GENERATION TO GENERATION

Some of you may have followed on Twitter yesterday that I went along with the Flandreau Indian Students to chaperone a school outing to a Pow Wow in Sioux Falls. We don’t celebrate Columbus Day in South Dakota but recognize Native American Day instead. The South Dakota legislature voted to make 1990 the year for reconciliation between the white and Indian populations. They voted in this day of observance as a way to work towards that healing.

The school tries to do things that help the students learn more about their heritage. Like many cultures, history and traditions are lost when elders die and younger generations forget what has gone on before. You’d be surprised how many of our students have no real idea of their heritage or what it means to belong to the particular tribe that they come from.

I think maybe South Dakota itself is beginning to realize what a uniquely American heritage the Indians have, a heritage that goes back hundreds of years, years before European settlement.  The Sioux Falls School District announced this fall that it will offer the Lakota language (local Indian dialect) as a language elective in their schools next fall. Also, PBS in North and South Dakota will be airing episodes of the Berenstain Bears in the Lakota language to reach the younger generations who are highly impressionable in retaining language.  These are all amazing steps in preserving a heritage that is part of our country’s heritage as well.

I had the privilege of arranging a meeting of two individuals during the Pow Wow. I met an older gentleman who was dancing in the Pow Wow and he asked about one of our runners on the cross country team who has been running exceptionally well this season. He said cross country running had helped him travel all over the world and he wanted to encourage the student in his efforts to keep on going. The runner was with us at the Pow Wow so it was exciting to be able to arrange a meeting between the two.

It was a greater thrill that the meeting became important to both of them. I introduced them and then left them to share but Griffin’s Facebook status last night was priceless. “Talking to me about running... Each step is a prayer.”  (photo posted above) To be able to introduce wisdom from the older to the younger was exciting for me to be able to facilitate.

Psalm 145:4 “One generation will commend your works to another; 

they will tell of your mighty acts.”

CONTENTMENT

What is it about us that is hard-wired to constantly be looking for the next thing to make us happy. Is it rooted in our sin condition; this idea that we’re unable to be content with where we are and with what we have?

Many of the students who I am in contact with have this condition as well. “If I could just go back home” or “if I went to a different school” or “if I had a different boyfriend/girlfriend” then things would be better or different. There are a lot of complaints related to looking for something else that they currently are not experiencing.

For many of the kids who come to school at Flandreau this is the most structured environment they have ever had to be in so rebellion becomes a natural reaction. They have never had to keep a class schedule because they barely went to school a number of days in a row at home let alone a number of hours in a row. They have never had a curfew because there were few functioning adults at home that kept any sort of order. It can be a difficult transition for many who have never had any sort of organization in their lives.

Many of us as adults are the same way. If we could just have a promotion or a new house or a new car or even a new spouse or relationship then our lives would be different and we could find contentment. The problem is we never get there. We get what we want and we find it doesn’t bring us anymore satisfaction than we had before.

Paul said in Philippians 4 “I've learned to be content in whatever situation I'm in. I know how to live in poverty or prosperity. No matter what the situation, I've learned the secret of how to live when I'm full or when I'm hungry, when I have too much or when I have too little.” If we could all just reach this same level of contentment we’d be much better off.

But then Paul goes ahead and shares the secret of his contentment: “I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.” He gives us the strength we need to endure trials and even to look around and consider how God is blessing us despite the trials we’re going through. It’s much easier to make a list of the things that we don’t have rather than list the things that God has already provided.

I hope you’ll take a minute to enjoy what He has already provided instead of wasting your time on “if only’s.” Be content and make the most of exactly where He’s placed you for the present. 

GOD IS IN CONTROL

Some days I just have to be reminded that God is at work; I don’t always know or like the final outcome. He continues to work even when it looks like He has abandoned. Yesterday was a tough day for me to remember that.

Gang activity flared up on campus yesterday; it happens occasionally unfortunately. People who are looking for identity, protection and community come together in attempt to belong to something and to dominate others.

An incident happened in the dorms on Thursday apparently that caused some sort of retaliation at lunch time on Friday. About a dozen young men, all dressed in some form of red, gathered together on the sports bleachers harassing other students as they passed. The faculty was able to break it up before anything serious happened.

Administration gathered everyone together who was wearing any form of red to talk about the school’s no-tolerance stance on gang activity. Since they didn’t know exactly who the students were that were involved, a great number of other students got involved in this sweep by color as well.  A couple of the students got up and left because they felt they were being unfairly lumped in with an element that they had nothing to do with.

The students who left the meeting were sent home directly after the meeting was over. It grieves my heart when students get sent home for misunderstandings or simply for reacting to situations they find themselves mixed up in. I know discipline is important especially in a boarding school setting but it still upsets me when pretty decent kids get sent home for fairly minor infractions when the real culprits behind incidents continue to be present.

I know that God is in control, that all things are accomplished for HIS purposes and not mine and that He is teaching me through different situations as well.  Continue to show me Lord what it is that I need to learn. And continue to work in the lives of the students as well.

OFF AND RUNNING

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."   

-Jeremiah 29:11 

We are off and running for another great year at Flandreau Indian School. Students returned last Wednesday and school began the very next day. I recognize a lot of faces but there are a lot of new ones as well. I’m really looking forward to getting to know new kids!

It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what has changed but things seem different this year. Maybe I’m reading more into it than there is, but it seems like students came back ready to learn! A lot more reserved than last year—there are even kids carrying books around with them! I don’t know if the fact that we started a few weeks later meant that kids were getting a little impatient waiting for school to start or if it’s something else. Maybe it’s just the new DNA of new students on campus.

We kicked off our chapel worship schedule for the year this past Sunday for the 2011-12 school year. We had 23 students come out for our first week! There were more students than we had any Sunday last year—nearly 10% of the student population.  We are off to an amazing start!

In chapel we talked about allowing God to show us something new this year. Sometimes we have expectations for certain outcomes or expectations of how we think situations might turn out but we end up in a completely different place than we thought we were headed.  We have hopes and desires but sometimes God knows better and leads us in a different direction. What’s important is not to be mad at God for bringing us to a different place or situation but to be open to what He is trying to teach us.

Who’d have thought just a little over a year ago that we would be in South Dakota working with such amazing teenagers? I certainly had no idea that places or ministry like this still existed in the United States and yet God knew exactly where we needed to be to have the greatest impact for Him.

I am excited for what God has in store for us this year!

Happy Anniversary!

Neighbor's garage

This week we celebrated an anniversary as a family. A year ago Kristen and I first visited our new town of Flandreau, South Dakota to see where exactly it was we were considering taking over the Chaplaincy ministry at the Flandreau Indian School. We immediately fell in love with this place we now call home with its rolling farmland, small town charm and close knit community. Everyone kind of chuckled that were moving from the warm temperatures of Florida to a bit harsher climate in the upper Midwest.

Getting cleaned up

Flandreau’s greatest challenge this year, though, didn’t turn out to be the cold and snowy winter but a storm that hit while we were away this summer. A thunderstorm/tornado came through on July 2 that downed trees and knocked out power for a few days. The tree loss at the Indian School alone was estimated at 50-75 trees. There hasn’t been a storm like this to hit this town in quite a number of years. No loss of life or injury was reported. Generally, trees that came down did not cause widespread homelessness or catastrophic loss as these storms can sometimes bring.

What's left of another garage

Part of the charm of this area though is the community’s willingness to help one another out. While the town looks much different than it did a year ago, the spirit of community that first attracted us to this area is still very evident in how they react to a crisis. Neighbors have helped out neighbors and life has quickly returned to enjoying summer even as the cleanup continues.

A Quick Trip North

Canada at sunset

Kristen and I made a quick trip to North Dakota and Canada yesterday. We agreed to return a family who was having a tough time making it in Sioux Falls back to their reservation in north central North Dakota. We hadn’t really been this far north yet since we've lived here and it was a great opportunity for us to be able to visit some students from the Indian School at their home and to see firsthand one of the areas that the students are coming from.

The incredible remoteness and vastness of this area is amazing and a little hard to describe. Growing up in the northeast and then living in a city in Florida, it’s easy to forget that there are still places in the country that have not been developed to the point of overpopulation. North Dakota certainly is one of those places that has wide open spaces and miles and miles of farmland and unspoiled landscape. The countryside at this time of year is beautiful and lush. I can’t say that I would have appreciated its beauty so much had it been January when temperatures can drop to 50 below zero up in this part of the country.

Moose munching on breakfast

I am in awe of how the Chaplaincy position can be so far reaching. God is still showing me the potential of how I can be an instrument in reaching others for Him.  This trip came about because I had come into contact with the mother of several of my students at Flandreau Indian School. Due to a medical crisis with one of her daughters and her newborn grandbaby, we have been able to spend some time with her in the last few months in person and on the phone and she’s gotten comfortable in asking us to help her out when she needs it.

It’s rare for me to become involved with families because our school is a boarding school setting. The students live at our facility during the school year and the school is responsible for transporting them in and out. This was a unique opportunity to get to know more members of this family and to be able to minister to them and meet physical needs.

North Dakota Countryside

ALL IN THE FAMILY

We’ve had the opportunity to get caught up with family for the last couple of weeks as we’ve headed east to share the ministry of the Chaplaincy program. There has been a great response to our ministry and we have already been able to meet many new friends along the way.

During our visit there was a family crisis that we weren't expecting but it was a reminder to me about the bond and power of family. We were able to rally together as a family, sharing some of the burden and offering emotional support to each other. We laughed together, cried together, prayed for one another, talked and visited with each other. It was a deep time of sharing that I can’t remember ever having done in such a short visit. The timing was extraordinary in that we were all available for one another.

As I continue to meet with people on my summer travels I am struck by having that feeling of having met someone before even if I haven’t before. My wife and I call it that “Spirit connection,” being connected through our love of Christ and in following His direction. It's a recognition of Christ who lives within us and is not limited by age, gender or denomination.

One of the beauties of the Chaplaincy program is that it is supported by the family of God. It is not dependent on any one denomination but by a network of believers who see the potential for reaching American Indian students with the love of Christ. There are few ministries that strike a chord in people’s hearts so interdenominationally.

This week I have visited with Baptists, Reformists, Methodists and Lutherans. We are also supported by many others. It is truly the body of Christ coming together for a common purpose and it is a joy to serve the students and staff at Flandreau Indian School on behalf of those supporters and in the name of the One who has sent me.

I’ll keep updating as we go. I’ve been to New Jersey in the first week and a half of travel. Then back to South Dakota for some denominational meetings this past week. I return to Pennsylvania tonight and head south through DC and the Outer Banks of North Carolina before arriving in Florida by the end of the month to renew some relationships there.