The Poorest Place in America

I've been dreaming and I've also been crunching some numbers (those who know me will cringe at that). It's my goal to provide backpacks and school supplies to as many children on the Reservation as we possibly can. Ideally, I would love to provide backpacks to each child on the Reservation. It would take at least $65,000.00 each year to do that. That's not a lot of money but when you have nothing at all, it's a mind boggling figure. To think of raising that even one time seems out of reach, but we do have a big God and last time I checked, He was not short of cash. So, I believe this is doable.

As I've researched what it would take to pull this off, my heart has been broken all over again. Reading the statistics about Pine Ridge will do that to you. If I didn't know the Lakota people, their sense of humor and their incredible ability to survive, I would be tempted to despair.

I've often said that the Pine Ridge Reservation is the "poorest place in America". Here is what Wikipedia says about it, and particularly about Allen, the village we go to.

Allen, SD is considered to be the Poorest place in America About 95.9% of families and 96.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 97.1% of those under age 18 and 100.0% of those age 65 or over. Only Haiti has a lower life expectancy anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.

Like I said, it's heartbreaking.

November & December Fundraisers

Good news! John J at church has agreed to donate Flag and Military memorabilia display cases to both the Haiti and Pine Ridge teams. John has generously agreed to donate as many as we need!

These display cases look like the one pictured and are made of solid oak with a glass front. They can be used to display the Flag, Military, Police or Firefighter memorabilia.

Here is how it will work...

These cases will be available for anyone making a donation of at least $100.00.

Team members can include this in their sponsor letters to take orders for them from family/friends/coworkers. Money from any cases you sell will go into your account to pay for your trip costs.

Any donations of $100 or more outside of sponsor money will go toward the purchase of product from Matthew 25 Ministries in Blue Ash. We hope to be able to take another truck load of product to the mission next summer but we will need to raise at least $2500.00 to do this.

John also makes wooden toaster tongs that he is making available for $2.00 each to the Mission teams.

John will need to know ASAP if you have any orders for these cases.

We will kick off the fundraiser at church on Veterans Day but you can put this info. in your sponsor letters now.

If you have any questions you can email Amber

New Logo

Gary has been an online friend of mine for several years. He's a very talented graphic artist with a heart for God. Last week he surprised me and sent me a design that we can use as the logo/link to the Backpacks for Pine Ridge page. How cool is that? To have a professional graphic artist volunteer to do a logo for us!

If you're part of our team, stop over at Gary's blog and say thanks!

Another God Thing

It continually amazes me how God leads in these trips. It seems sometimes we have little to go on other than a desire and a hunch but we move ahead only to see that God was behind it all the whole time.

That is really how these trips came to be and each year there are several instances where that kind of thing happens.

I just spoke to Shelly a few minutes ago. I called to check on the electric problems they are having and to see how everyone is doing. I also wanted to talk to her about the possibility of taking backpacks and school supplies to a 3rd village.

Our supporters have been very generous this year. We had originally hoped to expand the backpack project to include the village of Allen and Wounded Knee, but it is only September and we already have enough backpacks and school supplies to expand to include a 3rd village! I needed to find a contact in a 3rd village where we can distribute them. I wasn't sure where we would take them or how it would work but I knew there were plenty of children on the Rez that needed them and that we would figure out a way to get them to them. I had been thinking of taking them to Kyle but I wasn't sure. I don't know anyone in Kyle and was not sure how many kids were there and I wasn't sure if maybe there was another village that would need them more. So I called Shelly and told her we had enough backpacks for Allen and Wounded Knee and that we still have 100 more that could go to another village. She immediately suggested - you guessed it - Kyle.

So many times that's the way things go. It has been my philosophy to just collect all we can and we'll figure out where to put it and how to get it there. I have no idea what will happen but we move on. I rarely have clear "leading" from God on a matter but I don't want to limit what God may be trying to do so we just move on and then figure out the specifics as we need to. And every single time it is crystal clear that He is really in control and has been leading all the time. Some may say that we're getting ahead of God. Maybe so, but I assure you we've not had that happen yet.

Besides, I think I'd rather be out there doing something, even if it's making mistakes, than to sit around wondering what we're supposed to do and end up doing nothing.

Prayer Request - Electricity

Please keep the village of Allen (and possibly others) in your prayers. We have word that the electric company has cut off electricity to many of the homes there. Shelly seems to think they will have it back on again before cold weather hits but this creates a time of intense frustration on the Reservation. It is during times of frustration when things can get out of hand. Drinking and gang activity tend to increase with the frustration. Along with the frustration there is boredom because there is no TV. Boredom and frustration are not a good mix. Please pray for all affected and for the missionaries there who are trying to minister.

FYI

Now that accounts are being settled we have a grand total for the trip - $19,126.14

That includes all of the following expenses:

• Truck Rental
• Van Rental
• Fuel
• Lodging
• Food
• Pallets of Product
• Backpacks/school supplies for 150 kids
• Freezer
• VBS
• Teen Nights
• Work Projects - at the Pass Creek Church as well as in people' s homes

If we had to pay for all of that and had no donations the cost of the trip would have been $736.00 each. (with 26 people going)

Coffee and Hot Chocolate that Help Make a Difference!

We are still selling Equal Exchange Fair Trade Coffee to help us with raising money for Backpacks for Pine Ridge. I have also just placed an order for Equal Exchange Fair Trade Hot Chocolate Mix! Hopefully in October we will also have Fair Trade Chocolate Bars - they are really good. All of these products are quality products and they help to make a difference in the world.

Here's how it works...

You can buy the coffee and 48% of the money from your purchase will go toward purchasing backpacks and school supplies for the children on the Pine Ridge Reservation. It's a situation where everyone wins and we have an opportunity to make a difference in many ways.

• First, we will be making money to purchase school supplies and making a difference in the lives of children on the reservation.
  
  
• We will also be helping the farmers who in developing countries by purchasing Fair Trade coffee.
  
  
• And, we will be raising awareness about Fair Trade products.

That's 3 different ways we can make a difference!

Will it cost more? Yes, but your money will be doing so much good on so many levels and the products are so much betterAbout Fair TradeFair Trade ensures that the farmers who grow the coffee in Third World countries are paid a fair wage for their crops, that they do not have to work in hazardous conditions, and that no child labor is used.

Some things you may not know ...

• The farmers who grow the coffee we drink are often paid less than it cost them to grow their crop, keeping them in a cycle of poverty.
  
• With chocolate, the story is far worse. "While chocolate is sweet for us, it can be heartbreaking for the hundreds of thousands of child laborers that pick the cocoa that goes into some of our favorite treats. In 2001, the U.S. State Department, the International Labor Organization and others reported child slavery on many cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast, source of 43% of the worlds cocoa. Subsequent research by theInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture revealed some 284,000 children between the ages of 9 and 12 working in hazardous conditions on West African cocoa farms. Of these children, it was reported that some 12,000 child cocoa workers that had participated in the study were likely to have arrived in theirsituation as a result of child trafficking". - From The Global Exchange
  

Informational Meeting for the 2008 Trip

There will be an informational meeting for the 2008 trip to Pine Ridge Reservation on

Sunday, September 9, 2007 @ 4PM

Anyone who has interest in going on this trip needs to be at the meeting. Attending the meeting does not in any way commit you to going on the trip.

If you have never been on a Pine Ridge Trip before it essential that you attend this meeting. You need to know what you're getting into before you make a decision about registration.

If you have gone on two (2) of these trips in the past, you need not attend this meeting but you will need to see me for your folder with your registration materials in it.

All youth 13-16 must have a parent attend the meeting with them.

Backpacks 2008

I've been shopping for backpacks today. So far here is what we have:

• ALL of the school supplies for the village of Allen!!
  


• 64 Backpacks for the village of Allen
  


• We still need 86 more backpacks and then we will have all of the backpacks AND schooll supplies for the village of Allen
  


• ALL of the Folders for the village of Wounded Knee!
  


• ALL of the crayons for the village of Wounded Knee!
  


• ALL of the notebooks for the village of Wounded Knee!

Of course, we still need $ to finish purchasing backpacks and school supplies.

This is Cody's old room, now the "Backpack Room". Brian came in today and took a look inside and said, "That's a LOT of school supplies ... oh look, we have labels on the walls".

More Pics

The 2007 Crew

Um... Josh, really, couldn't you wait?

Does he look like he's ready to smoke those scissors?

Date for 2008 Trip

We have a date for the 2008 trip. We will leave early Saturday, July 26, 2008 and will return home on Monday, August 4th.

There will be an informational meeting about the trip announced soon.

The 2007 Video

Video of the crew

This is footage of the crew on the trip to Pine Ridge. It's not fancy, just raw video of portions of the trip.

Some Great Shots

We were fortunate to have some gifted photographers on this trip. I did not take any of these pics and I'm not sure who did - either Connie, Tim or Cody, but they are amazing. Oh, I just realized that I did take the last one. I get one in 500 pics that are decent.

We're Home

We are back and we survived. All in all, it was a great trip - thanks to a fantastic crew and the good Grace of God.

We are exhausted! We gave up vacation time. We've traveled many hours, worked hard, put in long days and short nights. We averaged 4 hours sleep a night. Some of us were sick. Others got sick. Some of us were bitten, slapped, and snotted on. Some of us had our hearts completely broken.

We've delivered food to people who had none. We delivered water to people who didn't have water. We've put in electricity to someone's home. We took a truckload of product that can be given out to the people as needed. We took life-saving heaters for the winter. We visited in homes. We bandaged a drunk Indian who had been stabbed. We were given the honor of being invited to join in one of the Lakota sacred ceremonies of a sweat lodge. We ate a lot of dirt on rez roads. We painted over gang graffiti in the village - and added some positive graffiti of our own. Physically, we were miserable. Emotionally we were drained. Spiritually we were enriched. Jesus walked with us in unexpected places. None of us will ever be the same again.

Unloading the truck - all 7 tons of it, by hand

We filled their room

Giving out Backpacks with school supplies - the kids get so excited it's like Christmas in July

Some can't wait to get home to open them

Phayth did a rap concert in the village

And did some graffiti art on the trailers

The water fight!

Going to visit Melda Runs Around the Edge Red Bear Trejo

A Holy moment at Wounded Knee

Faith, Hope, and Love and the greatest of these, is love