:30

John the Baptist’s statement referring to Jesus is a challenge for all of us. Such decrease and increase is not simple math or an easy formula. We are products of a culture where bigger is better and doing more is the desired outcome. However, sometimes the work we do for others does less to make their lives better and more to make us feel good.

This summer we will be challenged to step aside and let Jesus do more while we experience life alongside others in the communities we are sent. We will walk with those we go to serve as co-laborers in God’s kingdom while hearing their transforming stories of faith and life.

Our summer immersion trips give students the opportunity to learn from and serve together with their host community. Several new trips are being offered to help students experience Jesus in the midst of caring and mutual relationships. No matter where we travel we continue to practice SOTV’s strong culture of welcome, care, and transformation in the name of Jesus Christ. This is best achieved when we stop doing for others and focus on being with others.

When it comes to experiencing Jesus, less really is more. When we load vans for our summer trips, we fit everything we need under the seats and in the back. We travel light (some travel lighter than others) and trust the community and God to provide everything else. We will all be challenged to step aside, to decrease, and let Jesus take over and live through us.

Here is the schedule for 2013:

Summer Stretch: select Tuesdays in June and July
Camp Wapo/Luther Dell: June 15-21
Pine Ridge: June 22-28
Green Bay: June 30-July 5
Bethphage: July 6-12
Habitat Milwaukee: July 15-21
Duluth: July 21-26
Beach Camp: July 28-August 3


We look forward to decreasing with you! 
~Pastor Randy, Katie, Erin, Brandon, and Barb

Sights from Rapid City and South Dakota

Our SOTV crew in front of Mount Rushmore. Really, promise, it's back there :)

Safari Girls

There is a basketball court that we're free to use at our shower site! Had a blast, though after a few minutes of fun everyone could have used another shower :)

Freshly showered and silly after a great first day at work sites

Wednesday night we had the opportunity to go to a pow wow at a Lakota Sioux Lutheran Church in Rapid City. Our youth honored our hosts by watching and--best of all--dancing with them when invited! It was a dusty, sweaty blast.

Black Hills Works was one of our work sites for the week. It is a day center where adults with disabilities have opportunities to make art, exercise, do other activities and even work for a paycheck! Those of us at the site had a fabulous experience and made many new friends

Claire helping Shad paint a masterpiece

Amanda and Heather playing battleship with AJ

Community cookout Thursday dinner--we served almost 300 friends from our work sites, Trinity Lutheran (our housing location), and the surrounding neighborhood.

Getting Serious in Rapid City

Devotion Time

Tuesday, August 31

Today we took devotions more seriously. People are stepping out of their comfort zones, meeting new people, doing actions with the songs and singing. You've got to be here to actually understand it. The weather has been hot. 

All of our groups have been helping out with meal prep, clean-up and building chores. Everyone is getting more comfortable with their work sites. But just when we think we've seen most of the city, we discover something new. 

- Alex Gehling

Rapid City: Club for Boys

Monday July 30

The boys from SOTV combined forces with the boys from Calvary Baptist (the other middle-school group serving here) to work at The Club for Boys. They provide a very low-cost environment for local boys to "develop self-esteem and character in a caring, safe, and fun environment."

Monday at the Club for Boys is called "sanity day" for the staff and we were told that when we return on Tuesday we would truly understand why it is called that. The day started with an overview of the club and instruction from Mark, the club director. Mark is very upbeat and passionate about the club and that energy was passed on to the boys as they accepted their mission to first clean the building on Monday in preparation for buddying-up with a boy when the center is open for the remainder of the week. 

Mark led the group in a quick Simon Says (of course, Mark was Simon) to see how many of us were listening; a great way to get everyone engaged. After a tour of the facility, each person scanned in a visitor badge which helps the club track its volunteer hours for possible grants, etc. Then the work began. The club is building a nice-sized outdoor fort and was putting the finishing touches on pouring the footing and moving a bit of earth for the foundation; a few boys moved cement from the mixer truck and put some sweat into the project. The club also maintains a garden so a few boys were off to water that on this off-day. The majority of the day was spent in some "Spring Cleaning" where boys and adults pitched in to vacuum, mop, and wipe down the majority of the building. The capstone project was helping to haul in a 700+ lb slate pool table donated that day to the club. The slate was very hot after being transported from the donor site to the club which added to the challenge of bringing it into and through the building. With many hands making lighter work, the table was set up just as the work shift ended for the day - a very satisfying end to the day's work!

The work day was followed by clean up, showers, and a pizza dinner at a Christian school 20 minutes from the work site, and a visit to Mount Rushmore. Later, when the group assembled back at Trinity Lutheran, our home base in Rapid City, stories were shared of the day's events across all site about God's good work through our youth and adults.

Peace,
Chris Read

Rapid Arrival to Rapid City!

We arrived in Rapid City about an hour ago, settled into sleeping rooms, and enjoyed some free time before dinner. We worshipped with First Lutheran in Mitchell, SD this morning and spent a really fun afternoon in Custer State Park. Check out a few pics below! Everyone is doing well and looking forward to finding out where we'll be serving this week!

Blessings and peace to everyone at home!
 - Katie Strand

Made it to Mitchell on Saturday just in time for a quick visit and silly pic in the corn palace. Day 1 drive went smoothly and we had fun mixing up the vans to meet new friends :)

Pulling out of the Custer State Park game lodge for our jeep safari! It was an awesome adventure.

Safari Crew!

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.

Reflections of Haiti

Here are a few comments from people in the group...about to take off from Pignon and will try to add to this in Miami:

What is one of the most important lessons you've learned here?

Tyler H: "The value of a dollar. Holy crap!"

Tyler A: "It seems like some people want us here and some people don't."

Jaime: "That we've got it really good in the States."

Tom: "I've never had such an appreciation for clean water."

Regen: "The social aspect of community is really important--true anywhere, but we especially see it here."

Lauren: "Kids everywhere are the same--innocent."

Maddy: "It's one thing to hear about poverty and learn about it--it's another thing to see it and live it."

Alyssa: "I never want to haul rock again!"

Terri: "Change comes slowly. Uplifting a community will ultimately uplift the individuals in that community."

Bill: "Still, after all these years, it so hard to change my deep-seeded thoughts about poverty and service."

Alyssa: "Creole--learned.

             Roosters--everywhere.

             Spiders--HUGE.

             Clean water--limited.

             Money--scarce.

             Fellowship with Haitian brothers and sisters--priceless."

Kristin: "The Haitians will always be better at football!"

Kristin: "You can never escape Bieber fever."

Favorite/Memorable moment:

Terri: "Impromptu competition with Katie and elderly Haitian woman in Haitian-style carrying (carry a rock on our head with two hands, rock on head with one hand, one rock on head + one on shoulder). Haitian woman won."

Regen: "Soccer game with neighborhood kids. Soccer is always serious fun in Haiti!"

Bill: "Working and joking with my three little Haitian amigos in the river. We each knew enough Spanish to get by--mainly laughing together."

Kristin: "Walking behind behind two bulls, swatting them with a stick. Good way to get out some aggression!"

On going home:

Terri: "It's going to be hard not to have people yelling "Blanc! Blanc!" as we go down the street." 

Last Day in Haiti

 

It is a beautiful and bittersweet night as we prepare to leave Pignon...bags are being packed and goodbyes being said. Today was a bit more laid-back and restful, after 3 solid days of heavy lifting in the sun. The road looked pretty darn great as we waved goodbye to the people of Char (my next attempt at spelling the community's name) yesterday. This morning we put on our work shoes one more time--before most of them went into permanent retirement--and hiked part of Mount Pignon. We got to do some fun shopping at a craft market that was set up outside the Guest House. Later in the afternoon we were able to visit a few people's homes and get another perspective on daily life here in Haiti. It was quite an eye-opener to walk through a tiny three-room house (with a kitchen and latrine out back) that is home to 12 people!

 

We were graciously invited to sit on Neil's roof again this evening to catch the sunset and share conversation with his family and each other. It was a thoughtful group time, where people reflected on moments and insights from our trip that we hope are captured in our memories forever! There are so many stories to tell when we get home. Thank you all in advance for listening to them :)

Tomorrow from the Miami airport I will send assorted comments that I have been collecting from the whole group. We are all so grateful for this experience and all of you who have supported and encouraged us to be here! See you very soon!

-Katie

More photos: http://sotvhaiti2012.shutterfly.com

Summer Stretch at Second Harvest

Our July session of Summer Stretch has 45 participants and on Tuesday, July 17th we went to Second Harvest Heartland’s food bank in Golden Valley to serve in the morning. While there, students learned about the organization that helps support the SOTV food shelf and sorted 17,105 pounds of food donations.

A crew from KSTP interviewed a couple of us for a story that will air on Friday, July 20 at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. Look for us on the news on Channel 5 -ABC!

Afterwards we enjoyed lunch at a nearby park before spending the afternoon at Water Park of America.

The vision for Summer Stretch is “that together we would all grow in faith as we share the transforming love of Jesus Christ with others through service and recreation.”

- Brandon Newton