Category Archives: Native Americans

South Dakota 2010 :: Part I

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This is my family’s sixth year coming out here to western South Dakota. We are working again with Bruce Bonfleur and the ABOUT Group in Whiteclay, and are working with the Clinton Wesleyan Church to do a Vacation Bible School in Oglala.

Whiteclay, Nebraska is just off the Pine Ridge Reservation (the Rez.) The sell a huge amount of alcohol, mostly to the Lakota, who come down from Pine Ridge. There are quite a few who spend all their time there, sitting under any shade they can find drinking beer. Much of the town is a dump, with dilapidated buildings and trash strewn everywhere. However, there are a few bright spots. There are two grocery stores which do a good amount of business. (If the “neighborhood” was better, they could probably do better.) There’s Abe’s trading post, where people can buy and sell just about anything. And there’s the ABOUT Group.

Bruce Bonfleur, the director of the ABOUT Group, is a very busy man. As soon as he steps in the door of 555 WhiteClay (ABOUT’s center of operations), he is beset from all sides with requests and updates. Currently there is a quilting operation in the main room, providing steady work for the quilters. They are currently setting up a crafters supply store, to help supply artists with their raw materials at reasonable prices. Another room is set up as a fitness and computer center. The large room is shared with a dining area, which is used to serve meals to the street people three times a week. In the back is a screen-printing operation and a Lakota Crafters Co-Op work room.

Across the street and down a block is the Green Tipi Gardens, another project of the ABOUT group. They have received a grant to install a professional greenhouse. Our main work project last week was to build an auxiliary building which can be used as an early plant starting building, as a place to sell plants and vegetables, and as a warming up point for their winter ice-skating rink.

The overall goal of Bruce and the ABOUT Group is to create a positive place in White Clay and see lives changed through the ministry of the Gospel. Although many of their projects may be secular in nature, they are all done with a Christian spirit. Through personal interaction the Bonfleurs and the other Christians who minister with them hope to bring more people, Lakota and other, to a personal relationship with Christ.

This week: Our annual VBS with the Clinton Wesleyan Church in a field in Oglala.

Fun with the Kids

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Oglala VBS 2009

Oglala VBS 2009

This week we’ve been having a great time with the kids of Oglala at VBS. The stars of the evening are the puppets, which Mastincala and Keya, which you may remember from the He Sapa VBS. They have been showing us how to stay on the One True Way. Mastincala has a habit of getting off track, but wise Keya is always there with a piece of wisdom from the Bible.

We sing songs before and after the puppet show, including favorite “Jesus Loves Me”, well-liked “Listen To the Sound of the People Coming Back,” and a couple hymns and VBS songs. Then we have a skit put together by people on our team, based on a Bible story. Each day a different set of people puts together the skit. Tonight’s was about Paul and Silas in prison.

We Meet Travelers from PA!

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Well, guess who showed up on the prairie! It really shouldn’t be a surprise, because we have been planning this for about six months now. This evening we met up with the Clinton Wesleyan Church team in Rapid City, and traveled down to the Oglala Rec Center in Oglala, Pine Ridge Reservation. We are getting set up as I type, and will be starting work tomorrow.

Teens in the Hills

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Sleeping under the stars

Sleeping under the stars

We had a great time this week with the camping trips to Deerfield Lake in the Black Hills. The second trip was a Teen Camp. We had three guys and two gals come along for a two night stay. They were all eager to go conoeing,  so we took many excursions on the lake. We also took a five mile hike half way around the lake. No, we didn’t then have to walk 5 miles the other way! Half of our group conoed across the lake and parked the conoe, and started walking. The other half walked towards the conoe and paddled back across the lake.

We didn’t have any smores, but we did enjoy roasting marshmallows and hot dogs over the fire on sticks which the boys whittled down to a point. Some chose to sleep out under the stars, while the rest of us slept in our trusty tents.

The one thing we missed was fishing, as we forgot to pack fishing poles and bait. Maybe next year!

Camping in the Hills

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He Sapa Camp

He Sapa Camp

This week we are doing two camping trips with He Sapa New Life. The first trip was from Sunday evening to Tuesday morning. We went up with a few families from the Church to Deerfield lake in the Black Hills National Forest. We all enjoyed kayaking, swimming and hiking around the lake. In the evening we all sat around the camp fire and toasted marshmallows and sang worship songs to the accompaniment of the guitar.

Bestowing the Feathers

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Feather Ceremony at He Sapa

Feather Ceremony at He Sapa

Yesterday night we finished up VBS at He Sapa. A special part of the evening was when Pastor Larry put on his Lakota headdress, Pastor Ron put on his Norwegian Viking helmet, and Pastor Art joined them to bestow feathers upon the kids who had learned the memory verses for the week.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a picnic outside with the kids and their parents.

Fixing up for Ministry

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Painting a hallway at He Sapa

Painting a hallway at He Sapa

During the day this week, most of our crew is working with Pastor Larry Salway at He Sapa Church/Life Initiatives‘s buildings. These buildings were formerly divided between the Wesleyan Native American Ministries offices the Lakota Christian Academy. We are painting, pulling up carpet, fixing small scuffs in walls, and soon, putting down carpet.

The ministries that will occupy these buildings include a counseling center run by Pastor Larry, a Head Start center, a training center, and a Lakota Theological Extension.

He Sapa VBS

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Keya and Mastincala

Keya and Mastincala

This week we’ve been working in the evenings with the He Sapa New Life Church in Rapid City on their annual Vacation Bible School. He Sapa partners with Black Hills Community Church to put together the program, and we have been blessed to be a part of it for three years now. Each year for the past couple years, we feature the puppets Mastincala and Keya. “Mastincala” is Lakota for rabbit, “Keya” for turtle. Mastincala is always Continue reading →

The First Week

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We’ve been pretty busy this week. We left home after Church on Sunday (July 5), and got to Whiteclay, Nebraska on Wednesday. We stopped in at the ABOUT group to see what we would be doing this week and when the Clinton Wesleyan Church comes out. Bruce Bonfleur, the director of ABOUT, had plenty lined up for us. Because it was late in the day, he briefly went over what most needed done, and showed us the progress that had been made over the year.

Working in Green Tipi Gardens

Working in Green Tipi Gardens

The next two days followed a basic pattern. We got up and out to the Green Tipi Garden around 8am, pulling weeds and mulching around the plants. This year they are doing less food production, and planting more for arts and crafts, such as broom corn, gourds, etc. These will be used with the Lakota Crafters Co-Op. Continue reading →

What we’ve been doing

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This week we’ve been working at the ABOUT group in Whiteclay, Nebraska. Most of us have been working on various building improvement projects around the place, as well as in the Green Tipi Garden.

I have been working on their websites, bringing them up to modern standards, making them so that they can easily be updated and extended. You can look at the first one at www.aboutgroup.us. It is mostly complete, look for updates in the next few weeks. The other site is for the Lakota Crafters Co-Op, and is in production. It will take a bit more effort, because they would like to be able to sell art on it.