Warms Springs Video- Week 1

This week the teams from River Oaks (Memphis) and Oak Hills (Kansas City) worked on making benches and tables for the three longhouses on the Warm Springs reservation. They also worked on making the parts for more saw horses. Part of the team went down to the community garden and planted corn and beans. They also headed over the community center to help with cleaning.   

Kid's Club at a Glance

In Warm Springs, we do our Kid's Club at the Boys and Girls Club from 3-5. The kids leave their elementary school and come straight over for a few hours until someone picks them up. The first hour of our time we play games like kickball, foursquare, and jump rope. We also have a few crafts, sidewalk chalk, and "something special" such as bubbles, kites, marble mazes, etc. Then we have a snack and story. I am in charge of the story/skit/songs everyday which has been really fun! Our stories this week were all about Jesus being born-- Mary, Joseph, shepherds, wise men, and angels. The kids get to be in the skit and wear little costumes. I narrate and give them the lines. Some of them get really into it and some are really shy :) Then I ask a few questions and we sing a few songs. Favorites include: "My God is So Big" and "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands". Then we play for a little bit longer until they start leaving. 

sitting for snack and story

Some of our sweet kids:

Robert with his girls- Ashlyn, Feather, and Niya

a quick break from "keep away with Robert's hat"

Jessica and Kevin aka Bumblebee

Cajun during crafts

Fallon jumping rope

Chris Granberry and Sharika-- she prayed to receive Christ on Wednesday :)

All photos taken by Anna Grace Hodge, friend and official photographer for Sacred Road :)

A few highlights:

*The first day upon arrival a kid saw us and yelled "The church people are here!!! We missed you!!!"

*Seeing kids reunite with team members after connections had been made in the previous years

*Breaking up a fight between Mary and Joseph

*After the skit about Joseph and the Angel I asked the question, "What did we learn from this story?" and a girl replied, "That it's ok to get married even when you are confused!" haha

*Tallia reading Bible stories with a team member, Katherine

*Watching Nyleisha, a special needs girl, blossom over the week. Will post about her soon!

*Great conversations with June and Clarissa who work at the Boys and Girls Club

Please pray for these very special and beautiful children! 

Life in Warm Springs

One of the coolest things about this summer is that Robert and I get to host 1-week teams in Oregon for a few different weeks. This is our first team week working on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Oregon. Our teams this week are from Memphis, TN (home town, yay!) and Kansas City. Both teams have been out here several times and have been wonderful to get to know and work alongside. We were very blessed!! 

Since Robert and I are the only married summer staff....we present a few obstacles. The biggest of which is sleeping accommodations. During the team weeks, all the girls stay in one area of the church and the guys stay in another. Neither of us would mind that for one week, but multiple weeks might get hard. So the Granberry's fixed us up with our home away from home-- the RV!! We are in the process of naming it...Robert wants to call it "Sweet Baby Jank" but I'm not so sure...

Another fun thing about staying at a church, is there are no showers :) Therefore, we have this wonderful creation--- the shower trailer! You wouldn't believe it unless you see it. It's quite inventive. 

the trailer bed is fairly normal...those are tarps around the sides

the entrance

inside-- these stalls only reach to your waistline...therefore bathing suits are a must!

In years past, there has only been barrels of water that are heated by the sun during the day. But this year we got fancy....we hooked up the hoses to the indoors and got some wonderful hot water! Thank goodness, because we have had some chilly and rainy days! I can only imagine what the people who live across the street think of this contraption....I bet we are constant entertainment. 

When Cultures Collide

                                                          

The Yakama People, and all Native Americans, have a very rich and beautiful story to tell.  Despite years of robbery and oppression from our government, being a forgotten people in society, and living in “fourth” world poverty (third world poverty surrounded by first world wealth… stop and think about this for a minute!!), the American Indians still strive to teach their youth the fullness of their traditions and values.  On one hand it is admirable that they continue to hold onto what they have known and believed from the beginning of their existence.  On the other hand it seems to me as if they strive in vain.  So much of who they are as a people is tied to the land, and for many tribes across our nation, land is one thing that has been slowly taken from them since Columbus sailed the ocean blue.    

The tribes in the Pacific Northwest for generations moved with the seasons in order to survive.  In the spring tribes would travel to the river for Salmon, in the summer they would head to the valley to harvest berries, in the fall they would climb the hills and mountains for the picking of roots and the hunting of deer, and in the winter they would rest at the base of the Cascade Mtn. Range with hopes of surviving the harsh winter.  They relied on God’s provision for life and sustenance in a way I never have before.  They KNEW that the salmon would offer itself as a sacrifice every spring so that God’s children could live.  For sake of time I won’t delve into their Creation story with this post, but I hope to unpack it soon… pretty incredible.  So rich was their tradition!  BUT… today the land on which they relied on so heavily has been sliced and diced and served up to the highest bidder.      

            In the midst of it all, many Natives press on in hopes that their history will not soon be forgotten by their youth.  On Friday, all of the interns attended a traditional Pow Wow, where the elementary kids dressed up in full Regalia (what ignorant Americans like myself would have simply called an Indian “costume”).  This Pow Wow was a glimpse into the valiant efforts by the elders to hold on to what tradition they have left to pass on to the next generation.  Here are just a few picks of the beauty that is Native American Culture.

- Robert

pictures

 A few pics of Seattle

Marketplace

wall of gum

adding our gum

up close :)

Yakama 

view from the church

hops farm: this reservation grows 70% of the nation's hops

more to come....

Traveling Times

Day 1                                                                                                                              May 23, 2012

Well… day one is in the books.  Jess and I have had a full day of seeing the sights and meeting new people.  We started the day roaming the streets of downtown Seattle, making sure we spent a good amount of time experiencing the sights, sounds and tastes of the world famous Pike’s Place Seafood Market.  

Being my first time in Seattle, it was really cool to see this historic landmark that I had seen and heard so much about.  For years I have seen pictures or video footage of market workers heaving 30 lb. King Salmon through the air to complete a customers purchase, and heard of the original Starbucks Coffee House.  Even though I am not the biggest fan of Starbucks over-roasted coffee, I can’t help but appreciate what that company has done for coffee lovers everywhere.  This tiny little coffee house looking out over the Seattle bay revolutionized the way individuals across the globe experience a good cup of coffee. 

After a few hours of walking, talking, eating and drinking (delicious Seattle’s Best coffee, which also got its start in… you guessed it, Seattle), we boarded the light rail and headed back to the airport where we would catch a shuttle that would take us the final leg of our travels, destination YAKAMA!!!!!  We arrived in Yakima (spelled correctly both ways) around 5:00 pm (remember Pacific Standard Time, PST), and Chris Granberry, church planter and ministry director, came and picked us up.  He brought us straight back to his house where the rest of the summer interns, along with his family were there awaiting our arrival.  It was fun meeting the rest of the team for the first time, and hearing just a little bit about each other over dinner.  We had a great time of fellowship over some tasty chili, and some ever so delicious Apple Crisp for dessert!  All of my sweet teeth were thrilled to be reunited with an old friend J.  After dinner we gathered together for a time of singing and prayer, which really brought our summer of service to the starting line.  In the morning, the race begins with orientation and team building.

It’s late, so I am going to officially wrap this day up.  Once again, we are thrilled to be here surrounded by great people for an even greater cause.  Thank you all who have prayed for and donated to our efforts!  We can’t wait to share with each and every one of you this experience of a lifetime.  We wanted to let you know that we have limited access to the internet, so our blog post will be a little more spread out than we would have liked.  We encourage you to check back every few days!  Also, we would love to hear how we can be praying for you, so let us know either on the blog "comments" section, or send us an email.  Until then, here are a few request we have.  Will be in touch soon!

PRAYER REQUEST:

Pray that we run this race well, giving everything that we are physically, emotionally and spiritually able to give. 

Pray that our eyes will see and our ears will hear this beautiful yet dark place where we have been called to live in and engage for the next 11 weeks.

Pray that our team will grow together as one unit working towards one goal.

Pray that Jess and I would enjoy this adventure that God has prepared for us, and trust that He can and will work in us and through us for His namesake!

Lastly, for now, please pray that we would fix our eyes on Jesus, our Gracious LORD and Savior.  In doing so our hearts will be refreshed and filled with an everlasting love that overflows for the Native American people of the Yakama Nation.  

already fighting about the blog post.... here we go!

Welcome to our blog! Since our "regular" blogging attempts the past 2 years have failed, we decided to give this a fresh start- with BOTH of us writing. This will hopefully be a space where we can update friends, family, or whoever is interested :) We hope to focus on our summer working with Sacred Road Ministries in Washington/Oregon....but don't be surprised if we interject some of our own ramblings as well. Robert will probably keep you on board with day-to-day life and deep thoughts. Jessica will probably get distracted with youtube videos and posting photos of little ones. We hope you will check in throughout the summer to see pics and read about life on "the rez" as we see it.