Dates and Information for June 2016 Trip 2

 

 

 

 

Hey all! Happy New Year! We hope that you all have had a great holiday season, and now it’s time to at least think about starting to think about our next annual mission trip to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 2016.

 

Dates for the Trip

 

This year, the trip dates are: June 10 – 19. Those dates include travel time to and from the Rez from here in Indiana for our core group (which basically means anyone travelling with Dave and I and the Whitewater gang). We’ll be working on the Rez, primarily in the villages of Wanblee and Potato Creek. Here is a rough itinerary for the week:

Friday, June 10th:

– Leave Whitewater, IN area approx. 8:00 a.m. Drive to Mitchell, S.D. (approx. 12-14 hours). Spend night at Motel 6. You’ll need money for food, a room (we pack as many into a room as we can to keep costs down), and some to chip in on gas.

Saturday

– Drive to Kyle, S.D. Get settled in at Lakota Prairie Lodge / Set up camp. Eat dinner, get acquainted.

Sunday

– Sight-seeing/supply day. Dave and I go to Sam’s and Walmart to get supplies for week. Pretty much everybody else goes to the Black Hills: Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, etc. Also, possibly to Potato Creek and Wanblee, just to let them know we’re back. We also hold a church service at camp, either in the morning or the evening. We also do any last-minute organizing necessary (there’s always something).

Monday through Friday

– VBS/Street Ministry, Adult Ministry, Construction. Look at the tabs on the Home Page for details on these. We also have a nightly devotion, with a few songs, a brief devotion, and high/low’s, a Nape Na Si tradition. We go around the circle and everyone tells (briefly) about their high point and low point of the day. A lot of fun, and no pressure to be deep or “spiritual” or anything other than honest.

Saturday

– Break down camp, pack up and hit the road for home. We normally drive about 12 hours today.

Sunday

– Finish the trip home. After this, you’re on your own.

Other Activities

We make a trip to Wounded Knee every year, on whatever morning works out best. I usually give a little talk on what happened there in 1890 and the events leading up to it, and Spencer Davis, from Oklahoma gives a talk on Wounded Knee II, in the 1970’s. Nothing too long or boring (it’s not a history lesson), but it’s important to understand what happened in order to appreciate the significance of the place.

We also have devotions in the Badlands one evening. We go early so we have time to do some climbing and enjoy God’s handiwork.

We normally have quite a few Lakota friends join us for supper throughout the week, and on Friday night, they have traditionally prepared “Indian Tacos” for us. Fry-bread and taco meat – it’s awesome! After dinner, we give away any food/supplies that we haven’t used.

A couple of our Lakota friends, Chub and Wilbur, usually do a sweat for us. Chub’s wife, Marian (pronounced Mary-Anne) frequently gives a talk on the significance of the ceremony. It’s always one of the high points of the trip.

As you can see, we keep pretty busy.

Accommodations

We stay at the Lakota Prairie Ranch Resort, in Kyle. Many of us camp, to keep our costs down. However, quite a few rent rooms or cabins, due to age, condition, or just plain old preference (we try not to judge!). Most of the rooms/cabins will sleep at least 4 comfortably, and can hold up to 6 (if they’re really good friends). Here’s a link to Lakota Prairie in case you want to check it out. Naturally, renting a room or cabin is much more expensive than camping. Camping is covered in the cost of the trip. Rooms and cabins are not. You’re welcome to get them, but it’s up to you to make reservations and pay for it.

If you want to camp, but don’t have a tent, don’t panic! We have two or three large tents that we can fit quite a few people into. Also, there’s pretty much always room for one or two in my tent (if you can take the snoring). Bottom line is, if you want or need to camp, we’ll make sure you’re covered. It might not be overly comfortable or roomy, but you will have a place to sleep. If you want to camp, but need space in one of our tents, don’t wait until the last minute! Let me know as soon as you can, okay?

What You Will Need

As a minimum, you will need the following: bug repellent, flashlight, camp chair, any medicine you are on at the time, personal supplies (toothbrush, soap, shampoo, etc., whatever you need to de-stink yourself), clothes for a week (although a washer and dryer are usually available), rain gear (because it will rain. probably horizontally), etc.

If you are camping, you will also need: a tent (see above), air mattress or cot (one advantage of a cot is you can store your gear underneath it, and it won’t go flat), sleeping bag (it gets cold out there at night), towel, etc. Here is (hopefully) a printable list: S. Dakota list. Hope it helps.

Make sure you brings shoes or boots! No flipflops outside of camp. This is a safety thing. The playgrounds where we do most of our work are full of broken glass, jagged metal, and other things that will turn your feet into hamburger if you blow out a flipflop.

The thing you’ll need the most costs nothing – It is merely an ability to roll with the punches, to adjust to frequent and sometimes rapid changes of plan, and a good, can-do attitude.

What You Won’t Need

Anything that you’ll be upset about if it gets lost, broken, or stolen. This includes jewelry, phones, cameras, computers, and just about anything else electronic or expensive. We’re not going out there to show off our cool stuff or play video games. We’re going out there to work and to try to bring some hope to people who live without it. This is not about us, it’s about them. Plan accordingly. If you bring it, you’re responsible for it. Do not expect anybody else to keep an eye on your stuff. Take it from a guy who had a camera and IPod stolen a few years ago. If you take luxuries into an impoverished place, you can’t blame someone for succumbing to a temptation you brought them.

Requirements

The cost of the trip is $350 per person + whatever you need for food/room, etc. on the trip out and back. The $350 covers food, fuel, transportation, and camping on the Rez. You are responsible for getting yourself to and from the Rez. This does not mean you have to drive yourself! We have room in my truck for passengers, and we take a 14-passenger van from Whitewater Christian Church. We are willing and more than happy to help you get there, even if it means arranging further vehicles, but, if you want to ride with us, you need to let us know as soon as possible!

We try to be as accommodating and helpful as we can. If you have special needs (dietary, physical limitations, etc.) let us know. We’ll do everything we can for you.

That’s about it as far as requirements. We’ve thought a lot about who should or shouldn’t be allowed to join us, and this is the best we can come up with: We decided that if we wouldn’t turn them away at the Church doors, then we couldn’t very well turn them away from this either. If you want to come, are willing to be part of the group, and want to help the folks in Wanblee and Potato Creek, then you are welcome. Your life/particular beliefs/lifestyle are not our business. Our group, both historically and continuously, has included Non-denominational Christians, Jews, juvenile delinquents, gay people, divorced people, Baptists, people with drug, alcohol, and gambling addictions/problems, conservatives,  musicians, capitalists, Nazarenes, socialists, adult delinquents, liberals, and then there are Dave and I, in whose combined closets lurk entire graveyards of spiritual and moral skeletons and shortcomings.

 

Don’t get us wrong, we’re not saying “Anything goes!” If you want to go, you need to understand that this is a Christ-based mission. You don’t have to be a Christian to come with us, but you do need to be willing to work with us, to be a part of the group, and, for that week anyway, to be able to put the group and the work above yourself. If you can’t do that, then stay home, or better yet, start your own group and help someone who needs it.

’nuff said on that.

If you have any questions regarding any of this, please, give us a holler.

I hope you’ll join us in June.