Tuesday, November 01, 2011

The Holiday Candy/Cookie Sale is ON!!

The annual Holiday Candy/Cookie Sale is happening NOW!!  The following 2012 Pine Ridge Mission Team Members are taking orders. 

Here is how it works:

  1. See the individual selling the item you want to order. 
  2. Place your order with them and pay at the time of order.
  3. Tell them when you need it by.
  4. They will make it and get it to you by the time you need it. 

Laura and Jessica Camardo are selling Iced Pumpkin Loaves for $10 each. 
(Sorry I don't have a picture for them).

Cathy Jackson is selling Buckeyes - $20 for 3 dozen.


Amber Buriff is selling Gingersnaps in a gift bag - $8 a dozen

Friday, August 19, 2011

Dates for the 2012 Trip

We now have a date for 2012 !!

The trip will be Saturday, July 21 - Monday, July 30, 2012

We will load the truck on Friday evening July 20th, and leave very early Saturday, July 21st and arrive there on Sunday the 22nd. 

We will leave there on Sunday, July 29th after church and arrive back home on Monday, July 30th. 

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Informational Meeting for the 2012 Trip

Interested in going on a mission trip to Pine Ridge in 2012 but not sure if its for you? 

There will be an Informational Meeting about the trip on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011 at the Winton Rd. First Church of God, 6200 Winton Rd., Fairfield, OH at 430pm. 

The meeting will be about an hour long and will give you the info necessary for you to determine if you should consider the trip or not.  It is strongly recommended that you have never before gone on one of our trips, that you come to the meeting before registering.  Attending the meeting will not commit you to going in any way - it is simply to give you information. 

Friday, August 12, 2011

My Thoughts on the Trip

First things first:

THANK YOU to the 16 crew members who sacrificially gave of their time and money to make the trip happen.  Be assured that God will not forget your hard work and the love you have shown (check Hebrews 6:10).   In time the people there may forget.  In time, you may even forget.  But what you did last week will remain in eternity forever.  Your time there was not in vain. 

The Crew was spectacular!  The way they worked together and took care of each other is all too rare.  I was immensely proud of them.  And it did not go unnoticed by the people there.  When one gentleman out there called me and Dennis aside to ask questions about God, I truly believe it was because of the witness many of our crew have been over the past years.  He has seen that.  He commented on it.  And I do believe it was because he saw Jesus that made him ask us more about him.  That man was in church at the Pass Creek Church of God last Sunday.  I don't know if he attends regularly but in the years I've been out there, I've never seen him in church before.  Awesome!! 

There were some minor issues among the crew.  There always are.  Anytime you get 16 different people with different personalities together, there is always something that comes up.  Its all very normal.  The thing is, this year it was handled in a biblical way and because of that, we all came home friends.  Again, I'm very proud.  Those issues are not easy to tackle, but it was done and done well and the result was peace. 

The Work was hard.  We accomplished more in three hours on Monday morning that I normally accomplish all week at home.  We cut grass that was overgrown.  We put together some beautiful bleachers for the amphitheater we built last year.  We fixed a mower.  We put in a bathroom for Melda.  She is thrilled to now have water in her house and an indoor bathroom!  We cleaned up trailers (thanks Andy).  We built a fire pit in the amphitheater that is a great place to have devotions.  We fed kids ... lots of kids a meal every day.  We did a VBS for a whole lot of kids every day.  We played on the playground with those kids.  We did teen nights.  And we put band-aids on hundreds of wounds, some invisible, some badly infected.  We delivered 827 backpacks full of school supplies to children on the Rez.  And who knows what else we did ... there are probably things I'm not even aware of because the crew was just like that - if they saw something that needed doing, they just did it.  Amazing.

The Relationships are deepening.  It was a good feeling to be mowing grass and have a couple of the adults drive by, see us, and stop in to chat.  It was good to connect with the teens.  I think I enjoyed the teens the most this year.  Normally teens terrify me, but this year, I loved being with them.  Its probably because they're "our kids".  We've watched them grow up and so there's a connection there.  Some of them break my heart because of the choices they're making.  Some of them I'm very proud of.  All of them I love.  Its also exciting to know that some of the women out there will be coming here to REZonate this year.  They'll be making Indian Tacos and selling their beautiful Lakota beadwork.  Its how they want to support US.  That's the beauty of relationships. 

The Backpacks.  We gave out backpacks in Allen, Calico, and left some at Re-Member for them to distribute.  Its hard for us to know how best to distribute them because we don't live there and don't have the connections to do that in a responsible way.  That's where Calico and Re-Member come in.  They are both great places to leave them and know that they will get into the hands of kids who need them.  In Allen this year the kids asked for backpacks every day.  I don't remember a year when I've been asked for them so much.  It was literally every day and all day long.  At one point one little girl said, "But we NEED them".  It would have been funny if it weren't so true.  I was told they had been concerned and asking for them in Calico too.  They have come to rely on us bring backpacks out for the kids.  That's just fine with me.  Just keep praying that the donations keep coming in so we can continue to take them.  The $10,000 from the Harley last year was awesome and we've held some of that back rather than spending it all at one time, but eventually it runs out.  Its little donations that make it happen over time.  Those little $10 donations represent one child that will get a backpack.  We need those ... lots of them.  The little girl was right, we really do NEED them. 

Monday, August 08, 2011

Headed home!

We got in to our hotel in Des Moines about 1:30 am. Now it's 6 AM & we are about to eat breakfast & head home. We have about a 10 hour drive today & lose an hour with the time change. Always the longest day of the trip.

Sent from my iPhone

Sunday, August 07, 2011

Isn't he adorable

This morning we are packing up & cleaning up. We will go to church & then hit the road. While we look forward to seeing our families & sleeping in our own beds, we are all feeling sad to be leaving our friends here. Over the past 8 years they have become a big part of our heart.

Sent from my iPhone

Saturday, August 06, 2011

We didn't make it to White Clay today - we ran into a parade & traffic was blocked so we went to Wounded Knee. Now on our way to lunch. Later we'll visit Melda.

Sent from my iPhone

Friday, August 05, 2011

Just wrapped our last day with the kids in Allen. Tonight the crew will go to the PowWow.

Sent from my iPhone

Just delivered 250 backpacks to the Calico community on the Rez.

Sent from my iPhone

Just delivered 404 backpacks to Re-Member, an outreach organization on the Rez.

Sent from my iPhone

Thursday, August 04, 2011

Cornhole with the Teens

Kool Ade Run

This morning we are working on getting water into Melda's house & installing indoor bathroom fixtures. This afternoon will be our last day of VBS and tonight our last teen night.

Sent from my iPhone

Gathering for church

Storm

Last night we had planned to gave a cookout & an informal service by the bonfire but as anyone who has ever been on one of these trios knows, things do not always go as planned. Just after the meal we began church and just after the singing a nasty storm blew up. We watched the clouds begin to swirl & rotate and quickly gathered everyone inside. People began scattering and we took those without a ride home as quickly as we could. Strangely enough the message Brian had prepared to deliver was titled "after the meal, the miracle of the storm".

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Look! I found a Cody & Owen here!

Delivered a hot water heater, sink, toilet, and flooring to Melda's. Tomorrow we will begin installing.

What a Load

Buying supplies to put a bathroom in at Melda's

Cookout @ Pass Creek

Tonight we will have a cookout, cornhole, & an informal service around a bonfire for the people of Allen.
Sent from my iPhone

Yes that's Brian under the pile of kids

Even the horses like the misting machine

Last night the teens painted the cornhole sets that we will use in tonight's cornhole
games. From there we began painting the horses and then they painted us! In the process of that, Ericka got paint in her eye & began to lose some vision. She is better today & her vision has returned but we would appreciate your prayers for her.
Sent from my iPhone

Update

It's Wednesday & by this time in the week we are all feeling the roughness of the trip. Please keep praying for all of us. Whitlock's foot is really giving him trouble. The rest of us are tired & stiff & sore but ok. It's been a great week. So many blessings we can't count them.

Sent from my iPhone

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Painting Horses

So the painting took a different turn

Updates

I'm not sure if the text updates are posting correctly. We are all doing well. Yesterday was a great day.

Sent from my iPhone

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Monday, August 01, 2011

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The Misting Machine

VBS

Putting up the Misting Machine

Building the Beach

Unloading Fire Brick For the Fire Pit

Sunday, July 31, 2011

We made it safely to the Rez & are getting ready for our first team decks under the South Dakota sky.

Almost There

We're having dinner @ Subway before heading to the Rez.

About to drive through the Badlands National Park.
Just visited the Wounded Knee Museum. Highly recommended.

South Dakota

Just had a picnic lunch overlooking the beautiful Missouri River

On the road again

Day Two

Day one went well.  We made good time and arrived at the hotel about 9pm (Central Time).  Amazingly, we only had one unscheduled stop along the way!  Everyone is fine.  Whitlock could use your prayers because his foot is giving him some discomfort, but he is OK. 

Today we will arive at the Reservatin - but first I have a couple of surprises for the crew.  :)  Once we arrive at the Rez, we will unload the truck and get settled in and try to get some rest before the chaos begins bright and early tomorrow. 

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Made it to the hotel

Sandbags still up from the flooding.

And we're off!!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Locked and Loaded

Well ... it couldn't be a tighter fit....





Ut oh ....

Ah, it'll be fine.

Thanks to all who came out to help load the truck!