Mini Mission trip

 Some people travel in straight lines:

sit in metal boxes, eyes ahead,

always mindful of their target,

moving in obedience to the colored lights and white lines,

Mission accomplished at journeys end.

Some people travel round in circles,

trudging in drudgery, eyes looking down,

knowing only too well their daily unchanging round;

moving in response to clock and habit,

journey never finished yet never begun.

I want to travel in patterns of Gods making;

walking in wonder, gazing all around;

knowing my destiny but not my destination,

moving to the rhythms of the surging of his spirit,

a journey which when life ends,

in Christ has just begun.

Julian McGuiness

Our first ever mini Adult Mission trip is in the books - and we're declaring it a success.

We drove to SD all day Thursday

(in a drive that's anything but Kwik!),

 worked Friday and Saturday mornings for Firewood for the Elders,

 went sightseeing in the afternoon, 

enjoying the natural beauty of the reservation

and seeing features particular to no other place;

We caught up with old friends -

although not as many as we'd have liked to given our time crunch-

as well as shared thoughts and experiences with fellow parishioners

in a whole new context, 

getting to know them and ourselves in deeper ways. 

In the evening,

we enjoyed the pageantry and beauty of a Wacipi (Pow Wow)

at the Rosebud Fair.

We broke traditions of the Adult Mission Trip in large and 'mini' ways ;

(exs. not eating at a Pizza Hut on the trip out

and leaving my 'good camera' at home

relying on just a cell phone for my images).

We started creating a new way of being a small group

with a shorter time frame but

with the same big heart and mission

as the week long version of the Adult Mission trip.

I'll let the images speak for themselves.

(With thanks to a photographer from the reservation.

Kermit Grinshaw for his fabulous Fair images.)

Two mornings,

two gorgeous, foggy mysterious beginnings

The work:

Just like on a 'regular' Mission trip,

there are always unplanned, unexpected ways of helping.

 

This weekend, an impaired driver coming home from the Fair

 failed to notice a church building

and took out a corner of it!

 We put up a protective barrier to help protect the interior 

until insurance adjusters could get there early this week.

Favorite scenes from the Fair

I know I'm biased but,

after watching this young man grow up,

it's wonderful to see him as an accomplished dancer,

  the Champion for his age group 

in Grass Dancing.

It was a fabulous weekend!

 

Give prayerful consideration to joining us -

for either the next week long or mini 

Adult Mission Trip!

 

Next week long trip:

June 2- 9, 2018

I used to think you had to be special for God to use you.

Now I know,

you simply need to say YES.

 

Bob Goff