Pine Ridge

In November, myself and three of my closest friends were able to spend another weekend on Pine Ridge. We were blessed with another opportunity to serve and I am so excited once again to share this mission with you. One our way to Pine Ridge, we stopped at the Dignity Statue which was a gift to the Lakota people. This statue was breathtaking and over 50ft tall.

When we arrived at Pine Ridge we assisted one of the missionary families in moving to a different home. The current home they were living in will now be used for the children’s ministry with Sharp Baptist Church. I will start helping with the children’s ministry during the month of January.  In their new home we assisted in putting up drywall moving in their furniture. We wanted to assist them in getting their home done before  their new baby Declan arrived.

We hosted a girls night where we we picked up teenage girls we had established a relationship with from previous visits on the reservation. We cooked a nice meal, made homemade ice cream and even hosted a game night. It was truly wonderful getting to know some of the girls even more! At the end of the night we brought the girls home and even rocked out to some music in our van!

Like our necklaces? Get yours at the Adorned Campaign

The next day we organized the pantry. We brought food with us for Thanksgiving boxes to put together. We put flour and sugar into smaller bags for boxing, lined up cans and even did some cleaning.

 

Sunday morning we took yet another trip out to the breathtaking Sheep's Mountain. Erica and Emmali had not experienced Pine Ridge or Sheeps Mountain before so we were excited to show them God’s beautiful creation. If you ever make a trip to western South Dakota, I highly recommend visiting this spot of the Badlands.

Erica and Emmali blindfolding each other
for the surprise! :)

                                        

Sunday morning we were able to assist with the Children’s ministry program the church puts on every Sunday! We taught Sunday school to the children where we discussed prominent stories in the Bible, along with singing dancing and games!

Chanku Waste Ranch has a large spot in our hearts. We are so thankful to the generous donors that allowed us to take this trip and cannot wait to return over spring break.  After leaving Pine Ridge I still felt God pulling at my heart as he called me to serve the Lakota people. With this I am excited to announce I will be spending the month of January on the Ranch. I will be assisting the the missionaries school, the children’s ministry program as well as focusing on the education of Native Americans. I am excited for this journey to begin and will definitely keep you all updated! Please pray for me!

Be humble and gentle; be patient, bearing one another with love. -Ephesians 4:2

Lots of Love,

Called to Love

    Summer has been a whirlwind for me with school, work and everything in between. I have seen the news and cringed, but went about my day. In recent crisis I decided I could no longer sit in silence. Human beings are being slaughtered carelessly. Our nation needs to come together and have compassion for one another.

This is a face of a daughter of a retired police officer and a current correctional officer. Each day my father and mother go to work not knowing if they will return home. Between the two of them they have sacrificed 45 plus years to serving their communities. As a little girl I would get up in the morning and run to the window. I would watch my dad walk to work and pray it was not his last day. When he came home from lunch I would be relieved that he was still alive. Thinking to myself that he just had to get through 4 more hours and I could have my daddy back. Every morning my mom walks out the door knowing it could very well be her last. She deals with some of the roughest people day in and day out.  While they both know their jobs are dangerous, they continue to serve and protect people.

This is a face an aunt who has a nephew and three nieces who are African Americans. My fear as they will grow up with the notion to not trust officers who often live to protect them. While I don’t know the African American perspective, I do know I want my babies to be safe. I do not want them growing up in fear just to go to a gas station just because of their skin color.  I want them to have every opportunity to live their life without fear.

Now our nation is continuously blasted with news and social media posts, but who honestly has the true story? Everyone begins to jump to conclusions when the only people who have an idea of what occurred, were the people involved. This continuous problem of careless shootings needs to end. I am not saying I stand behind officers or I stand behind African American. I stand behind the human race. Every person who has been involved is someone’s son, daughter, mother or father. They are humans who deserve the chance to live, no matter what they did or did not do.  I believe that if the person who is being apprehended is wrong, they should serve the punishment. If the officer who is doing the apprehending is in the wrong, they should serve the punishment.

I know this may sound like a broken record, but good officers do exist. My parents happen to be people with two of the biggest hearts I know. Unfortunately, the media shows you the crooked cops.  In every job there are going to be people who may not be in the right career path. 

Now we may have different opinions on this topic, but I ask when you lay down at night, you pray for every officer protecting you as well as your brothers and sisters in Christ.  God calls us to love each other, not to senselessly kill each other.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Lots of Love,

Chanku Waste Ranch..Day 3

Friday is the last day of camp for the week! It is only a half day so we did not get to have a full day of fun! The camp will continue all summer till August when school begins again! We ended Friday with 101 kids attending camp!        

Even the dogs are happy on the ranch

My favorite part about camp is all the snuggles and loves you receive from the kids. Almost immediately they coming running up and ask for a hug. I love the affection they give away freely. This kids truly inspire me to love openly and give it freely.                        

                       

Check out my nasty bug bites

                             

We began the last day of camp with song, dance and scripture. It was so amazing seeing these children singing praises to the Lord. They also worked hard every day to memorize the scripture verse of the day. God is changing their hearts to love him. The entire week theme was crazy love and I could see the love the kids had for each other. 

                      

                     

Noah and I switched roles today as I pulled him around the ranch. It was another morning full of yard games and bouncy houses. Next week another church group will roll in and the activities will be different. They have groups coming from all over the nation including Georgia, Ohio and Iowa. I hope one day we can get a South Dakota church to participate and come to the understanding of what is occurring in our very own state. 

                     

Our morning snack consisted of cotton candy!! It was so fun seeing the joy in these children faces when they got a stick of cotton candy. Most of them were expressing to us that they never had tried cotton candy before! It was a neat experience to see the simple joy the received from this sugary snack!

                   

               

                       

                       

USF provided me with gear to pass out to children who are hoping to pursue a college education. I was able to talk to these individuals about the scholarships USF provides as well as the Christ centered campus. These two are seniors and I hope to see them at USF in the near future!

                    

                    

                    

God is truly working here and I am so happy to be apart of the ministry. I encourage you all to come out to Pine Ridge and experience the beauty. Amidst the poverty, these kids have true joy. They are so open and welcoming to anyone who wants to help. This is a issue we need to stop ignoring and begin to make a difference. Thank you God for placing this place on my heart. Its never goodbye for Pine Ridge. It is always see you soon. 

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing one another with love. -Ephesians 4:2

Lots of Love,

Chanku Waste Ranch..Day 2

Our second day began with many morning activities and games! We played in the bouncy houses, played catch and Noah even pulled me around in the wagon! The kids also taught us one of their traditional games called gaga ball! The morning was eventful and the weather was perfect! It was a blast seeing all of the kids return for another fun day at camp!

                         

                           

       

                           

         

                      

Each year the kids and volunteers put up the teepee for camp! It is a picturesque view with the Badlands in the background and all of the smiling faces! The camp has many sorts of activities we played including volleyball, basketball, 9 square in the air, playground and two gaga pits!

                    

                       

                      

Each day consisted of music and crafts. Today we played the boom wackers (colored tubes in picture below) to two different tunes! Our age group will be performing these songs on the last day of camp this week. Our craft today consisted of a decorating cookie contest. I believe there was more frosting than cookies for most of them! The kids enjoyed this activity and the freedom to create.

                   

                        

                        

One of my moms friends graciously donated a yard Yahtzee game for the kids! They loved playing it and having a life size version! It was a great experience to be able to teach the kids how to play! Thank you again to all of those who donated games and hygiene items for these kids!

                      

                    

                      

The men from the Kentucky group also working on building another house on the ranch. The house will be used for another minister and his family. This family also preaches at the church and helps run the children camp! They have made tremendous progress as they only began building on Monday! It was so exciting to see the walls going up today!

                 

                       

In the evening the Kentucky group invited us to spend the evening with them. We took a trip to back to Wounded Knee. This time the Emerson family cooked us a traditional Native American meal. Mr. Emerson also spoke to use about the tragedy of the Wounded Knee Massacre and the events that led up to the massacre. The ladies were also selling traditional Native American jewelry as well as dream catchers. Their work is so intricate and they truly have a talent for the fine details of beadwork. 

                    

                      

                             

                         

As the sun began to set on the mass grave at Wounded Knee Cemetery we made our way back to the ranch. We prepared for another day of camp and giving glory to God. Please continue to pray for this mission and the children who attend here. Thank you for following this journey.

Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and will all your soul and with all our mind. -Matthew 22:37

Lots of Love,

Chanku Waste Ranch..Day 1

Day one for us is at the ranch is complete! They set a record number of kids today with 109 kids showing up for camp! This is the largest number of kids they have ever had since opening 6 years ago! We arrived mid morning and were immediately gravitated towards the children! On our way out here our car was packed with donations that all of you graciously provided! We were able to donate 60 kid hygiene kits, 30 baby hygiene kits and 2 adult hygiene kits! We also had many other things donated including 20 laundry detergents as well as over a hundred toothbrushes! 

Baby Hygiene kit included: 3 diapers, soap
washcloth, comb, toothbrush and wipes

                                           

Kids hygiene kid included: soap, toothpaste, toothbrush
washcloth and comb

                                               

                         

                                   

     
                      

We were able to restock Sharps Baptist Churches pantry. The church pastor and his family also run Chanku Waste Ranch! They are such sweet people and I am blessed to be able to volunteer with them!

                              

Immediately I began making new friends. We are in a group of 7-10 year olds which has grown over the past couple days. The first day of camp which kicked off on Tuesday had a total of 64 children, the second day the numbers doubled! I am so excited to see what the rest of the week has in store!

                      

                        

The camp is run by a different church group each week throughout the summer! The church brings the activities and food for the week! The church we are working with are from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church! They brought 35 individuals to help with camp as well as building another house on the ranch. Our day consisted of games, music, crafts, bouncy houses, card games and much more. Needless to say by the end of camp we were all wore out!

                      

                                  

                       

                            

The pastor and his family live on the ranch! You can check out their blog HERE! Towards the afternoon when all the kids were being taken home, I was able to spend some time with one of the pastors sons! When we were here earlier this year, he was full of laughter and tricks! He is still the smiley kid with lots of energy!

               

                               

 Wednesday night is church night so we all headed in to town to attend. The church has undergone some beautiful improvements the past couple of months. A new paint job, new lights, chairs and wood! All of it making God’s house look beautiful!

Church Improvements

                        

Church in March

                  

Noah and I 

                            

I am so thankful God has lead me to Pine Ridge! I hope to return one more time this summer as God has placed these people on my heart. It is so wonderful to see all the work and impact these families are having on the reservation. God is definitely on the move here and I am astounded by his work. Please continue to pray for us and these children. Thank you for all of your donations that we were able to bring here. We could not be more thankful.


For the Lord your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
-Deuteronomy 20:4

Lots of Love,