The Dreamers and Survivors of the Pine Ridge Reservation

Did you catch Diane Sawyer's report on 20/20 on children on the Pine Ridge Reservation?  What did you think?  Leave a comment.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/slideshow/diane-sawyer-pine-ridge-indian-reservation-14728527

Real Life Conversations

Real Life Conversations

Tonight I was looking through newsletter articles from our seven and a half years on the mission field.  I came across these words from 2004.

“When you and Tory fight does he hit you?”

 “When Tory gets drunk does he hit you?”

“Is it scary at your house at night?”

“My mom has been gone for a month.  We don’t know where she is or where we are going to live.  I am scared.”

“Can you help us?  Our gas and electric have been turned off and we need food for our kids.”

“I don’t want to go home.  My dad has been drinking.  Can I stay with you?”

These are all parts of conversations Kara and I had with kids and families during our first two months of ministry on the San Carlos Apache Reservation.  What a different reality than the one I grew up in!  My parents will celebrate their 42^nd anniversary next month.  I never went to bed afraid because I knew my dad would be there.  I never had to wonder from where my next meal was coming.  I never had to worry about our electricity being turned off.  This is the reality of too many kids on the San Carlos Apache Reservation.

Today as we were working at the new home we are building, a young family came to ask how they could get a home.  This couple was in their mid-twenties and had a toddler son.  Since this summer they have been living in a tent.  He has a job, but they can’t afford a home.  They are worried about being warm enough this winter.

At times this has discouraged and overwhelmed me.  What do you say to kids who just want someone to love them and provide them with a safe home?  What do you say to a hopeless father who just wants to provide for his family?  What do you say to the teenager who just wants their parents to be sober and care for their family?  What do you say when you have more questions than answers?  In the midst of questions I know I don’t have good enough answers and yet I am so glad I know a Father who cares so much that He gave His one and only Son for each one of us.

My favorite description of evangelism is “one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.” (D.T. Niles)  That is our goal and prayer...to simply love God’s children so much that we can earn the privilege of sharing the Bread of Life we have found.  This Bread of Life can then bring peace, hope and joy!

Simply a beggar,

tory

Boys Ministry: Work Hard

Check out an article about Boys Ministry by Mike Andrews, 3:18 Ministries Board Member.

http://www.youthworker.com/youth-ministry-resources-ideas/youth-ministry/11657864/

The Center of the Falls

Check out a blog from Liz Crews...future teammate at 3:18 Ministries.  Leave her a comment of encouragement as they are preparing to join us in Arizona!

http://crewsfamily3-18.blogspot.com/2011/10/center-of-falls.html

Live Your Story

In July we were privileged to spend a week at Gasconade Christian Service Camp for High School Camp.  It was an amazing week and we had such a great time.  There was a camp team from Central Christian College of the Bible at the week as well.  The theme of their display was “Live Your Story.”  That thought has echoed through my head ever since the week of camp.  God is calling us…His children…to Live Your Story.

As I have wrestled with this simple phrase, three things have jumped out at me.  First, LIVE your story.  Sometimes we are better at talking about our story, dreaming about our story or just sitting by and letting the story go.  As a Church we talk about love.  We talk about action.  We talk about praying for each other, but are our words empty or filled with action?  1 John 3:18, the foundational verse for this ministry says, “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.”  God has called us to live our stories in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our schools.  God has placed us in a circle of influence.  He desperately needs His people, each and every one of us, to live our story.  Let God write your story while you live it out!

Live YOUR story.  How often do we look at other peoples’ stories and wish it was our story?  Maybe this one is just for me (maybe not), but I spend way too much time comparing myself, my ministry, my family to others.  God is dealing with me and my own personal insecurities.  As I have wrestled with living my story God keeps reminding me that He created a story specifically for me and my family.  He has created a storyline just for me.  He has a part in the story only I can fill.  I must stop looking around and just be willing to look within and live my story, the story He has laid out just for me.

Live your STORY.  God has been writing a story since the beginning of creation.  What amazes me is He has a part in His story He has created specifically for each and every one of us.  God wants us to be a part of His story.  God has written me into His story.  A story is written with words.  What words would you use to describe your story?  Grace?  Mercy?  Forgiveness?  Redemption?  All of the above?  If your story is full of grace, mercy, forgiveness and redemption then who should we be as a people?  God needs you to live your story, in your circle of influence, for His kingdom and for His glory.  There is a world all around us lost, dying and going to hell.  They are desperately waiting for us.  Live your story…

tory

An Amazing Journey

August 1st, 2003

Kara and I were on an airplane with an incredible group of students from Fort Street Christian Church.  We had just taken off from Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska and were enroute to Globe, Arizona for our third short-term mission trip.  I had just finished our team devotional and began reading Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost for His Highest. 

“He comes where He commands us to leave.  If you stayed home when God told you to go because you were so concerned about your own people there, then you actually robbed them of the teaching of Jesus Christ Himself.  When you obeyed and left all the consequences to God, the Lord went into your city to teach, but as long as you were disobedient, you blocked His way.  Watch where you begin to debate with Him and put what you call your duty into competition with His commands.  If you say, ‘I know that He told me to go, but my duty is here,’ it simply means that you do not believe that Jesus means what He says.”

I turned to Kara who was sitting next to me in the plane, handed her the book and said, “Read this.  I think we are in trouble.”

Kara and I had so many excuses about why we didn’t want to move to Globe, Arizona.  We were close to all our family.  We were a part of a great church body.  We had dear friends and a great small group.  We had just purchased our first home.  And yet the call of God was so clear...to be a light in a dark world.  The field was white for harvest and yet the workers were few.  We could no longer sit by and just pray for the Lord to send workers.  At the time it seemed like a scary journey full of sacrifices.  Over the past 7 1/2 years our journey has been full of God's blessings.  What an amazing journey it has been.  I am thankful for the moments when we can pause and reflect on the call of God!

tory

Housing Conditions on the San Carlos Apache Reservation

Here are some picture taken with written permission and the understanding they would be placed on the internet to show people the current housing situation.  We are currently working on providing a 20' by 28' one bedroom home for an elderly lady who currently lives in the house in these pictures.